16th International Documentary And Short Film Festival Of Kerala Announces Its Jury Members

The 16th International Documentary & Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK), organised by Kerala State Chalchitra Academy under the Department of Cultural Affairs Government of Kerala, will be held in Thiruvananthapuram from July 26 to 31. Internationally renowned documentary filmmaker Rakesh Sharma will serve as Jury Chairman for the Non-Fiction category at the 16th IDSFFK. Whereas, the screenwriter and director Urmi Juvekar has been appointed as Jury Chairperson for the Fiction category in this film festival. IDSFFK will have different categories including long and short documentary competitions, Malayalam Non-Competition Long Documentary, Music Video, International Non-Fiction, Animation and many others.

Filmmaker Rakesh Sharma is popular for his documentary on the 2002 Gujarat riots titled Final Solution. It won the National Award in the category of Special Jury Award for non-feature film in 2005. It also clinched several awards at several international festivals including Berlin, Hong Kong and Zanzibar. Rakesh Sharma started his television career as the assistant director of Shyam Benegal’s Bharat Ek Khoj. He also played an instrumental role in the launch of television channels like Channel V and Star Plus India. His documentary After Shocks: The Rough Guide to Democracy has been screened in over 100 international festivals.

Urmi Juvekar is the screenwriter of films like Oye Lucky Lucky Oye and I Am, winning the National Awards in 2009 and 2012, respectively. Urmi, who worked as the creative producer of the critically acclaimed Love Sex Aur Dokha, has also scripted films like Shanghai and Detective Byomkesh Bakshi. Urmi directed the documentary The Shillong Chamber Choir and the Little Home School. She is also the creator of the Netflix web series Laila.

Film editor Jabeen Merchant and director and editor Pankaj Rishikumar are members of the non-fiction category. Both have graduated from the Pune Film Institute. Jabeen Merchant has edited films like Lapata Ladies, NH10, Manorama Six Feet Under, Shoebox and documentaries by Deepa Dhanraj, Shabnam Sukhdev, Paromita Vohra and Surabhi Sharma. Pankaj Rishikumar was an assistant editor on Shekhar Kapur’s Bandit Queen. After his first film, Kumar Talkee, he produced, directed, edited and did cinematography for films like In God’s Land, Seeds of Descent and The Vote.