'A.K.A' directed by Geetika Narang Abbasi won the award for the Best Long Documentary award at the 14th International Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK). The film is based on the lives of three star-lookalike body doubles who work in Hindi Cinema. 'Little Wings' produced by Tamil filmmaker Naveen Mu won the award for the Best Short Film.

Best Short Documentary in the festival was shared between 'My Son and His Grandfather' and 'New Classroom'. The films are by Bengali filmmakers Bijoy Choudhury and Debankon Singh Solanky respectively. The Second Best Long Documentary award was won by 'Ladies Only' directed by Rebana Liz John and the Second Best Short Documentary award went to the Hindi film 'Party Poster'. 'The Leopard's Tribe' by Miriam Chandy Menacherry won Special Mention in IDSFFK.

Pradipp Kurbah's 'Path' bagged the Second Best Film in the Short Fiction category, which showcased the country's fight against COVID -19. The Malayalam film Parable of Tommy won a Special Mention in this category.

'The Bouyant' directed by Arun AR, Akhilesh KA and Ananthu Krishna won the award for the Best Campus Film. Milind Chhabra, Jyoti Garhewal Lazar and Shobhit Jain received the Kumar Talkies award for the Best Editing in a Long Documentary, instituted by Editor Pankaj Rishikumar in memory of his father. Both Labyrinth and Turn received a Special Mention in this category.

Closing and award distributing ceremony of the 14th International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK) will be inaugurated by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at Kairali Theatre, Thiruvananthapuram. He will be the chief guest of the programme and will distribute the awards today at 6 PM. VN Vasavan, Minister for Cooperation, Registration and Culture will preside over the function.  V Sivankutty, Minister for General Education and Labour will address the gathering. Dr. Shashi Tharoor MP, Thiruvananthapuram District Panchayat President Adv. D Suresh Kumar, and Principal Secretary, Culture Rani George IAS will preside over the function. The ceremony will be followed by the screening of the award-winning films.

In a country filled with poverty even after 75 years of independence, the priority shouldn’t be given to force nationalism onto the society, said Finn George Varghese, the director of the short film Mara Mara Mara while participating in the Face 2 Face at IDSFFK 2022. He also stated that nationalism should be practiced voluntarily by oneself and it shouldn’t be forced.

Varun Grover the director of the short film Kiss said that Keralites are more welcoming when it comes to films and said that showcasing his films in IDSFFK provides an opportunity to visit the God’s Own Country. 

Geetika Narang Abbasi, the director of the film a.k.a opined that the people of Kerala give more importance to film festivals. 

Film directors Anand Pandey, Divya Sachar, Kallol Mukherjee, Karuna Viswanath, Akshay Chandrasobha Ashok and Priya Naresh were present on the occasion.

There is no compulsion in including political statements in films, said Kashmiri director Mehak Jamal. She also added that her stories are totally fictional and real life influences are not present in her films while attending Meet the Director as part of the International Documentary Short Film Festival.

Documentaries are not the medium to propagate a director's personal views. It should contain factual ideas rather than mere personal sentiments, opined Don Palathara while attending the talk as part of IDSFFK.Directors Nikhil Sudersanan, Shreyas Dashrathe, Swapnil Shete also attended the talk. Script writer Dr Sherin Catherine moderated the session.

The director of the Short film 'God of Small Things', Vinod Leela said that content is the superior-most element of any movie. He opined about the significance of content and theme as far as a movie is concerned. He further added that the camera is only a mere medium to reach the audience without compromising the essence of the resolution while speaking at the Face-to-Face event of the International Documentary and Short Film Festival.

Break free from superstitions is the need of today's society, he added as he talked about his movie in the fest which deeply discusses the liberation of God from this despair.

Directors Deepa Kiran, Hari Govind V, Kripal Kalita, Vaishnavi Shrivastava, Sachin V, Sangeeth Sivan, Joshua Sam, J J Abraham, Pooja Shyam Prabhat, Rajshri Deshpande, Madhumitha Venugopal also shared the dais.

 
The director of the film Little Perfect Things, Jithin George said that there should be a normalization in the representation of LGBTQ community in society. He was participating in the ‘Meet The Director’ conference at IDSFFK 2022. 
Suchana Saha, the director of the animation film Dear Me stated that she has not used any software to make the animations but drew it all by hand. The director of the film Keni addressed that the food style of each community depends on the availability of food based on her research on the mullu kurumans tribal community in Wayanad.
Arun Dileep, Nithin John, Sudheer P Y, Monesh B Kumar,Praveen Selvan were also present on the occasion.

 
The International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala will screen 57 films on 29-08-2022. The war-centric movies following the tale of the roughness of survival Mantas Kvedaravičius's 'Mariupolis', and Loup Bureau’s 'Trench' are all set to muse the spectators today. 
 
Lithuanian director Mantas Kvedaravicius's 'Mariupolis, following the lives of everyday citizens in Mariupol as the threat of war with Russia escalated, will be screened at Kairali at 8:30 Pm.
 
The films under the package titled 'iTales' are 'Distorted Mirrors' directed by Rajshri Deshpande, National Award winner Savita Singh's 'Mulberry',  'Spaces ', directed by Madhumitha Venugopal, 'The Inner Face ' directed by Kutti Revathi, and 'Why? Maa!' directed by Pooja Shyam Prabhat. The movies which were shot on iPhone will have their screening at Nila starting at 11:15 Am.
 
With Raps, voice-over beats, pleasant rhythms and musical narrations; December, Strike. (n), Dhoop- The Music Video and Yours is Not to Reason Why will be screened at Nila from 9:00 Am. 
 
Loup Bureau’s 'Trenches', which premiered at the Venice Film Festival following the tale of the roughness of survival, in the last conflict in Europe and Denis Dobrovoda's 'The Cathedral' will be screened at Kairali and Sree respectively. The Special screening of the movie 'Andrei Tarkovsky. A Cinema Prayer', Mantas Kvedaravičius's 'Mariupolis', Nilita Vachani's Diamonds In A Vegetable Market, and The Red; among others will also be screened on the fourth day of the fiesta.
 

Two movies that have won attention and appreciation at an international level will be screened at the International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala on 28-08-2022. Screening under the special category of 'Best of the world';  'Love, Deutschmarks and Death' and 'All that Breathes' will be screened in Kairali and Sree respectively.

German-Turkish filmmaker Cem Kaya's dense and informative documentary Love, Deutschmarks and Death premiered in the Panorama section of the Berlin International film festival which showcases the close connection that the history of Turkish music has to that of Turkish immigration in Germany, will be screened at 8:30 pm in Kairali. 

The golden eye winner of the Cannes film festival;  Shaunak Sen’s 'All that Breathes' which intricately layers the portrait revealing an evolving city and a fraternal relationship bonded by purpose will be screened at 6:00 pm in Sree.

Prominent filmmakers will engage with the delegates and film enthusiasts at the International Documentary and Short Film Festival on 27th August in the Kairali theatre complex. Kerala Chalachitra Academy secretary, C. Ajoy will preside and moderate the In conversation program at 2 pm in which Reena Mohan, the Lifetime Achievement award winner of the 14th IDSFFK will be sharing her experiences and perspectives.
The Face-to-Face session will be conducted at 12 pm and eight filmmakers including Debank Singh Solanky (New Classroom) and Sethulakshmi M (ARIKE) will interact on various aspects of filmmaking. Notable film critic Rajesh James will moderate the session.
13 directors including Sourabh Kanti Dutta (Fatima), Prince Pangadan ( Yet they Have No Space) and Ms Radhika Murthy (How was the Date) would be present in the Meet the director session at 5 pm.
These sessions provide immense opportunities for aspiring filmmakers, journalists and cinephiles to interact with prominent directors and personalities who have made their mark in the world of media and culture.
 

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the 14th International Documentary and Short Film Festival (IDSFFK) on 26 August at Kairali Theatre, Thiruvananthapuram. Presiding over the function Minister for Cultural Affairs V. N. Vasavan said that IDSFFK is the best platform to bring heartwarming films to the people. Also, the Chief Minister presented the Lifetime Achievement Award to Reena Mohan, renowned documentary director and editor at the occasion.

The festival catalogue was released by Transport Minister Antony Raju by handing over to KSFDC Chairman Shaji N Karun and the festival bulletin by Minister for Food and Civil Supplies GR Anil by handing over to Mayor Arya Rajendran. Kerala Cultural Activists' Welfare Fund Board Chairman Madhupal, Chalachitra Academy Chairman Ranjith, Vice Chairman Premkumar and Secretary C Ajoy were present. The programme was followed by the screening of the opening film Mariupolis 2.