Veteran cinematographer Agnès Godard, known for her frequent collaborations with renowned French filmmaker Claire Denis, has been named the head of the international jury of the 29th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK).
A multiple Cesar Award nominee, Godard is the recipient of the Best Cinematography Cesar award for Claire Denis's 'Beau Travail'.
Agnès Godard underwent training in cinematography at the IDHEC in Paris, following which she worked, in the 1980s, as a camera assistant for noted film technicians such as Henri Alekan, Sacha Vierny, Robby Müller and others.
She kicked off her career as a principal cinematographer for filmmakers like Claire Denis, Agnès Varda, Wim Wenders, Peter Greenaway, Noémie Lvosky, Catherine Corsini, Tonie Marshall, Ursula Meier, André Téchiné, Peter Handke, Claude Berry, Emmanuele Crialese, Erick Zoncka, Fabrice Gobert, Sébastien Lifschitz, and Emmanuelle Bercot.
Agnes Godard is a member of AMPAS (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences). The other international jury members are Monjul Baruah (Assam), Nana Djordjadze (Georgia), Marcos Loayza (Bolivia), and Mikayel Dovlatyan (Armenia).
A film that each jury member has worked on will be screened as part of the festival. They are: 'Beau Travail', for which Agnes Godard cranked the camera; Nana Djordjadze's 'A Chef in Love’; Mikael Dovlatyan's 'Labyrinth'; Monjul Baruah's 'Eyes on the Sunshine' and Marcos Loayza's 'Averno'.
This time, the international competition category of the IFFK will feature 14 films, to be judged by the five-member jury.
Meanwhile, the IFFK has planned to honour Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia with the Spirit of Cinema Award and veteran Asian filmmaker Ann Hui with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
The 29th edition of the IFFK will run from Dec 13 to Dec 20.