Organized by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, the third annual Happiness International Film Festival will kick off the award-winning film It Was Just an Accident as the inaugural screening at Taliparamba on Saturday (February 21).
The three-day festival, which will end on February 23, will be held at Classic, Classic Crown and Alinkeel Paradise theatres. A total of 34 selected films will be screened. Performances will begin at 9:45 a.m. each day, with four screenings per day at each location. The event will also include open forums, an exhibition and cultural programs.
The opening film, directed by Jafar Panahi, won the Palme d’Or at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for the Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film and Best Screenplay. It will be shown at 6 pm in the Classic Theatre.
The festival will showcase 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 Palestine Package. The offer includes six films from the international competition section and three Indian films.
Nine titles of contemporary world cinema will be presented, which have received important awards at leading international festivals. The Festival Favorites section includes Sirat, A Poet and A Sentimental Value. In the World Cinema category you will find The Things You Kill, The Love That Remains, DJ Ahmet, Riverstone, BEEF and Papa Book.
Two Palestinian films will also be screened — Once Upon a Time in Gaza, directed by Tarzan and Arab Nasser, and Palestinian 36, directed by Annemarie Jacir. An open forum with filmmakers and critics will be held on February 22 and 23 at 5 p.m. in the Classic theater.
An exhibition titled The Subaltern Voice on the birth anniversary of legendary filmmaker Ritwik Ghatak will be organized in collaboration with the Department of Information and Cultural Affairs, West Bengal. Around 100 photographs depicting his life and film journey will be exhibited at Náměstí štěšice.
Sufi musician Sameer Binsi will perform on February 21 at 6:30 pm, while playback singer Zeva Tommy, winner of the 2024 Kerala State Film Award for Best Female Singer, will lead the musical program on February 22.
The closing ceremony will be held on February 23 at 6 pm in the Classic Theatre. Academy Chairman Resul Pookutty, Vice Chairman Kuku Parameswaran, Kerala State Film Development Corporation Chairman K. Madhu and Cultural Workers Welfare Fund Board Chairman Madhupal are expected to attend.
Published – 20 Feb 2026 21:34 IST