IFFK to feature six lives in Life of Artists series

Thiruvananthapuram: If there is one thing that unites the life of creative minds, it is the scorching intensity with which they had led their lives. These mercurial beings burn themselves up long before their time is up. The life of six such men and women, some legendary some still obscure, will form part of ‘Life of Artists’ at the 21st IFFK scheduled to begin on December 9. ‘Berthe Morisot’, a French television film directed by Caroline Champetier, tells the life of a painter and a member of the circle of painters in Paris who became known as the Impressionists.

‘Camille Claudel’, a film by French filmmaker Bruno Nuytten (French), brings to screen the troubled artistic and love life of the French sculptor and graphic artist. She died in relative obscurity, but subsequently gained recognition for the originality of her work. ‘Fifi Howls from Happiness’, by Iranian filmmaker Mitra Farahani, is a documentary on Bahman Mohassess, popularly known as “Persian Picasso”.

His oeuvre comprises paintings, sculptures and collages. ‘Modigliani of Montparnasse’ is a 1958 French-Italian drama film chronicling the last year of the life of the Italian painter Amedeo Modigliani who worked and died in abject poverty in the Montparnasse Quarter of Paris. His last days were more troubled by a star-crossed love affair. 

‘Seraphine’ by Martin Provost is a surprise winner of seven Césars – the French Oscars – including best film, in 2009. Séraphine is a deceptively subtle tale based on the true story of the life and art of a simple maid who found hr artistic tools in seemingly crude and shocking materials like dirt and animal blood. ‘Van Gogh’, a French film written and directed by Maurice Pialat, follows the last 67 days of Van Gogh's life.