Calling all film lovers

One more week lies ahead for the month of films to be in full bloom in Thiruvananthapuram. The capital city has every reason to be proud as it plays host to thousands of film lovers every year. Instead of waiting till December for movies, the FILCA International Film Festival, conducted by the Film Lovers’ Cultural Association, comes in November itself. Starting this Friday, the week-long treat would have international, national and regional movies in diverse genres served on a platter at the Kerala University Students’ Centre, PMG Junction. This is the 17th edition of the fest.  

Spanish American movie The Impossible by J.A. Bayona and Manipuri film Lady of the Lake directed by Haobam Paban Kumar are the opening films to be screened at the venue, soon after the inaugural ceremony. 

The fest pays homage to veteran Malayalam filmmaker I.V. Sasi and Polish director Andrzej Wajda. Sasi’s Kanamarayathu and Wajda’s Katyn have screenings on the concluding day. The retro session honours Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieslowski. All 10 films from his noted television drama series Dekalog would be screened at FILCA fest. Also known as Dekalog: The Ten Commandments and The Decalogue, it comprises 10 one-hour films. Double Life of Veronique and Three Colours: Blue from the director are also up for show. British-Iranian filmmaker Babak Anvari’s Under the Shadow will also be screened in the retro session. Embrace of the Serpent, the 2015 adventure drama in black and white, directed by Ciro Guerra, is the concluding movie on November 30. 

Country Focus, Indian Cinema, Malayalam Cinema, World Cinema, Short and Documentary are the other categories in which movies are shown. A bouquet of 43 films will be shown this time. 

Filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan will inaugurate the fest at 5.30 pm on day one. Screening starts at 9 am from the first day itself. From Saturday onwards, an open forum is arranged at 6 pm. There will be five shows every day.