The International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) is a film festival held annually in Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), the capital city of Kerala, India. The film festival is organised by Kerala State Chalachitra Academy on behalf of Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Kerala. This film festival was started in 1996. The festival is held in November/December every year. Several national and international films have their premiers at the IFFK each year.
The 1998 International Film Festival of India (IFFI) at Thiruvananthapuram organised by the Directorate of Film Festivals and Goverment of India that ushered in interest in serious films and subsequently several film societies were born throughout the state. The activities of the societies included screening of classic films from around the world, conducting group discussions on various aspects of cinema and circulating pamphlets on renowned film-makers. The film societies obtained copies of films from archives and from embassies of some countries as a part of culture-exchange programmes. The film society movement helped to raise film literacy among people and the need for an international film festival to the level of the IFFI came up. [1] The first edition of the IFFK was held at Kozhikode in 1996. Incidentally, the festival was held in the 100th year of cinema and 100 films were screened as a part of the event. The event was organised by the Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC). In 1998, Kerala State Chalachitra Academy was formed and was bestowed with the responsibility of conducting IFFK along with other activities for promotion of cinema. Later, the Fédération Internationale des Associations de Producteurs de Films / International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF) accredited the festival and a competition section was added to the event in 1999. The competition is limited to films produced in Asia, Africa or Latin America. The Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique / International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) and the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (Netpac) have also recognised the festival.
Screening of the films is different categories: Contemporary World Cinema, New Malayalam Cinema, Retrospectives of Major filmmakers, Homage and Tributes, Contemporary Indian Cinema, Short films and Documentaries. Now the festival is permanently held at various cinema halls in Thiruvananthapuram. Screenings for residents of a jail, a juvenile home (Poojappura Central Jail, Thiruvananthapuram) and a poor home (Sri Chitra Poor Home) as part of the festival.
Awards
The Golden Crow Pheasant Award: Suvarna Chakoram and cash prize of Rs. 1,000,000/- (about US$20,000) to the best feature film. It will be shared equally by the director and the producer.
The Silver Crow Pheasant Award: Rajata Chakoram and cash prize of Rs. 300,000/- (about US$6,000) to the best director.
Best Debut Film Award: Rajata Chakoram and cash prize of Rs. 200,000/- (about US$ 4,000) to the best debut director.
Audience Prize: Rajata Chakoram and cash prize of Rs. 100,000 (about US$ 2,000) to the Director of the most popular film voted by the festival delegates
FIPRESCI Award: For the best film chosen by the Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique.
Netpac Award: For the best film in the competition section from Asia, chosen by the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema.
In 2007, two more awards from the FIPRESCI and the Netpac are introduced, which will be awarded separately to the best Malayalam films at the festival.
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1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Film_Festival_of_Kerala
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