International Film Festival of Kerala to feature Makhmalbaf's latest film

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Fans of Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf - whose films have always left a stirring impact on IFFK audience - will get a chance to see his latest release 'The President' at the 19th edition of International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK).
Sources in the selection committee confirmed that the film has been chosen for screening in 'cinema of the world' category.
Makhmalbaf's move was the opening film at Venice film festival and has already won accolades at the Chicago film festival and Beirut film festival. The President will also be the opening film at IFFI, Goa.
The film which is inspired from the life of fallen autocrats and after-effects of Arab spring has earned mixed reviews from various critics who also drew parallels between certain episodes in the film and story of Gaddafi.
In one of his interviews Makhmalbaf said that the idea for his new film came eight years ago when he visited the palace of Amanullah Khan, the Afghan ruler. The palace stood at the edge of a hilltop overlooking Kabul and this image gave him the concept of a dictator who commands that the city's lights be turned on and off again just to entertain his grandson.
It is also cited that he included sequences from his own experience in prison where he saw how his fellow detainees, after being subjected to torture, later transformed themselves into dictatorial figures.
"The President is a popular film in festival circuits this year and we wanted it for FFK," an official associated with organizing committee of IFFK said. The final list of films will be released in two weeks.
The film has got two main characters; a deposed autocrat and his grandson who run for their lives. Although the film is based on dictators thrown off power, Makhmalbaf sets his film in an imaginary country of Caucasus. The main location of the film is Georgia.
IFFK had presented a retrospective on Makhmalbaf in 2001 when he was also the jury member. His film Gardener was screened in 2012. The films made by his wife Marziyeh Meshkiny and daughters have also created ripples at IFFK. 'Buddha Collapsed out of shame' - the film by Hana Makhmalbaf , the younger sister of Samira Makhmalbaf and daughter of Mohsen Makhmalbaf - was chosen as the opening film of IFFK in 2007.
Talking about ' The President' he said during one of his interviews that the film explains the tragedies of dictatorship and revolution.
The 58 year-old director, who now lives in exile in London, had originally planned to shoot the film in Afghanistan three years ago but could not do so due to shortage of funds. The date and timing of screening of The President has not been finalized yet.
Thiruvananthapuram: Mohsen Makhmalbaf, the Iranian film-maker whose films have always left a stirring impact on IFFK audience will have his latest release ' The President' screened at the 19th edition of IFFK . Sources in the selection committee confirmed that the film has been chosen for screening under ' Cinema of the world' category. Makhmalbaf's ' The President' was the opening film at Venice international film festival and has already won honors at the Chicago film festival and Beirut film festival. The President will also be the opening film at IFFI, Goa.
The film which is inspired from the life of fallen autocrats and after-effects of Arab spring has earned mixed reviews from various critics who also drew parallels between certain episodes in the film and story of Gaddafi. In one of his interviews Makhalbaf said that the idea for The President happened eight years ago when he visited the palace of Amanullah Khan, the Afghan ruler . The palace stood at the edge of a hilltop overllooking Kabul and this image gave him the concept of a dictator who commands that the city's lights be turned on and off again just to entertain his grandson. It is also cited that he included sequences from his own experience in prison where he saw how his fellow detainees after being subjected to torture later transformed themselves into dictatorial figures.
'' The President has been a popular film in festival circuits this year and we wanted it badly for 19th edition of IFFK,'' an official associated with organizing committee of IFFK said. The final list of films will be released in two weeks.
The film has got two main characters; a deposed autocrat and his grandson who run for their lives. Although the film is based on dictators thrown off power, Makhmalbaf sets his film in an imaginary country of Caucasus. The main location of the film is Georgia. IFFK had presented a retrospective on Makhmalbaf in 2001 when he was also the jury member. His film ' Gardener' was screened in 2012. The films made by his wife Marziyeh Meshkiny and daughters have also created ripples at IFFK. 'Budha Collapsed out of shame' , the film by Hana Makhmalbaf , the younger sister of Samira Makhmalbaf and daughter of Mohsen Makhmalbaf was chosen as the opening film of IFFK in 2007.
Talking about ' The President' he said during one of his interviews that the '' the film explains the tragedies of dictatorship and revolution''. The 58 year-old director who now lives in exile in London had originally planned to shoot the film in Afghanistan three years back but could not go on with it due to shortage of funds. The date and timing of screening of The President has not been finalised yet.