International Film Festival of Kerala postponed due to Covid spike

Kerala’s highly-acclaimed annual event, the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFKK) 2022, has been postponed due to the spike in COVID cases, said Saji Cherian, Kerala minister of cinema and culture.

Organised by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, founded in August 1998 for the promotion of cinema in Kerala, the 26th edition of the festival was earlier scheduled to be held from February 4 to 11 in Thiruvananthapuram. This signature event held in December every year on behalf of the department of cultural affairs was shifted to February 2022 due to the pandemic. The 25th edition was in fact held in February 2021 with limited number of delegates and visitors.

The IFFK fest will be held only after the COVID situation improves, said the minister.

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The eight day festival offers a feast of films from all over the world for film lovers under categories like International Competition, World Cinema, retrospectives of major filmmakers and there is a Country focus as well. It also showcases local films under Malayalam cinema today, Indian cinema today etc.

The organisers had already announced few films in the competition category like the Malayalam movies Nishiddo and Aavasavyooham, the Tamil film Koozhangal and the Hindi/Kashmiri film Be Ches Ne Veth. There is a special competition section for films from Asian, African and Latin American countries, which is meant to be a major attraction.

Another highlight of this festival is the prestigious Golden Crow Pheasant award, which has a cash prize of Rs 20 lakhs to be shared equally between the director and the producer.