7th Edition of IDSFFK will be inaugurated today

7 th edition of International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala will be inaugurated by Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan , Minister of Cultural Affairs Govt.of Kerala today, the18^th August 2014 at Kairali, Nila and Sree theatres,Thiruvananthapuram. Gautam Menon , Film Director will be the guest of hounor . V .S Sivakumar ,Minister for Health will preside over the function. Shri Rajiv Mehrotra, Manging Trustee of Public Service broadcasting trust will deliver the key note address. Rajya Sabha Television CEO Gurdeep Singh Sappal will felicitate over the function. Frederico Adorno‘s ‘Paraguay’ and Khalo Matabane’s ‘Nelson Mandela: the myth and me’ will be the inaugural films. Nelson Mangela: The myth & me explores how diverse global leaders interpret Nelson Mandela’s message of freedom, forgiveness and reconciliation. Trying to avoid the danger of creating a single ’true’ story, the film combines director Khalo Matabane’s personal reflections with the thoughts of the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Kofi Annan, Joachim Gauck and Arundhati Roy as well as artists, thinkers and activists from around the globe.

 94 films selected out of 600 entries will compete for top honors. A total of 212 films are being showcased for this five day festival dedicated for documentaries and short films. The jury of the festival include Hong Hysook, Susie Tharu and Harsh Mander  .

Best documentary will bag one Lakh Rupees and certificate of merit where as short documentaries will be awarded fifty thousand rupees and certificate.Both Animation films and music videos will be awarded twenty five thousand rupees each and certificate.Campus films will be given twenty thousand rupees and  certificate.
Best Documentary cinematographer award will be presented by cinematographer Navroze Contractor. This award comprises fifteen thousand rupees and certificate. Gender sensitive film will also be recognised at the festival. A cash award of twenty thousand will be given away for the best gender sensitive film.

Special section comprises of a package of film. The special sections will have an Environmental film category, which includes ‘Virunga’ by Orlando Van Einsiedel, portraying the manmade conflict threatening the last habitat of gorillas. The film has won four International awards. Deepthi Kakkar and Fahad Mustafas film ‘Powerless’, which was the premier film at the Berlin Film festival, is also screened in the festival. The other films screening under this category incorporates Kamar Ahaneed simons, ‘Are you listening’, Jean cosmes, ‘By my side’ and Kalyanai mams ‘A river changes course’.

                Films from Middle East is another category which has been screened under the special section The other section under special films are, a curated section of films comprising five films portraying the post Arab Spring  era  showing the riotous seasons the countries like Egypt, Lebanon , Jordan, Palestine and its effects on the common man. The first Indian screening of these films, at the festival which makes the category special. K.K Chandran’s  ‘Potrait Of a Film Director : Adoor GopalaKrishnan’ , Razak Kottakal , ‘One day from a Hangmans Life’  and Micheal glawogger, ‘Working  Man’s Life’ and ‘Mega Cities’ are the films screened in the homage section.