The International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK), which did not take place last year due to the COVID-19 outbreak, is set to be held after a hiatus, but the fact that the State government has not taken a decision on re-opening cinema theatres has led to uncertainty on this year's edition too.
The Kerala State Chalachitra Academy had earlier scheduled the 13th edition of the IDSFFK to be held from September 25 to 30.
But with the test positivity rate still remaining above 15%, it remains to be seen whether the theatres will be reopened before that date.
A meeting of the Academy's committee is scheduled to be held on Monday, in which a call is likely to be taken on whether to postpone the festival, the selection of documentaries for which are already complete.
On Friday, the Academy had published a list of films selected for the competition sections in the Long Documentary (above 40 minutes), short documentary (below 40 minutes), campus films, animation films, music videos and three other documentary categories.
The twelve documentaries chosen for long documentary competition are Ek Tha Gaon by Sristhi Lakhera, Chalo Sakha Us Des Mein by Rajula Shah, A Bid for Bengal by Dwaipayan Banerjee and Kasturi Basu, Holy Rights by Farha Khatun, Ghar Ka Pata by Madhulika Jalali, Moon on the Man by Prince Shah, The Last Man by Dakxinkumar Bajrange, The Fragments of Illusion by J.Bibin Joseph, Dastoor by Niranj Menon, Watch Over Me by Farida Pacha, Moving Upstream: Ganga by Shridhar Sudhir and R for Roshan’s Childhood by Ramachandra.P.N.
In the Focus Long Documentary category, the seven chosen documentaries are The Hidden War by Ajay Brar, Taangh by Bani Singh, Bela by Prantik Basu, Bread and Belonging by Sonia Filinto, Close to Border by Suvadro Chowdhury, Days of Summer by Adhiraj Buragohain and Keemat Chukati Zindagi by Shri Prakash.
The Malayalam non-competition long documentaries category has three works - Social Prisoners by Gilbert George, Sha Sa Ha by Ratheesh Ravindran and Mannu: Sprouts of Endurance by Ramdas Kadavallur, while the Malayalam non-competition short documentary section includes Gamer by Akhil Vijayan, Pathi Akaashathinum Pathi Bhumikkum Udamakal by Georgy Abraham, Aksharam Pookkunna Kaadu by Kishor.G, Theeyattu by Sreenath.K and Cinemapetti by Sanu Kummil. The selected list of films under the Short Fiction category will be published on September 20, 2021.
