Films forming part of the Balkan package triggered intense debate among the audience on the sixth day of the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) on Wednesday.

Dear Enemy, directed by Gjerg Xhuvani, portrayed the loss of the self of a nation in the wake of the series of colonisations and political uncertainties.

This film, which is a co-production of three countries — Albania, France and Germany — deals with the situation in Albania after its occupation by Germany following the surrender of Italians in World War II.

The film is about the helpless people who had to hobnob with the invaders instead of resisting them. They had to resort to double standard to survive and strive to protect the interests of their own people at available opportunities. But when the country became independent, these people were dubbed as traitors unravelling another ironic truth of the political world.

Whose is this song, directed by Adela Peeva, was another interesting film screened on Wednesday. This film is an account of the search for the truth about a song. The director sets out on an adventure across the Balkans to document how an ordinary song could become an instrument of fanatical nationalism.

The documentary-feature Totally Personal, directed by Nedzad Begovic, which deals with the memories and reflections of the director during his life in Bosnia, and Das Fraulein, directed by Andrea Staka, were some of the other films that were widely discussed.

Latin American films

Several Latin American films, including My Life Without Me, directed by Isabel Coixet, drew large crowds. The audience response was tremendous also for Suely In the Sky, the Latin American film directed by Karim Ainouz, even though it was a repeat screening.

Crossing the Dust by Shawkat Amin Korki traces the ordeal of the socio-political identity crisis faced by Kurds in American-dominated Iraq.

Many films in the competition section had repeat screenings on Wednesday. Several films in the Retrospective and Homage sections also attracted large crowds.

Several delegates from outside Kerala took keen interest in watching the Malayalam films Ore Kadal, directed by Shyamaprasad, and Nalu Pennungal by Adoor Gopalakrishnan.

A seminar on ‘New Trends in Digital Revolution’ was arranged by the KINFRA Film and Video Park as part of the festival.

Anand Parthasarathy, R. Harikumar, Jayendra Panchapakesan, Anthony Gedang and K. Sudhakaran were among those who participated in the seminar.

Memorial lecture

M. Madhava Prasad, who is currently professor of film and cultural studies at the Centre for European Studies, Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages, Hyderabad, delivered the G. Aravindan Memorial lecture on ‘The Promise of New Subjects in Indian Cinema Today.’

The Open Forum debate was on ‘Film Festival and Media.’ Journalists Neelan, Prabha Varma and V.S. Rakesh participated in the discussions, besides vice-president of Kerala State Chalachithra Academy V.K. Joseph and film expert G.P. Ramachandran.

T. Ramavarman