Thiruvananthapuram, Friday 31 July 2009: The 14th Trivandrum International Film Festival, beginning here today, will focus on latest films from South Korea, the Netherlands, Germany and France. Director Adoor Gopalakrishnan will inaugurate the festival organised by Chalachithra.

The inaugural function will be followed by the world premiere of Marathon (USA) directed by Biju Viswanath, cinematographer and filmmaker from Kerala.

The films from South Korea to be screened at the week-long festival include My Secret Sunshine (2007), The King and the Clown (2006), Welcome to Digmakgol (2005), Chilawasson (2002) and My Sassy Girl (2001). Eight films make up the package from the Netherlands. These include They are a Happy Family (2007), Johan (2006), The Sixth of May (2005), Blue Birds (2005), Gangster Blues (2007), Shouf Shouf Habibi (2004), Northern Light (2006) and Sportsman of the Century (2006).

Sophie Scholl (2005), Schlafer (2005), Polska Love Serenade (2004), Blindgaster (2004), Rodellinda (2005) and Red Coloured Grey Truck (2006) make up the package from Germany. The retrospective section includes the works of five famous French directors, Costa Gavrs (The Axe-2005), Henri Clouzot (Les Diaboliques-1955), Pascal Thomas (Pricking my Thumbs-2005), Jacques Audiard (See How they Fall-1994) and Patrice Laconte (The Man on the Train-2002).

The World Cinema/ Oscar series category comprises 16 films from Australia, Belgium, Canada, US, UK, China, Greece, France, Germany, India, Italy and Puerto Rico.

The screenings will be held at the Kalabhavan theatre, Goethe Zentrum near University Senate hall and Tagore Theatre. Two films by Lohitadas, Bhoothakannadi and Bharatham, will also be screened as a tribute to the filmmaker who passed away recently.
The festival office will start functioning at Kala Bhavan on Thursday, a press note said.