Thiruvananthapuram, Tuesday 17 November 2009: If all goes as planned, music maestro A.R. Rahman along with fellow Oscar winners Resul Pookutty and Gulzar may be in the city next month. The Department of Cultural Affairs and Kerala State Chalachitra Academy are planning to felicitate the Oscar winners at the inaugural ceremony of the 14th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) from December 11 to 18.

“We have contacted them, but are yet to get confirmation regarding their attendance,” said Chalachitra Academy chairman K.R. Mohanan.
With less than a month left, preparations are in full swing. Fourteen films, including two Malayalam productions, will vie for the prestigious Golden Crow Pheasant Award in the competition section.

The films are Sufi Paranja Katha directed by Priyanandanan and Madhyavenal by Madhu Kaithapuram.

Do paise ki dhoop, char aane ki baarish directed by Deepti Naval and Road to Sangam by Amit Rai are the other Indian films in the competition section.

There are seven films in the Indian Cinema Now section, including the award winning Marathi film Harishchandrachi Factory.

Two other Marathi films, Gandh directed by Sachin Kundalkar and Vihir directed by Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni, have also found their place in this section.

Other films included in the section are Bengali films Kaalbela directed by Goutam Ghosh and Maya Bazaar directed by Joydeep Ghosh, Telugu movie Sontha Vooru directed by P. Suneel Kumar Reddy and Hindi film Ek tho chance by Saeed Akhtar Mirza.

Malayalam Cinema Today section will showcase seven films. Films from Latin America, Africa, Asia and Europe will also be screened at the festival. The country in focus this time will be Cuba.

Online registration for delegate pass has begun. Delegates can submit online application forms and upload stamp size photographs for the delegate pass on www.iffk.in. The passes will be issued from December 5.