International Film Festival of Kerala
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| Location | Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India |
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| Hosted by | Kerala State Chalachitra Academy |
| Festival date | November/December |
| Language | International |
| Website | www |
The International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK; Malayalam: അന്തർദേശീയ ചലച്ചിത്രോത്സവം കേരളം, Anthardeshiya chalachitrolsavam keralam) is a film festival held annually in Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), the capital city of Kerala, India. This film festival was started in 1996 and is hosted by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy on behalf of Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Kerala. The festival is held in November/December every year and is acknowledged as one of the leading such events in India. Several national and international films have their premiers at the IFFK each year. Competition section is limited to 14 selected films produced in Asia, Africa or Latin America. The festival also has a section devoted to Malayalam cinema. On the lines of the IFFK, the Chalachitra Academy also organises the International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala.
The Directorate of Film Festivals, Govt of India held the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) at Thiruvananthapuram in 1988. The festival 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. The first IFFK was in Kozhikode in 1996. Incidentally, the festival was held in the 100th year anniversary of cinema and 100 films were screened as a part of the event. The event was managed by the Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC) till 1998 when the 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 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 'FIPRESCI (Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique) and the Netpac (Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema) have also recognised the festival.
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