Kerala Film Festival to highlight pangs and plight of migrants

Harsh realities of migration and displacement will find a special place in the 21st edition of International Film festival of Kerala, which will get underway here from December 9-16.
An exclusive package of eight films, curated by famous festival programmer and critic Paolo Bertolin, will show various phases of human life with distinct focus on their struggle for survival and existence, Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, the organiser of the event said.
The package, which reflects the hardships, misfortunes and brutalities faced by the migrants, is an attempt to express solidarity to the migrants from multiple nationalities with various forms of displacement, they said.

Besides this, most of the films incorporated in various categories share the themes of endless struggle of human displacement and migration.
The movies to be screened under this category include 'In the Last Days of the City' by Tamer El Said , 'Fire at Sea' by Gianfranco Rosi, 'ID' by K.
M Kamal, 'Mediterranea' by Jonas Carpignano, 'Mercenaire' by Sacha Wolff, 'Soy Nero' by Rafi Pitts, 'The Road to Mandalay' by Midi Z and 'Sin Nombre' by Cary Joji Fukunaga.

Egyptian director Tamer El Said's debut fiction film 'In the Last Days of the City' bagged the Caligiri Fim award and the Award for Best Direction in Berlin International Film Festival, 2016.

Gianfranco Rosi's 'Fire at Sea', capturing the Sicilian island of Lebodusa in the background of European refugee crisis, won the Golden Bear Award in the 66th Berlin International Film Festival and also shortlisted for thebest foreign language film category of the 89th Academy award, they said.
Kamal's 'I.D' with the tagline "Everyone comes from somewhere," which narrates the identity crisis encountered by the migrant labourers is the only Indian movie to be shown under this category.
'Mediterranea,' directed by Carpignano in 2015 unravels the plight of African migrants of Italy.
Most of these films in the package are based on real life incidents, Academy sources added.