Reportedly the 28th edition of the international Film festival Of kerala ( IFFK) has commenced at 5 pm today. The opening ceremony will be held at the Nishagandhi Auditorium in Kanakakunnu Palace, Thiruvananthapuram. This annual movie extravaganza is hosted by the kerala State Chalachitra Academy ( KSCA). National Award-winning actor nana patekar will be the chief guest of the event. Mayor arya Rajendran will present the Spirit Of cinema Award to the Kenyan director Wanuri Kahiu in the opening ceremony of the event. A concert by Carnatic musician sukanya Ramgopal will also take place during the ceremony. The festival will feature 175 movies from 81 countries. It will be screened at 15 venues in the capital. Around 12,000 delegates are expected to attend the event. The festival will feature 26 oscar entries for Best Foreign language Film.

The Arabic movie, Goodbye Julia, will be the opening film of the festival. It is directed by Mohamed Kordofani. The movie follows the story of a girl named Mona who tries to make amends for her sins by taking in a widow, Julia and her son Daniel into her home. In the festival, 70 percent of seats will be reserved, while 30 percent will be unreserved. Interested moviegoers can book the seats from the official website of the festival. Citizens above 60 years will be allowed entry without queuing. This benefit is available to those who show a government-approved identity card as an age proof. Two KSRTC e-buses are scheduled to run a free service connecting the exhibition venues for the delegates.

The multiple venues for the IFFK are Nishagnadhi, Tagore, Kalabhavan, New Theatre, Kairali, sree, Nila, Ariesplex SL Cinemas, Ajanta, and sree Padmanabha. vehicles will be restricted at the main venue, Tagore Theatre. Only vehicles with festival Vehicle Pass will be allowed in Tagore Theatre.

The first movie to be screened at the Kairali theatre will be The Burti Flower. It is directed by Renee Nader Messora and Joao Salaviza. At the main venue, Tagore Theatre, the movie Kidnapped will be screened at 9:30 am. You can visit the whole schedule of the international Film festival kerala on its official website.