Thiruvananthapuram: The silver jubilee edition of the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) will commence on Wednesday at Nishagandhi auditorium here. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the festival at 6 in the evening.

The event will be presided over by Minister for Cultural Affairs A K Balan. Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan will be the chief guest of the event. MLAs V K Prashanth and M Mukesh, former chairman of KSCA T K Rajeev Kumar will attend the event.

Veteran filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard is to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award for this year. In his absence, ace filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan will accept the award on Jean-Luc Godard's behalf at the inaugural function.

Thiruvananthapuram Mayor Arya Rajendran will release a book on Jean-Luc Godard by handing over a copy to Thiruvananthapuram District Panchayat President D Suresh Kumar. MLA V K Prasanth will release the Festival Handbook by handing it over to T K Rajeev Kumar.

Culture department secretary Rani George, KSCA chairman and Festival Director Kamal, vice chairperson Beena Paul and secretary C Ajoy will also participate. The inaugural function will be followed by the screening of the opening film 'Quo Vadis, Aida?'

A total 2500 passes have been issued in Thiruvananthapuram region. As many as 2164 seats have been arranged across five theatres in the city. Apart from the screening of films, the IFFK will also host online forums and events.