Hungarian director to chair IFFK jury

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, MARCH 18. The Hungarian film director, Mr. Istvan Gaal, will chair the jury of the Sixth International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK-2001), to be organised here from March 30 to April 6 by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy.

The other members of the jury are the Iranian film-maker, Mr. Mohsen Makhmalbaf, the American documentary film-maker, Mr. William Greaves, the director of the Munich International Film Festival, Mr. Wolfgang Langsfeld, and the Hindi-Marathi director, Ms. Vijaya Mehta.

The FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics) jury will comprise the Munich-based general secretary of the organisation, Mr. Klaus Eder, Mr. Mofidul Hoque from Bangladesh and Ms. Rekha Deshpande from Mumbai.

At a press conference here on Sunday, the Culture Minister, Mr. T.K. Ramakrishnan, said the festival would have a truncated budget, but it would be rich in content.

Mr. Shaji N. Karun, chairman, Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, said the Academy was forced to run the show at Rs. 60 lakhs or Rs. 65 lakhs, instead of the previous annual allocation of Rs. 1 crore. "Hence, the programme will be the least flashy. A clutch of good films has been garnered, thanks to the efforts of the festival directors, Mr. K.G. George, Mr. John Sankaramangalam and Mr. A. Meera Sahib."

As many as 23 entries (of which 14 are feature films) from 16 countries will compete for the Suvarna Chakoram, carrying a purse of Rs. 6 lakhs. The director of the best feature film will receive Rs. 3 lakhs, while the best short film will be given Rs. 1 lakh. There will also be a Rs. 1 lakh Special Award.

About a hundred works (of which about 50 will be feature films) from 40 countries will be screened in the World Cinema section. The majority of works in the Indian Cinema section are from Kerala. Thirty film school works, six documentaries, seven animation films, 15 video films and winners of the 2000 Kerala State Film Awards will form other sections. Packages of Iranian short films, French films focussing on women's issues and German films are being presented.

A retrospective of the works of Mohsen Makhmalbaf will be a major attraction. It will include his films, `Pedlar', `Cyclist', `Time of Love', `Once Upon a Time Cinema', `Salaam Cinema', `Gabbeh', `Silence' and `The Door'.

The Retrospective section will also include the films of Cuban director Tomas Alea, including `Memories of Underdevelopment', `Strawberry and Chocolate', `Upto a Point', `The Survivors' and `The Last Supper'.

Also on show will be the films of jurors -- Gaal (`Falcons', `Buffer Zone', `Dead Landscape'), Greaves (`Ralph Bunch and American Odyssey') and Mehta (`Pestonjee', `Rao Saheb').

The festival will pay homage to Ritwik Ghatak (`Meghe Dhake Taara', `Subarnarekha', `Titash Ekti Nadir Naam', `Komal Gandhaar'), Karamana Janardhanan Nair, Bahadur and Balan K. Nair. Monographs on them are also being released.

Kairali and New theatre will be the main venues. The screening for delegates will also be held at Sree, Kalabhavan, Sreekumar, Ramya and Tagore. There will be a show for the public at the Nishagandhi open air theatre at 7 p.m. every day. Open Fora, seminars and a photo exhibition will also be held.

The festival office will open at the Kanakakunnu Palace on March 20.

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