The International Film Festival of Kerala is a film festival held annually in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala, India. This film festival 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 or December every year and is acknowledged as one of the leading cultural events in India.
T. V. Chandran is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and actor, predominantly working in Malayalam cinema. Born in a Malayali family in Telicherry, Chandran worked as a Reserve Bank of India employee before entering the film industry. He started his film career as an assistant director to P. A. Backer. He also acted the lead role in Backer's highly acclaimed political drama Kabani Nadi Chuvannappol (1975). He made his directorial debut with the unreleased feature Krishnan Kutty (1981), and followed this with the Tamil film Hemavin Kadhalargal (1985). Chandran came into prominence after Alicinte Anveshanam (1989), which was nominated for the Golden Leopard at the Locarno International Film Festival. This was followed with Ponthan Mada (1993), his most famous film to date. Chandran is most known for his art-house films which have references to history and undertones of politics and feminism. He is also known for his trilogy on 2002 Gujarat riots, consisting of Kathavasheshan (2004), Vilapangalkappuram (2008) and Bhoomiyude Avakashikal (2012). Other highly acclaimed films include Mangamma (1997), Dany (2001) and Paadam Onnu: Oru Vilapam (2003).
Harishchandrachi Factory is a 2009 Indian Marathi-language biographical film written and directed by Paresh Mokashi. It is about Dadasaheb Phalke, who made the first Indian feature film Raja Harishchandra (1913), and starring Nandu Madhav as him and Vibhavari Deshpande as his wife Saraswati. Harishchandrachi Factory focuses on the struggle Phalke faced during its production.
Abdul Hameed Mohammed Fahadh Fazil is an Indian actor and producer who predominantly works in Malayalam and Tamil films. He has acted in more than 50 films and has received several awards, including a National Film Award, four Kerala State Film Awards, and three Filmfare Awards South.
Adaminte Makan Abu is a 2011 Indian Malayalam-language social drama film written, directed and co-produced by Salim Ahamed. It stars Salim Kumar and Zarina Wahab, with Mukesh, Kalabhavan Mani, Suraj Venjarammoodu, and Nedumudi Venu in supporting roles. The cinematography was handled by Madhu Ambat. The film features songs composed by Ramesh Narayan and score by Isaac Thomas Kottukapally. The film tells the story of a poor attar seller Abu (Kumar) whose only remaining wish in life is the Hajj pilgrimage, which he strives hard to fulfill.
Salem Ahamed is an Indian film director, screen writer and producer. After working for a long time as a travel consultant, he joined as a creative director and script writer in a television channel. His directorial debut, Adaminte Makan Abu (2011), fetched him numerous accolades and was screened at various international film festivals. It was also chosen as India's official entry to be considered for nomination in the Best Foreign Film category for the 84th Academy Awards. Then he made two movies Kunjananthante Kada (2013) and Pathemari (2015) with Mammootty as the lead. The latter won the Best Feature Film In Malayalam award at the 63rd National Film Awards. Salim's latest film is And the Oscar Goes To...(2019), which tells about his own experiences with production and marketing of his first film.
Adimadhyantham is a 2011 Malayalam film written and directed by debutant Sherrey and produced by P. Rasheed, starring Prajith and Sajitha Madathil in the lead roles. Adimadhyantham won a special mention award at the 59th National Film Awards. The film is yet to get a theatrical release, but received generally positive reviews in its premiere show. It was the only Malayalam film selected to compete in the 16th International Film Festival of Kerala, but was later ousted on technical grounds, and after a huge scandal, was included for a non-competition screening.
Lorry Girl is a 2012 Malayalam short film written and directed by Pampally and produced by Pampally Productions. This short film is one has a social message for modern society. It has been screened worldwide on 1 December 2012, World AIDS Day, at 14 centers in Kerala, and in all main cities in India and in many countries around the world.
Kazhcha Chalachithra Vedi or Kazhcha Film Forum is a film collective in Kerala, India. It started in the year 2001 at Neyyattinkara thaluk in Thiruvananthapuram district as a collective effort of film lovers. It has produced three short films. In the year 2013 the film society has been registered under the Travancore-Cochin Literary, Scientific and Charitable Societies Registration Act, 1955.
Dileesh Philip, also known as Dileesh Pothan is an Indian film director, actor and producer, who works in Malayalam cinema. He made his directorial debut with the 2016 comedy drama film Maheshinte Prathikaaram, starring Fahadh Faasil. The film received the Best Feature Film in Malayalam Award at the 64th National Film Awards. Pothan also won the Best Director Award at the 64th Filmfare Awards South.
Ozhivu Divasathe Kali is a 2015 Indian Malayalam indie drama film directed by Sanal Kumar Sasidharan, based on the short story of the same name by Unni R. The film follows five middle-aged men who get together for a booze party during an election holiday in Kerala. It won the 46th Kerala State Film Award for Best Film. The film was included in The Hindu's top 25 Malayalam films of the decade and is widely regarded as one of the defining movies of the Malayalam New Wave.
Amartya Bhattacharyya is a filmmaker, writer and artist from eastern India. He was awarded the Silver Lotus for the Best Cinematography in non-feature film at the 63rd National Film Awards by the president of India for his fantasy documentary 'Benaras-the unexplored attachments'. His second feature film 'Khyanikaa - The Lost Idea' featured as the only Odia film in the Indian Panorama section of 48th International Film Festival of India 2017. He was awarded the State film awards in Best Editing category for Khyanikaa - The Lost Idea at the 29th Odisha State Film Awards, conferred by the Government of Odisha.
Sanskrit cinema is a part of Indian cinema with only 15 films made since 1983, and there is no separate industry for Sanskrit films.
Manesh Madhavan is an Indian cinematographer. He graduated from Film and Television Institute of India, Pune.
Sinjar is a 2018 Indian Jasari language film written and directed by Pampally. The movie won the Best Feature Film in Jasari and Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director at the 65th National Film Awards, which were declared at New Delhi on 13 April 2018. Sinjar also won an award in Best Debut Film of a Director. This is the first movie shot in Jasari language And the director saw it as an attempt at reviving the language.
The Kazhcha-Niv Independent Film Festival (KNIFF) is a film festival for independent cinema in India held annually in Thiruvananthapuram. The festival debuted in 2017, and is hosted by Kazhcha Chalachithra Vedi, a local film society, in collaboration with Niv Art Centre, an Art and Cultural society in New Delhi. The festival is held in December parallel to the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK).
Thinkalazhcha Nishchayam is a 2021 Indian Malayalam-language, comedy-drama film written and directed by Senna Hegde. The film won the Best Feature Film in Malayalam at the 68th National Film Awards. It was also chosen as the Second Best Film and Senna Hegde received the award for Best Story at the 51st Kerala State Film Awards. The film was also selected for the 25th International Film Festival of Kerala under the "Malayalam Cinema Today" category. The film was produced by Pushkara Mallikarjunaiah under the banner of Pushkar Films.
P. S. Vinothraj is a Tamil film director and screenwriter. He wrote and directed the critically-acclaimed Tamil film, Pebbles (Koozhangal) which is also his debut film. Pebbles was screened at the 50th International Film Festival Rotterdam held in Netherlands on 4 February 2021, where it received the Tiger Award at the festival. It is the second Indian film to win this prestigious award. It was selected as the Indian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards, but was not nominated.
