IFFK-A RARE EXPERIENCE

The 14^th IFFK was a great opportunity for the film lovers of Kerala to know more about world cinema. The inaugural ceremony was held in Nishagandhi auditorium on 11^th December 2009.The eve was glorified with the presence of eminent personalities like Mrinal Sen, Sharmila Tagore, H.E.Ambassador of France in India, Jerome Bonnafont etc. The screening of the inaugural film followed the function, ’A Step into the Darkness’ directed by Atil Inac.

The festival was a wonderful experience. The whole week was spending in theatres. Running out of theatres, chasing the autorikshaws, rushing into the long queue…Thus moved the daily routine. Everything was new and exciting. Each film was a new experience, a new idea ,a new way of life…

I got an opportunity to watch minimum three movies a day. The films I liked most were “True Noon” by Nosir Siadov, “Dream” by Kim Ki-Duk, Pen-Ek’s “Transistor Love Story”, Pedro Almodovar’s “Broken Embraces”, Jacek Glomb’s “Operation Danube”, Celine Sciamma’s “Water Lilies”, Lars Von Trier’s “ Anti Christ” and lot more.

Actually, the greatest risk was in watching “AntiChrist” and “Dream”. “Anti Christ” was a much-criticized movie. It had already created an anxiety and horror impression in the mind of the people through reviews. Therefore it was very difficult to find a place in the long queue. The movie was repeated three times in the festival. People rushed into the theatres like a swarm of flies. It depicts the story of a couple that has lost their only child. Subsequently the mother suffers from terrible anxiety attacks. Her husband, a therapist, tries to cure her by taking her to their remote country cabin called Eden. The tough therapeutic struggle develops into a battle of the sexes. The excess use of violence and sex has made the movie rather confusing to the viewers.

Another memorable experience was to creep into the queue to watch Kim Ki-Duk’s “Dream”. The queue was so long that no one knew where it ended. As the name suggests it was a dream like experience to watch the movie. It reveals how two strangers are connected by a dream. In Tadjikistan movie, “True Noon” we see the resistance of people against the authorities who have tried to separate them trough partitions.It is a film by Nosir Siadov.

The film festival is not just a platform where you get to watch a lot of films;its also a place where you meet people.You come across friends and celebrities whom you meet at the IFFK-a kind of pilgrimage for you and them.