Koozhangal to compete at the Singapore International Film Festival

Koozhangal, directed by PS Vinothraj, will be screened at the Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) in the Asian Feature Film Competition next month. Set in Madurai, the film depicts a turbulent afternoon in the desert where a father and his young son search for the boy's mother.

The Tamil film, also known by its English title Pebbles, was recently chosen as India’s entry to the Oscars in the Best International Film category. The award-winning film was picked over the Hindi films Sherni and Sardar Udham and Marathi films Godavari and Karkhanisanchi Waari, the Malayalam film Nayattu and the Tamil satire Mandela.

Produced by Vignesh Shivn and Nayanthara, Koozhangal will compete against nine other features including the Bangladeshi film Rehana Maryam Noor, which has also been selected for the Best International Film category. Panah Panahi's Hit The Road and Kamila Andini's Yuni are also part of the competition.

Payal Kapadia's docu-fictional feature film A Night Of Knowing Nothing will also be screened in the Undercurrents section. The filmmaker has already won the best documentary award at Cannes this year.

The 32nd edition of the festival will be a physical, in-person event being held from 25 November to 5 December this year. Last year it had a mix of online and offline events.

The executive director of the festival, Emily J Hoe, told Variety.com, “If 2020 was the year we stepped out of our comfort zones to make SGIFF a hybrid format, I am proud to say we have come full circle emerging stronger than ever and taking the gathering back to the cinemas, where we experience the true magic of cinema."

SGIFF will open with Indonesian filmmaker Edwin’s black comedy action drama Vengeance is Mine, All Others Pay Cash.