Female Filmmakers to dominate IFFK

Saluting the women in the field of filmmaking, the International Film Festival of Kerala, this time screens 25 most applauded films of 24 women directors in various categories.

Rachel Perkins, Belmin Soylemez, Mariam Abou Ouf, Helena Ignez ,Lucia Carreras, Francisca Silva, Djamila Sahraouri, Ann Hui, Roeberta Marques, Nadine Labaki, are few to name among them. While the Indian representation are Deepa Mehta, Sumitra Bhave and Ajita Suchitra Veera.

Rachel Perkins, daughter of famous Australian footballer and aboriginal activist, was born in Australia. She is a famous Australian film and television director, film and television producer and a writer. Perkins, who started her career with Blood Brothers in 1993, was the producer and writer of this film. All her works are focused on the real life of the teen girls in Australia and has six awards in her name. One Night the Moon, released in 2001, is the film to be screened here, under the Australian Indigenous Films. The film depicts true story of a young girl who went missing in the Australian outback in 1932.  This film won ten awards in total.

Born in Istanbul, Belmin Soylemez, worked as copy writer, editor, producer for companies like ARD German TV (Istanbul Office) and BBA (Independent Press Agency Istanbul). Her career as director marked off with the 2002 short film Dalgalar, which was penned herself. Her second venture is the Present Tense, the film screening in the IFFK under International Competition, delivers the life of a young woman who is in search for her lost hopes who wants to escape to the USA and start from zero. The film was dealing with the situations every Turkish woman has to face. Soylemez, who deals with the usual life of woman society in Turkey, is much appreciated for her works.

Mariam Abou Ouf is one of the ten directors of the most acclaimed 18 Days. Mariam Abou Ouf , who studied direction from London, is the daughter of renowned Egyptian Actor Ezzat Abou Ouf. Her strong love and passion towards cinema was the reason behind her directorial career. She began her career with Taxi, a short film. Bebo We Besheer was her first big screen feature. Her short film Tahrir 2/2 is the contribution to the 18 Days. Beging a graduate in economics and political science, her films focus on the political scenario of the nation and its economic and cultural aspects.

Helena Ignez is an iconic Brazilian actress, whose much-talked seven films are to be screened in the retrospective category, have directed two films as well. Cancoes de Baal and Light in Darkness, her directorial ventures, are also in the seven films.

Annemarie Jacir directed When I Saw You, under the world cinema category in the festival, is the life of Tarek, separated from parents and living in refugee camps in Jordan, trying to get out of this situation and make a new life. Jacir, winner of 12 international awards, is a multi faceted personality with strong hold in direction, camera, scripting, editor and production fields. Jacir was nominated for the Golden Camera in Cannes in 2008. Her career started with The Satellite Shooters in 2001.

Deepa Mehta most celebrated and discussed Indo-Canadian director, was born in Punjab and migrated to Canada in 1973. She came to the limelight with her Elements Trilogy. The trilogy included Fire (1996), Earth (1998) and Water (2005). ‘Sam and Me’ in 1991 began her film career. Director of nine films is also the winner of the most reputed Governor General's Performing Arts Awards for Lifetime Artistic Achievement, 2012. Her latest film Midnight’s Children, based on Salman Rushdie’s book, is having its Indian premier in this festival under the World Cinema.

Sumithra Bhave co-directed Samhita, screening under the Indian Cinema Now, is on an ailing film producer who is in search of a great script on the man-woman relation, to be produced by her wife on his behalf. Sumithra Bhave is a filmmaker who is very actively brining great changes in the Marahta films with her co-director Sunil Sukthankar. She have penned for three while edited and produced one. Her duo have made 8 features, 40 shorts and 3 tele in the past 25 years and received three international, six national and 45 state awards.

Ajita Suchitra Veera did her studies in film from the Pune Film Institute. She was always fascinated with the experimental and artistic films and focused her career on these types of films. Her short feature “Notes on Her” was an official entry to the Oscars in the year 2003. She believes that films have astonishing potential to transcend the everyday reality of our times and transport us into other worlds and this is what her career is dedicated upon. Top Angel Indian Cinema includes her latest film The Ballad of Rustom, is telling the story of Rustom, a government official, living in countryside.

The experience of filmmaking is at once both demanding and therapeutic and the product film is the life and hard work of the maker. Women filmmakers are adding glory to the class of directors all over the world. Their films in the International Film Festival of Kerala will make their works reach to a farther and wider audience thus giving an enormous support to their careers.