Happiness International Film Festival to open in Taliparamba on February 21

The third edition of the Happiness International Film Festival, organised by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, will open in Taliparamba on Saturday (February 21) with the acclaimed film It Was Just an Accident as the inaugural screening.

The three-day festival, which concludes on February 23, will be held at Classic, Classic Crown and Alinkeel Paradise theatres. A total of 34 selected films will be screened. Shows will begin at 9.45 a.m. each day, with four screenings daily at each venue. Open forums, an exhibition and cultural programmes will also be part of the event.

The opening film, directed by Jafar Panahi, won the Palme d’Or at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival and has received Oscar nominations for Best International Feature and Best Screenplay. It will be screened at 6 p.m. at Classic Theatre.

The festival will feature films selected from various sections of the 30th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) held in Thiruvananthapuram in December. These include World Cinema, Indian Cinema, Malayalam Cinema, Festival Favourites, Lifetime Achievement Award, Female Focus and the Palestinian package. The line-up includes six films from the international competition section and three Indian films.

Nine contemporary world cinema titles that won major honours at leading international festivals will be screened. The Festival Favourites section includes Sirat, A Poet and A Sentimental Value. The World Cinema category features The Things You Kill, The Love That Remains, DJ Ahmet, Riverstone, BEEF and Papa Book.

Two Palestinian films — Once Upon a Time in Gaza, directed by Tarzan and Arab Nasser, and Palestinian 36, directed by Annemarie Jacir — will also be screened. An open forum with filmmakers and critics will be held at 5 p.m. on February 22 and 23 at the Classic Theatre premises.

An exhibition titled The Subaltern Voice, marking the birth anniversary of legendary filmmaker Ritwik Ghatak, will be organised in collaboration with the Department of Information and Cultural Affairs, West Bengal. Around 100 photographs chronicling his life and cinematic journey will be displayed at Happiness Square.

Sufi musician Sameer Binsi will perform on February 21 at 6.30 p.m., while playback singer Zeva Tommy, winner of the 2024 Kerala State Film Award for Best Female Singer, will lead a music programme on February 22.

The closing ceremony will be held at 6 p.m. on February 23 at Classic Theatre. Academy Chairperson Resul Pookutty, Vice-Chairperson Kuku Parameswaran, Kerala State Film Development Corporation Chairperson K. Madhu and Cultural Workers Welfare Fund Board Chairperson Madhupal are expected to attend.