Thiruvananthapuram: Union ministry of information and broadcasting has granted screening permission to 24 more short films out of the 31 that had been selected for the 18th IDSFFK but initially denied clearance.These newly approved films will begin screening from Sunday onwards. The revised screening schedule will be made available on the IDSFFK website. Delegates will also be informed through messages.A notice was sent to the ministry after Kerala State Chalachitra Academy initiated legal action seeking permission for all 31 films to be screened.The films that have now received clearance are Globe, Bhintila Path, and A Handshake in the short film competition section; Mother Tongue, Unstrung, and Chapter Two in the Focus section; and in the International section, Birds of War, Inside, Melatonin, Raha, Memories of a Window, Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk, My Father and Gaddafi, Silenced, Landmarks, The Match, Cover-Up, Fifty Eighth, and Shot Reverse Shot. Also cleared are Guided Tour, Rehearsals for a Revolution, and One in a Million from the Festival Winners section, along with the Nepalese film Band-Aids.One of the cleared films had been submitted on the waiting list and will not be screened as part of the festival’s official programme.On Sunday, 60 films will be screened across competition, international non-fiction, focus, Malayalam, campus, homage and special sections. A major highlight will be Law and Order by American documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman. The festival will also screen three Malayalam films by the late director R Sarath — Divine Love, Devavadyangal and Burial of Dreams.The short fiction section will feature Sacred Sal Tree, Kiss Me and An Oyster Life, while the short documentary section will include The Khamyang Story, Billam and A Human Day – Hand-Pulled Rickshaw of Kolkata. Other screenings include the Malayalam documentary Echoes of Wheels, the Japanese film Journey into Sato Tadao and campus films such as Unsung Hands and Mara. The section on Nina Sabnani’s moving craft will present three films, while the Films from Nepal and In Urban India sections will feature four and six films respectively.The homage section will include Ken Jacobs’ silent film Let There Be Whistleblowers and Gatlif’s French film The Outraged. The animation programme will feature six films in Annecy Kids, including the Indian film Mirage, and four films in Best of Annecy. A Meet the Director session will be held at noon, followed by a Face to Face session in the evening. Delhi-based Malayali artists’ Sufi-Hindustani band Mehfil-e-Sama will perform at 7pm.
