Ivan Vescovo steps outside Hotel Hyacinth, just back from a walk on Kovalam beach in Thiruvananthapuram with his friend and art director Lules Fiorenza, he with wet hair and she in a funny hat. Together, the young Argentinean director and his friend have been touring the capital on their first visit to the State, to attend the 18th International Film Festival of Kerala.
He is delighted that a lot of young people come to watch films, his movie Errata being one of them. “People can be seen fighting to enter the theatres, it is amazing,” he says, in broken English. “Everyone here is hardworking.”
As another edition of IFFK comes to a close, with its usual share of hue and cry and celebrities in attendance, with the biggest crowd-puller of the festival Kim Ki Duk himself turning up, first time visitors and veterans share their experience at the fest.
Serik Abhishev producer of Kazakh film Constructors has come to India for the first time with a lot of expectation about the fest. “My friend and film critic Gulnar Abikeeva had attended the fest last year and found it very, very good. I feel the same this time too. The people are so nice. The first day I was a little scared being in a new place. But soon I felt comfortable walking the streets in the dark. We walk to our hotel after dinner and see people sleeping on the streets. But they are all happy. It is a happy land.”
For curator June Ingrid Giovanni, it is not the first time at the fest. “I came first in the late 90s and kept coming back a number of times. The fest is getting bigger each year. Fests have a life and need nurturing. I think it’s been organised well and there is such a massive audience appreciating cinema. I hope it continues this way.”
Agreeing with her is producer and curator Raymond Phathanavirangoon. “The great projection quality and the punctual screening at the fest impressed me a lot. The only problem was that there were very few women who attended the fest.”
It is also the first time at the fest for debutant Malayalam director Sidhartha Siva. “For the first screening of my film 101 Chodyangal the hall was so packed that even jury members did not have a seat. I was very happy to see such a huge audience.” Perhaps, it would have cheered him more, if there was a similar response for his film when it released. But then, that’s how it is at a film festival, everyone and every film is welcome here.
