16th edition of IDSFFK kicks off in Thiruvananthapuram

IDSFFK logo
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRAGEMENT

With a free space for contrarian views, the International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK) is part of the democratic model of the State, Minister for Local Self governments M.B. Rajesh has said. Inaugurating the 16th edition of the festival at the Kairali theatre complex here on July 26, he said that a conducive and tolerant environment for free exchange of differing views is important in contemporary India.

Highlighting the package ‘An Ode to Resilience: Tales from Palestine’, featuring documentaries and short films from Palestine, he said that the festival is also an expression of Kerala’s solidarity with Palestine.

“People across the world who believe in humanity and justice are standing in solidarity with Palestine and Gaza. Kerala has too stood resolutely with the people of Palestine. The festival also features documentaries that highlight the historic farmers’ struggle as well as on many other important issues of our times. I still remember how during our student days documentaries like Anand Patwardhan’s Ram Ke Naam and Rakesh Sharma’s Final Solution were used in mobilising people in struggles against communalism,” he said.

Mr. Rajesh presented the festival’s lifetime achievement award to wildlife filmmaking pioneers Naresh Bedi and Rakesh Bedi (Bedi brothers). After the ceremony, Ernest Cole: Lost and Found, a documentary by Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck on the works of the legendary photographer whose images exposed the horrors of the Apartheid years in South Africa, was screened.

As many as 335 films from 54 countries will be screened during the six-day festival at the Kairali Sree Nila theatre complex. As many as 31 documentaries and 18 fiction short films will be screened in the focus categories.

In the focus short documentary category, 24 films will be screened in various languages such as Marathi, Bengali, Hindi, Santhali, Odia, Kannada, Tamil, Assamese, and Sylheti. These films explore a range of issues such as women’s lives, drought, mining, people’s movements etc.