The eight-day International Film Festival of Kerala 2022 concluded in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday, on which day the best films and best filmmakers were also announced. The Bolivian film Utama, directed by Alejandro Loayza Grisi bagged the Suvarna Chakora award, while Mahesh Naratanan's Ariyippu received the Netpac award for the best Malayalam film, which was screened during the festival. Lijo Jose Pellissery's Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam received the audience poll award.
Ahead of the announcement of movies that bagged the awards, as many as 15 movies were screened on the closing day of the festival. This includes Jafar Panahi’s No Bears, Opium, Paloma, Promise Me This, and The Novelists Film. On the closing day, delegates were allowed to watch movies without reservation. Everything to know about Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam Speaking of the Malayalam movies that received awards, Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam is a Tamil-Malayalam bilingual drama, which was premiered at the festival. The film stars Mammooty and Ramya Pandiyan of Tamil Bigg Boss fame in the lead roles. The film marked the first collaboration between Mammootty and Jose Pellissery after years of speculations and reports. Being bankrolled by the veteran actor under his newly-formed production house, Mammootty Kampany, Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam (which loosely translates to "daydreaming") had its script penned by Hareesh. Everything about Ariyippu On the other hand, Ariyippu featuring Kunchacko Boban, Divya Prabha, Danish Husain, Loveleen Mishra, and Faizal Malik in pivotal roles was directed by Mahesh Narayanan. The film is produced by Shebin Backer, under the banner of Shebin Backer Productions, Kunchacko Boban under the banner of Kunchacko Boban Productions and Mahesh Narayanan himself under the Moving Narratives banner. Other Malayalam movies that were screened during the festival are, Vannavar, Kamal K M’s Pada, Pratheesh Prasad’s Normal, Aravind H’s Great Depression, Rarish G's Vettapattikalum Ottakkarum, Sidharth Siva’s Aanu, Satheesh and Santhosh Babusenan’s Barthavum Bharyayum Maricha Randumakkalum, Priyanandan T Rs Dhabari Kuravi, Freedom Fight and 19 (A)(1) to name a few. Meanwhile, a couple of days back police have registered a case against a few audiences those who protested at the venue. The protest started when some audience did not find enough place at Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam.