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By choosing to open with a documentary about life in apartheid South Africa through the eyes of the first Black freelance photographer Ernest Cole, the International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK) underway in Thiruvananthapuram is taking a stand. Further underlining its position on international affairs, the State, conducting the festival, has also chosen to feature four films about Palestinian lives. In this edition, the 16th since its launch in 2008, 335 films from 54 countries will be screened over six days between July 26 and 31.
The inaugural film Ernest Cole: Lost and Found, made by Raoul Peck, will be screened at the festival venue, the Kairali-Sree-Nila theatre complex, on the evening of July 26, after the day's ceremonies. Minister for Local Self Governments MB Rajesh will inaugurate the festival and honour the Bedi Brothers – Naresh and Rajesh Bedi – with the Life Time Achievement Award for their contribution to wildlife filmmaking.
A much quieter cousin of the larger festival – the International Film Festival of Kerala, blooming every December in Thiruvananthapuram with thousands of delegates -- the IDSFFK runs without incident mid-year, with a few hundred delegates, mostly students. This year, over 750 delegates and 250 students have registered by the festival's first day.
Students also have a section for featuring their films, called Campus Films, which will have eight films this year on issues such as bullying, relationships, and trust. The fest has a competition section for documentaries – long and short – as well as short fiction. Among the long documentaries in competition is Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (The World is Family), by veteran filmmaker Anand Patwardhan, a favourite among the Kerala audience, with his films often featuring in festivals of the State. This one, unlike Anand’s celebrated works from Ram Ke Naam to Reason, contains oral histories of his family. Another film in the long documentary section is Nishtha Jain and Akash Basumataris’ Farming the Revolution, on the farmers’ protest.
Short documentaries as well as short fiction films have been chosen from various genres and themes including gender, discrimination based on caste and colour, migration, and so on. Indian languages from Punjabi to Konkani, Tamil, Bengali, and Marathi, are all included.
A six-member jury will judge the competition films in all categories. Internationally acclaimed filmmaker Rakesh Sharma is the jury chairperson for non-fiction. Other members include film editor Jabeen Merchant and filmmaker Pankaj Rishi Kumar. The fiction category will be chaired by filmmaker Urmi Juvekar, with filmmakers Pushpendra Singh and Krishand RK. A package in the festival will include films from all of them, including Rakesh Sharma’s work on the politics of hate Final Solution (2004) – a film banned in the country once, which won the National Award later. Krishan’s film ‘Bhagavathykaavile Paapikal' (Sinners at the Goddess Abode), is also being screened.
The Palestinian package has short films and documentaries narrating tales of resistance and resilience. The story of four generations of Palestinian women is told in Bye Bye Tiberias, directed by Lina Soualem, who is the daughter of well-known actor Hiam Abbas. Heavy Metal, about young Palestinian women challenging norms in a refugee camp, Palestine Islands, told through a 12-year-old child, and The Roller, the Life, the Fight on migration, are the other films in the category. The last edition of the IFFK had also expressed solidarity with the Palestinian cause with films and songs.
There is also a homage section for four people who had contributed immensely to films, and passed away this year – director Kumar Shahani, film society activist Chelavoor Venu, filmmaker and journalist Sriyanka Ray, and sound recordist AM Padmanabhan.