Swathi Mutthina Male Haniye, Lineman, Kshetrapathi, among films in Kannada cinema competition section at BIFFes

The 15th edition of the Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFes) is set to be held between February 29 and March 7. This time around, the festival screenings are divided into 7 categories – Contemporary World Cinema, Retrospective, Asian Cinema Competition, Indian Cinema Competition, Critics Week, Kannada Cinema Competition and Country Focus (Germany).

There are 12 films lined up in the Kannada Cinema Competition, many of which were theatrical releases in 2023 and may not be available on any digital streaming platform yet. Here’s a look at the Kannada films that you can watch at the festival.

Nannu Ivala Abhimani

Directed by Vinod Kumar G, Naanu Ivala Abhimani is about the challenges faced by a young hearing-impaired girl, Lakkavva, who dreams of getting a cochlear implant. But then she is wrongly accused of a crime committed by her brother. Can she navigate through this and get her operation done?

Kshetrapati

Naveen Shankar is Basava, an engineer who gives up a cushy job and returns to his village, after his father, a farmer, commits suicide. How he then rallies to ensure farmers get the right price for their produce forms the crux of the movie by Shrikant Katagi.

Kandeelu – The Ray of Hope

K Yashoda Prakash’s film is about a poor farmer Seeba, whose dream of owning a farm and providing for his family goes up in smoke when the son he’d sent abroad dies and he is unable to bring back the body.

Lineman

Directed by Raghu V Shastry, Lineman follows Nata, a lineman in the electricity department, whose responsibility it is to look after the power load and handle the on/off power supply to his village. What happens when he refuses provide power for a special occasion forms the crux of the narrative.

Chow Chow Bath

Kenja Chethan Kumar’s film is a hyperlink romantic comedy featuring six protagonists in three stories that run parallelly in three different locations. Starring Sagar Gowda, Sushmita Bhat, Dhanush SB, Sankalp Sharma, among others.

Tatsama Tadbhava

Meghana Raj Sarja’s comeback film had her playing Arika, whose husband Sanjay goes missing. When he’s then found dead in the basement of their home, the needle of suspicion points towards Arika, although she seems to have a water tight alibi. Prajwal Devaraj plays the investigating officer who gets to the bottom of the mystery.

The Cycle of Death and Rebirth

This Tulu film by Amar L is about a heavily pregnant woman facing certain odds while having to spend a night alone, with the rest of the family away for a funeral.

Dooradarshana

Pruthvi Ambaar leads the cast of this film set in the 80s that follows what happens when a television set makes its way into a sleepy little village. Directed by Sukesh Shetty, the film also stars Sunder Veena, Raghu Ramanakoppa, Ugramm Manju, among others.

Swathi Mutthina Male Haniye

Director-actor Raj B Shetty plays Aniketh, a terminal cancer patient at a palliative care centre, where he encounters Prerana, a counsellor. The film produced by actress Ramya explores the meaning of love, life and human bonds.

All India Radio

S Rangaswamy’s film set in the 80s when the radio revolution happened, explores how a folk artiste’s life is impacted by the globalization of radio.

Ravike Prasanga

Director Santhosh Kodenkeri’s film starring Geetha Bharathi Bhat and Sampath Maitreya in the lead is about the protagonist’s struggle to get the blouse of her dreams done and how this pursuit not only ends in failure, but also means that she does not get to meet a prospective groom. Blaming the tailor for this, she then takes him to court.

Garuda Purana

Manjunath B Nagpa’s film centes on a string of rapes and murders across the state, perplexing authorities, as the bodies found, don't match the missing victims and hold on no clue about the missing victims.

The final schedule of screenings, which will be held at PVR Cinemas (Orion Mall), Rajkumar Kala Bhavan (Chamarajpet) and Suchitra Film Society (Banashankari) is yet to be announced. Delegate pass registration is currently open and can be availed online by visiting the festival’s official website. Passes will be issued within two days of registering and can be picked up at two locations – Orion Mall or Kala Bhavan.