For Iranian filmmaker Pourya Kakavand, the screening of The Daughter at the IFFK was more than a routine festival appearance- it marked the fulfilment of a long-deferred personal ambition. “My long-cherished wish to watch my film with a vibrant audience has finally come true in Kerala, thanks to IFFK,” Kakavand said during the Meet the Director session on the sixth day of the festival’s 30th edition.
The session, moderated by filmmaker Meera Sahib, brought together Kakavand, Malayalam director Sanju Surendran and Argentine screenwriter-director Louis Zorraquin for a wide-ranging conversation on filmmaking across geographies marked by differing social and political pressures.
Although The Daughter premiered at the Shanghai International Film Festival, Kakavand was unable to attend the screening owing to the continuing conflict in Iran. Kerala, he said, offered his first opportunity to experience the film alongside an audience. Describing the work as a psychological inquiry into imagined parenthood, Kakavand also spoke candidly about the constraints faced by Iranian filmmakers, who, he noted, are compelled to work under constant surveillance and censorship.
Sanju Surendran, whose Kidki Gaav is competing in the International Competition section, reflected on the film’s setting in a low-income Delhi neighbourhood and its attempt to capture the aspirations and anxieties of young people growing up on the margins of the city. He pointed out that the film received crucial post-production support from the Busan International Film Festival.
Argentine filmmaker Louis Zorraquin spoke about his coming-of-age thriller Kissing Bug, which has been screened at multiple international festivals. IFFK, he said, stood apart because of Kerala’s deeply entrenched film culture and its engaged audiences. Zorraquin also expressed concern over recent cuts to public funding in Argentina, noting that state-backed film institutes traditionally cover nearly 30 per cent of a production’s budget.
Meera Sahib observed that Argentine cinema has had a sustained presence at IFFK since 1999, underlining the festival’s long-standing commitment to global independent cinema. Veteran filmmaker Balu Kiriyath was also present at the session.
Site last reviewed and updated on 22-12-2025 06:18:02
The site is best viewed using latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge or equivalent browsers with a screen resolution of 1920 x 1080 or higher
This is the official web portal of IFFK and the portal is designed and developed by C-DIT
Copyrights @ Kerala State Chalachitra Academy
About the portal
This is the official web portal for the International Film Festival of Kerala. This portal is intended to disseminate information pertaining to each edition of the film festival being held annually at Kerala. Users can access and avail all information with respect to the film festival from this portal. This portal is owned by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy. The portal is developed by C-DIT.
Hyperlink Policy
Links to external websites/portals.
On this webportal, you may find links to other websites and social media pages. These links have been placed for your convenience. Kerala State Chalachitra Academy (KSCA) is not responsible for the reliability of these websites and/or social media pages and authenticity of the data residing there. The mere presence of the link or its listing on this webportal should not be assumed as an endorsement of any kind. KSCA does not guarantee that these links will work all the time and KSCA has no control over the availability of the linked pages.
Linking this web portal on other websites and social media pages.
KSCA does not object to linking this webportal on other websites and social media pages and no prior permission is required for the same. But, we do not permit our pages to be loaded into frames on your websites. The pages belonging to this portal must load into a newly opened browser window of the user.
Privacy Policy
Site Visit Data: This website records your visit and logs Information for statistical purposes such as your ISP address, the name of the top-level domain from which you access the Internet,the type of browser you use, the date and time you access the site, the pages you have accessed and the documents downloaded and the previous Internet address from which you linked directly to the site. We will not identify users or their browsing activities, except when a law enforcement agency may exercise a warrant to inspect the service providers logs.
Copyright Policy
Materials featured on this portal may contain copyrighted contents and belonging to third party entities. The presence of this content in this webportal cannot be taken as an endorsement for reproduction. Apart from the third party contents, any other material on this portal may be reproduced free of charge. The material has to be reproduced accurately and not to be used in a derogatory manner or in a misleading context. Wherever the material is being published or issued to others, the source must be prominently acknowledged. However, the permission to reproduce this material shall not extend to any material which is identified as being copyright of a third party. Authorisation to reproduce such material must be obtained from the respective copyright holders concerned.(Copyright 2022)
Disclaimer
This portal is developed for disseminating information related to the International Film Festival of Kerala. This is the only official web portal for the International Film Festival of Kerala and is developed with an objective to provide a single source of information pertaining to all activities related to the festival.
Every endeavour has been made by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy to provide up-to- date and accurate information through this web portal. All third party images/contents are copyrighted to their respective owners.
We also welcome your suggestions to improve this website and request that the error(if any) may kindly be brought to our notice.
Terms and Conditions
This web portal is owned by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy.
This web portal is designed, developed and maintained by C-DIT.
There are materials in this web portal which are copyrighted by their respective owners, and presence of such material in this web portal shall not be considered as an endorsement for reproduction of the same.
Though all efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy and currency of the content on this website, the same should not be construed as a statement of law or used for any legal purposes. In case of any ambiguity or doubts, users are advised to verify/check with the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy and to obtain appropriate professional advice.
Under no circumstances will the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy be liable for any expense, loss or damage including, without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any expense, loss or damage whatsoever arising from use, or loss of use, of data, arising out of or in connection with the use of this web portal.
These terms and conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the Indian Laws. Any dispute arising under these terms and conditions shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of India.
What is new in the web portal
This is the revamped version of the web portal of the International Film Festival of Kerala. New features have been added for enhancing user experience such as classification of films and programs. Separate section for downloading different documents is provided. Separate contact us page is now available.
Help
This web portal provides various information in PDF for downloading. These files can be viewed using various PDF readers, which can be downloaded from the internet for free. To view certain contents in the web portal, your browser needs to have required plug-ins or software.
The information of the Portal is accessible with different screen readers, such as JAWS, NVDA, SAFA, Supernova and Window-Eyes.
Following table lists the information about different screen readers:
| Screen Access For All (SAFA) | https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/safa-developer | Free |
| Non Visual Desktop Access (NVDA) | http://www.nvda-project.org | Free |
| System Access To Go | http://www.satogo.com | Free |
| Thunder | http://www.webbie.org.uk/thunder | Free |
| WebAnywhere | http://webinsight.cs.washington.edu/ | Free |
| Hal | http://www.yourdolphin.co.uk/productdetail.asp?id=5 | Commercial |
| JAWS | http://www.freedomscientific.com/Downloads/JAWS | Commercial |
| Supernova | http://www.yourdolphin.co.uk/productdetail.asp?id=1 | Commercial |
| Window-Eyes | http://www.gwmicro.com/Window-Eyes/ | Commercial |
FAQ
1. Is it necessary to register for accessing contents in this portal ?
Users do not need to register for availing any contents in this portal. They can browse the web portal in any web browser and view the contents.
2. Does this site offer registration for IFFK ?
This web portal is intended to provide information regarding IFFK. A separate web portal is developed to register for IFFK and its URL is https://registration.iffk.in.
3. Is there a facility to receive SMS/Email alerts in this web portal?
At present, the web portal does not offer any SMS/Email alerts.
4. Is there a facility to subscribe for magazines and journals of KSCA from this web portal.
This web portal does not provide any such facilities. For magazines/journals subscriptions, you are advised to visit the official website of the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy and the Delegate Registration web portal and their URL are http://keralafilm.com/ and https://registration.iffk.in respectively.
5. Can I download images of the films from this webportal ?
The images/posters/stills of the films represented in this web portal are copyrighted by their respective owners, and hence their permission has to be sought directly for reproduction in any manner.