The 12th International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK) will feature a variety of contemporary films focusing on the internal conflicts experienced by society and individuals in different parts of the world.
The Oscar-nominated British film Black Sheep , the French-Cambodian film Graves Without a Name and the Portugal film that won the Voice Short Award at the Rotterdam Film Festival will be screened.
The centrepiece of Ed Perkins’ British film Black Sheep is a family that decides to leave Britain for the safety of their son following the racist murder of a 10-year-old Nigerian. But the Cornelius family is headed to an estate run by racists. The film discusses the conflicts that racism create in childhood through the memories of Cornelius Walker who had no other option but to suffer under racist hands as a child.
Non-fiction
The International non-fiction category will also feature a handful of films discussing the aftermath of the civil wars that has shaken the world. Graves Without a Name by Rithy Panh elaborates the theme of the Cambodian genocide.
Gassan Halwani’s first film Erased ... Ascent of Invisible is a reminder of those who disappeared during the Lebanese civil war. The post- revolutionary Libya is portrayed in Freedom Field directed by Naziha Arebi.
Letters to Theo , a post-financial Greek-themed film by Élodie Lelu and The Silence of Others by Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar are reminiscent of the wounds inflicted on human life. House of Glass by Filipe Martins follows the character of Carlos, a drug addict who lives in an abandoned car exhibitor made of glass. Talking About Adultery , directed by Bara Jichova Tyson which has about 50 people sharing opinions on extramarital affairs, romance and marriage, took six years to complete.
On cancer
Cancer centred films such as A Moon for my Father by Mania Akbari and Douglas White, and All That’s Missing by Zeinab Tabrizi will be screened under the International non-fiction category, along with 24 other films.
The festival also features nine documentaries on art, culture and traditions. Premji: Ekalochana Janmam by Neelan Premji focusses on the life of M.R. Bhattathiripad, popularly known as Premji, who played a vital role in the renaissance movement in Kerala during the fifties.
Line of Control by Raja Shabir Khan is a story of dejection one feels when a closely knit family lays split across the land in the onset of militancy in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
