A sumptuous smorgasbord of choicest award winning contemporary world cinemas culled and curated from various film festival saw aitsto woo and wow audiences, while the Tamil film competition with its rich array of delectable and eclectic films on tableau of themes and individualistic narrative styles and occupation will give the Jury tough time to pick the deserving winners.

Score and two decades in existence. Chennai International Film Festival aka CIFF which gets underway from December 12, 2024, promises a veritable feastful of films treat for diehard cine buffs of the Cultural Capital of South India. Cyclone Fengal and the foreboding forecast of further torrential downpur not with standing.

Hosted under the auspices of the Indo Cine Appreciation Foundation (ICAF), with the proactive support of the Government of Tamil Nadu, the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce and the Film Federation of India, CIFF comes with a sumptuous smorgasbord of choicest curated cinemas for the avid aficionados to binge on.

In existence since Circa 2003, when the Indo Cine Appreciation Foundation (ICAF), founded to promote multifarious array of parallel and non-commercial cinemas saw the prestigious calendar gala event take birth, thereafter, there has been no looking back for CIFF.

CIFF, in these 22 years, has not only built a brand of its own but also gathered in strength, stature and scope as one of the must attend international film festivals in the country, so much so, CIFF, along with its birth parent ICAF, has become one of the flagship and premier brand envoy of Chennai’s vibrant film culture, where Kollywood’s aspiring talents throw up fascinating films year after year.

Aspiring to best and rise in ranks among some of the prestigious global film festivals across the world such as the Cannes, Toronto, Berlinale, CIFF, sees the ICAF panel assiduously curating and bringing to the discerning cinema loving Chennaites world class films.

This, in active collaboration with the various embassies and consulates that dot the Gateway of South India, which have graciously spurred CIFF’sspectacular strides towards establishing itself as South Asia’s premier cultural extravaganza where the who’s who of entertainment industry come calling.

CIFF, as Chennai’s cultural citadel symbolising the artistic soul of the citythrobbing in fiesta of traditional cultural festivities has turned itself into a must attend, must be seen gala of film festivals dates lighting up the city, as filmmakers, artists, and enthusiasts from all corners of the globe, assemble drawn in droves to collectively celebrate cinema,the inspiring auteurs and the newbie filmmakers.

The 22nd Edition of CIFF indeed marks a new milestone in the festival’s chequered history with the new team taking over under the leadership of ICAF’s new General Secretary AVM K Shanmugam to whom the baton was passed on by Emanadar Thangaraj who had successfully steered the CIFF the last two decades plus to its present stature aided by sterling and visionary leadership and of ICAF President Sivan Kannan and guiding mentorship of seasoned cinemascuration veteran Festival Programme Director Srinivasa Santhanam.

This year’s edition sees CIFF featuring over 150 plus highly accoladed and richly rewarded films drawn from across the film making world, which have won laurels at various film festival circuits including India and of course, closer home, Tamil Nadu itself.

Having attended premier film festivals like the Cannes, Karlovy Vary, Toronto, Busan and closer home IFFI, in Goa, here is a scroll of scintillating films that Chennai’s cineastes ought not to miss.

Among the must see, mustwatch films are Mexican fantasy film Brujeria(Sorcery) by Christopher Murray which has been inspired by a true story about accusations of witchcraft. Then the Cannes Jury Prize winner French musical crime comedy Emilia Perezabout a trans notorious cartel boss seeking transition written and directed by Jacques Audiard, which has been loosely adapted for screen from French writer Boris Razon’s 2018 novel Ecoute.

The epic Cannes Best Director Award winning historical drama Grand Tour by Portugal’s Miguel Gomes revolving around a melancholic civil servant who develops cold feet and abandons his fiancée on theirwedding day and wanders away.

The Sundance Film Festival and Malaysia International Film Festival Directing AwardwinnerIn The Land of Brothers by the Iranian director-duo Raha Amirfazli and AlirezaGhasemi. The Norwegian film Loveable (Elskling) by Czech director Lilja Ingolfsdottir which won its director the Special Prize of the Jury at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and the Best Actress Award in the festival’s Crystal Globe Competition for its actress Helga Guren, a ruminating and searing relationship drama about a mother of four who has to balance her work and family with the second marriage teetering towards divorce.

The Spanish film Memories of a Burning Body(Memorias de un cuerpo que arde)by the Costa Rican director Antonella Sudasassi which picked up the audience awards at the Berlin and Busan International Film Festivals besides others, centres around two sexagenarian women, and one septuagenarian woman, who rediscover their sexuality and freely discuss it, which was once considered a taboo in their growing years.

The Saudi Arabian film Norah by director Tawfik Alzaidi which won the Special Mention in the Un Certain Regard Award at Cannes, and the Best Saudi Film at the Red Sea International Film Festival set in a remote western Saudi Arabian village, follows the film’s titular character Norah dreaming of life in city and independence and freedom and her coming of age and artistic discovery.

The richly awarded, which includes the Palm Springs International Film Festival Directors to Watch Awards, the Danish historical psychological horror film The Girl With The Needle(Pigen med nålen)by Magnus von Horn, loosely based on the true story of Danish serial killer Dagmar Overbye of children, is a nerve-wrecking watch.

Likewise, CIFF Opening Film The Room Next Doorby the renowned Spanish auteur Pedro Almodóvar, and based on the novel What Are You Going Through by American writer Sigrid Nunez, featuring acclaimed British & American actresses – Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore, respectively, as long-lostclose friends meeting again is a typical Pedrosque fare to revel and relish in.

The Seed of The Sacred Fig(Dane-ye anjir-e ma’abed) by the Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulos is a telling searing socio-political commentary on the Iranian society through the eyes of an investing judge who becomes paranoid following the loss of his gun.

Somalian director Mo Harawe’s The Village Next To Paradiseset in the Somalia’s countryside is a soulful saga of a father and son who have to contend with a family in turmoil following the arrival of the man’s sister seeking a fresh start following her divorce.

The Palestinian film To A Land Unknownby its director Mahdi Fleifel which has a rich haul of 17 awards in its kitty revolves around a Palestinian refugee living on the fringes of society in Athens who gets ripped off by a smuggler and sets out to seek revenge.

Among the other equally ensemble of engaging and entertaining films includes the erotic Brazilian thriller involving high octane dangerous games of desire, power and violence, Motel Destino by Karim Ainouz, the mushy Turkish romance detailing how young love evolves over the years while exploring the opposing sides of love and happiness.

The satirical sci-fi body horror thriller The Substance by the French director Coralie Fargeat with Demi Moore playing the fading celebrity who creates a much younger version of herself using spurious drug with horrific consequences.

The Golden Leopard Award winner at Locarno International Film Festival and the Golden Peacock & Best Actress Awards at IFFI, Goa, Lithunian flick Toxic(Akiplesa)by Saule Bliuvaite centres around two teen girls, one with a limp, aspiring for a better life from the bleakness of their hometown, bond at a local modeling school, which pushes girls to violate their bodies in increasingly extreme ways, the Tunisian film Who Do I Belong To (Mé el Aïn)by Meryam Joobeur about a mother trying to connect with her Jihadi son who returns from Syria with a woman.

The other from the contingent of nearly 65 plus contemporary international films one could explore include the Chinese film Above the Dust by Wang Xiaoshuai, All Shall Be Well by the Hong Kong director Ray Yeung, the festival closing filmAnorathe American romantic comedy drama by Sean Baker which bagged the Palm d’Or at Cannes and spotlights on the beleaguered marriage between Brooklyn exotic dancer Anora and Vanya Zakharov the son of a Russian oligarch, the Kazakh film Crickets, It’s Your Turn by Olga Korotko, and a host of other interesting and entertaining and engaging panoply of films.

However, the festival’s mainstay, the Tamil Feature Films Compention with 25 recently made films, has officiating jury their onerous task cut out to pick out the emerging winners since majority of them are as craftful as the other traversing a range of social themes and narrative styles vying for the discerning eyes of the juries panel as also die-hard audiences.

The 25 Tamil films in contention include Amaran, Boat, Bujji At Anupatti, Crimson Tales- Sevappi, Jama, Kottukkali, Kozhipannai Chelladurai, Lubber Pandhu, Maharaja, Meiyazhagan, Nandhan, Rasavathi- The Alchemist, Thangalaan, Vaazhai, Veppam Kulir Mazhai, Vettaiyan, Ayali, Demonte Colony, Garudan, Hotspot, Lockdown, Neela Nira Sooriyan, Parking, Teenz and Vallavan Vaguthadhada, majority of films which this critic and festival programmer has already watched.
The CIFF Indian Panorama Section has a medley mix of several Indian language films such as Level Cross – Malayalam, Jigarthanda DoubleX – Tamil, 12th Fail – Hindi, Bramayugam – Malayalam, Aadujeevitham: The Goat Life – Malayalam, Onko Ki Kothin – Bengali, Aamaar Boss – Bengali, Kishkindha Kaandam – Malayalam, ARM – Malayalam, Big Ben – Malayalam, Taarikh -Assam, Vishesham- Malayalam, None of her – Kannada, Jagat- Gujarati, 35 Chinna Katha Kaadu – Telugu, My Hero – Kannada & English.
While the World Cinema Competition will see Turkey’s Season of Love, Venezuela’s Tarkaari de chivo,
Tamil featureKinaru, Telugu films Hi Nanna and Committee Kurrollu, Hindi-German Happy, Hindi film Deewaar Ke Us Parm, Otta– Malayalam, 80 Plus– German, Sleeping With A Tiger– German, Iran’s Revayate nataman e-simaand In the Arms Of A Tree.

Among newly introduced academic exercise at CIFF this edition is the special premieres of select films which will be screened as part of ‘Master Talks’, wherein audiences will interact with the director post the screening on various aspects to promote film education and better understanding and appreciation of cinema and its aesthetics, besides the seminars, workshops and discussions and Q&A post screenings.
The 22nd edition of Chennai International Film, takes place from December 12 to 19, 2024, at three venues – Sathyam Cinemas and PVR Inox, Chennai City Centre and Russian Cultural Centre, will see a total of 125 films from around 50 countries audiences rooting for them.

Indeed, as actress Tilda Swinton, whose film The Room Next Door by Spanish cinema great Pedro Almodavar, kicks of the nine-day long CIFF festivities says, “film festivals are about film audiences, and about giving an audience the encouragement to feel really empowered and to stretch the elastic of their taste.”

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S VISWANATH is a veteran film critic who officiates as JURY at several National & International Film Festivals. He deputises as CHIEF CINEMA CURATOR/PROGRAMMER & CREATIVE ADVISOR for Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFes). He also curates & advises on the selection of shorts & documentaries for Bengaluru International Short Film Festival (BISFF). Mr Viswanath is the author of “RANDOM REFLECTIONS: A Kaleidoscopic Musings on Kannada Cinema”.