AN ACCOUNT OF 18th IFFK

Films were always my weakness and 16^th International Film Festival of Kerala is the beginning of my story to IFFK. Since I was not 18 that time, and was not much aware about the film festival in Kerala, I couldn’t be the delegate. I was keenly interested in the happenings at 16^th IFFK and waited for one year. Then came the 17^th IFFK and I proudly registered and became the delegate. I was also the comperer that time. I happened to see great movies and IFFK was seven days of fun and frolic. It was a different experience… a whole new experience. 17^th IFFK definitely changed my views on films. For me, film was a medium for entertainment and IFFK helped me in understanding different culture, tradition, and the kind of meaning each movie tried to depict. Since I was new to these film festivals, criticisms about IFFK were totally neglected by me. And now, I was so happy to be again part of IFFK and 18^th IFFK was truly special for me. The time I got my register number- 4434, I was looking forward to it. I started thinking about the previous festival and wanted the same things to happen again.

THE MISSING PICTURE

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Missing Picture was truly different from other entries in 18^th IFFK. Rithy Panh’s documentary centers around Pol Pot’s regime in Cambodia. He used handmade clay figurines to visualise the story instead of humans.

SO MUCH WATER

So Much Water tells the story of a father who tries to have some happy time with his two children. The sparks that occurred between the father and the daughter in the beginning of the movie slowly finds a change. The rebellious nature of the teenage girl is changed through the love and care of her father.

Throughout the movie, the presence of water is felt justifying the title in every way. The movie also shows the frustrations, infatuation, and the stress a teenage girl undergoes. It also focuses on how a divorced father deal with household chores and his struggle in understanding and befriending his children.

GERMAN DOCTOR

Lucia Puenzo’s German Doctor is a story of Nazi doctor and the trail of events that follows. Narrated in a thrilling style, the movie held the audience to their seats.

Set in 1960, this movie constitutes the real life incident of a Nazi war criminal. The protagonist Josef Mengele was notorious for his horrific medical experiments on humans. He first tries to win over the family and use this connection for his experiments.

ILO ILO

Ilo Ilo narrates the story of a problem child and his bond with his Filipino maid. Anthony Chen’s direction and screenplay gives a fresh touch to an outdated theme. The friendship with the maid revealed the good qualities that were hidden in the mischievous boy. The affection they shared made the mother jealous.

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CAPTURING DAD

A feel good movie with a strange theme, Capturing Dad captured the minds of the audience. Sawa, a divorced woman asks her daughters to take a photograph of their dying father. The journey of the sisters is a journey of self discovery. The serious theme of death is portrayed in a very unique manner.

The movie peeped into the ethnicity of Japan giving the audience a slice of Japanese life. It’s a compilation of humour, satire and a pinch of seriousness added to it. Even though the film dealt with a theme of death, the tone never went grave. A touch of humour and little surprises throughout the movie created an aura of charm that delighted the audience.

ROCKET

IFFK has always been a window to different cultures and traditions of the world. The Rocket, the Australian movie, directed by Kim Mordaunt tells the story of the determination of a ten year old boy. Unlike other movies in the 18^th IFFK, this movie has a commercial touch which aptly suited the taste of Indian audience.

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STORY TELLER

Batur Emin Akyel’s ‘Story Teller/ Meddah’ was one of those competition movies which was emotionally appealing to the audience. It tried to express various philosophies of life and death.

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THE WEIGHT OF ELEPHANTS

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The Weight of Elephants is a simple movie with a simple story. It’s a story of a child, his friendship and loneliness he feels since he was abandoned at an early age.

The story is about Adrian who lives with his grandmother and uncle who later befriends the three children in the next door. The elder girl in the house acts more matured even if she is small. She has to take up the responsibility of the house due to her ailing mother. Both of them spend some time together and decide to take an adventure to find the abducted children they keep talking about in the television. Nothing much happens in the movie and has a smooth pace till the end. No one comes and no one goes but creates an emotional touch on audience’s mind.

The movie portrays the mental growth of a small child and shows how a lonely life affects a child’s growth and behaviour. The unseen excellence of music that reached its zenith in the end made the climax really astounding. The apt selection of setting and background went along with the mood of the film.

The movie was worth a few hours of my time.

MEGHE DHAKA TARA

Meghe Dhaka Tara is a biopic based on the filmmaker and script writer, Ritwik Ghatak. The movie directed by Kamaleshwar Mukherjee is set in 1969 in a mental asylum where the main character, Nilakanta is admitted for alcohol detoxification. To Ghatak, film was not merely for entertainment, but a medium for common man.

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TELEVISION

‘Television’ was one of the best movies in the 18^th IFFK 2013 and the audience was able to relate it more easily mainly because of the culture prevailed in Bangladesh which was almost similar to that of India. This movie is a mixture of religion, technology, love, culture and belief.

Though the storyline is serious, Mostafa Sarwar Farooki, the director of the movie manages to sustain a laugh from us constantly. The lead character Amin, a conservative is against the technological advancement in his village and the whole movie takes up this issue. Kumar, a local teacher buys a television and this follows a series of melodrama since the society is against technology. Later, Amin has to admit the fact that people have to move on with the world and understands even the importance of television.