On December 13, the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) kicked off in the Indian state of Kerala, with Armenia as this year's focus.
The opening ceremony was attended by Marat Melikyan, the Counsellor of the Armenian Embassy in India.
The Armenian films scheduled for screening at the festival include works by directors Nora Martirosyan ("When the Wind Stops"), Mikayel Dovlatyan ("Labyrinth"), Edgar Baghdasaryan ("Yashan and Leonid Brezhnev"), Maria Sahakyan ("Pharos"), Mikayel Gurzhiya ("Amerikatsi"), Serge Avetikyan ("Lost in Armenia"), "The Parajanov Scandal," and Jivan Avetisyan ("The Gate of Heaven").
The opening ceremony featured speeches by Kerala's Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, renowned Indian actress Shabana Azmi, Hong Kong actress, director, screenwriter, producer Ann Hui, and others. The event was attended by government officials, diplomats, filmmakers, critics, actors, artists, and more.
The festival, organized by the Kerala Chalachitra Academy, will showcase 114 films in various Indian languages across 15 theaters in the state capital Thiruvananthapuram, along with 63 foreign films from 68 countries.
