Adoor Gopalakrishnan is an Indian film director, script writer, and producer and is regarded as one of the most notable and renowned filmmakers in India. With the release of his first feature film Swayamvaram (1972), Gopalakrishnan pioneered the new wave in Malayalam cinema during the 1970s. In a career spanning over five decades, Gopalakrishnan has made only 12 feature films to date. His films are made in the Malayalam language and often depict the society and culture of his native state Kerala. Nearly all of his films premiered at Venice, Cannes and Toronto International Film Festival. Along with Satyajit Ray and Mrinal Sen, Gopalakrishnan is one of the most recognized Indian film directors in world cinema.
Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai, popularly known as Thakazhi
Karthikayil Padmanabhan Appan, better known as K. P. Appan, was a renowned literary critic in Malayalam. Born in Alappuzha (Alleppey), Kerala, Appan worked as a Professor of Malayalam literature at SN College, Kollam, Kerala.
Kaviyoor Ponnamma is an Indian actress who appears in Malayalam films and television. She began her career performing in theatre dramas before foraying into cinema. She has also acted in TV serials and commercials and has playback singing credits in few films. Ponnamma is a four-time Kerala State Film Award for Second Best Actress winner. Her sister Kaviyoor Renuka was also an actress. Often called as the Mother to all actors, she has acted as mother of almost all actors in her career panning over decades. At the age of 20, she played the mother of Sathyan and Madhu in the 1965 movie Thommente Makkal. She gained critical acclaim for acting as the mother of the actor Mohanlal.
Madhupal Kannambathu is an Indian actor, director, and screenwriter who works in Malayalam cinema. Madhupal made his acting debut with Kashmeeram in 1994 and his directorial debut with Thalappavu (2008), which was about Naxal Varghese and won several awards in 2008.
Thazhathupurakkal Karunakara Panicker Rajeev Kumar is a National Award-winning Indian director of Malayalam films, from Trivandrum. He is the winner of five Kerala State Film Awards for Best Film, Director, Story Writer & Script Writer, a show director, theatre actor and percussionist (Mridangam). He is a founding member and leader of the musical band Blue Birds in 1980 and Super Mimics, a comedy show in 1979. He is also the Kerala University winner of Mono Act in the University Youth Festivals 1980–1982 and Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy winner for Mono Act 1979–1982.
Ramesh Narayan is an Indian classical vocalist, composer and music producer who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema. He belongs to the Mewati gharana of Hindustani classical music. Narayan began his initial training in Carnatic music and later mastered the classical Hindustani style under the renowned Pandit Jasraj.
Sreekumaran Thampi is an Indian lyricist, music director, director, producer and screenwriter in Malayalam cinema. He also writes poetry and is a recipient of the Vallathol Award. In 2017, he was awarded the J. C. Daniel Award, Kerala government's highest honour for contributions to Malayalam cinema.
Marthanda Varma is a 1933 black and white Indian silent film directed by P. V. Rao, based on the 1891 Malayalam novel by C. V. Raman Pillai. This was the first film based on Malayalam literature and the next film of the Malayalam film industry after Vigathakumaran.
Thampu is a 1978 Indian Malayalam-language film written and directed by Govindan Aravindan. Bharath Gopi, Nedumudi Venu, V. K. Sreeraman, Jalaja and the artistes of the Great Chitra Circus form the cast. The film deals with the roving street circus of Kerala. It is shot in black and white in a direct documentary mode.
Paramesh Krishnan Nair was an Indian film archivist and film scholar, who was the founder and director of the National Film Archive of India (NFAI) in 1964. He is regarded as the Henri Langlois of India because of his lifelong dedication towards the preservation of films in India. A passionate film archivist, he worked at the NFAI for over three decades, collecting films from India and from all over the world.
Madhusudhanan is an Indian film maker and artist, also known as K. M. Madhusudhanan. His debut feature film, Bioscope has received many awards. He is working with different media in art, including sculpture, printmaking installation art and film.
Venkiteswaran Chittur Subramanian is an Indian film critic, professor, documentary filmmaker, writer and occasional subtitler from Chalakudi, Kerala, India, who writes predominantly in English and Malayalam. He won the National Film Award for Best Film Critic in 2009 and shared the National Film Award for Best Arts/Cultural Film with M.R. Rajan for directing the documentary film, Pakarnattam in 1995.
Jomon T. JohnISC is an Indian cinematographer and producer who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema. Jomon made his debut with Chaappa Kurishu (2011). Jomon won the 2015 Kerala State Film Award for Best Cinematography for the films Nee-Na, Ennu Ninte Moideen, and Charlie.
Sadhana better known by her stage name Shari is an Indian actress. She was a prominent lead actress from 1982 to 1995 in Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, and Telugu films.
Ennu Ninte Moideen is a 2015 Indian Malayalam-language biographical romantic drama film written and directed by R. S. Vimal, based on the real-life story of Kanchanamala and B. P. Moideen, which took place in the 1960s in Mukkam, Kozhikode. Prithviraj Sukumaran and Parvathy Thiruvothu essay the title characters of Moideen and Kanchanamala while Bala, Tovino Thomas, Sai Kumar, Sashi Kumar and Lena appear in supporting roles.
Joseph George, better known as Joju George, is an Indian actor, playback singer and producer who primarily works in Malayalam cinema and has acted on some Tamil movies as well.
Mahesh Narayanan is an Indian film director, screenwriter, editor and cinematographer who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema, he has also worked in Tamil and Hindi films. He is a recipient of the Kerala State Film Award for Best Debut Director (2017) and Kerala State Film Award for Best Director (2022).
Soumya Sadanandan is an Indian filmmaker and actor who works in Malayalam Film Industry. She was popular as the Television Host of a film based show in Kappa TV, called 'Film Lounge' (2013–2017). She was a member of the Jury and Selection Committee of IFFK 2017 and IDSFFK 2021.
Green Line is a 2019 Indian documentary feature film written and directed by Ebin Raj Maliakal. This film covers certain personalities’ efforts and sacrifices to make Kerala an organ and body donor state in India. The film unravels itself through multiple subject positions on the matter and also the present scenario of the state. It highlights the value of the organ and body donation and also brings out the issues related to the organ and body donation. This film is screened and awarded in many international film festivals across the globe.
