The director, a close friend of Latin American author Gabriel Garcia Marquez, was the chief guest at the function held at the Nisagandhi auditorium here. Littin was one among several hundred Chilean leaders who fled the country after the 1973 military coup by General Pinochet. However he returned with a false identity and a false wife, after 12 years, to film the turmoil in his country. Littin directed three European film crews and six Chilean crews and even shot footage inside the general’s office. The result is a two-hour feature film which has been exhibited the world over.

It was Littin’s undercover life in Chile that features in Marquez’s book Clandestine in Chile, several thousand copies of which were confiscated and burnt by the Chilean authorities. Littin recalls that the book was the result of several hours of interviews and a weeklong interrogation. His latest film The Last Moon depicts the life in the concentration camps of Palestine through the relationship between a Palestine and a Hebrew.

He also plans to make a film on Tagore’s travel to Peru, Argentina and Patagonia.The festival formally opened on Friday evening with the Iranian film Buddha Collapsed Out of Shame directed by Hana Makhmalbaf, the 19-year-old daughter of renowned filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf.

Actors Naseeruddin Shah, who is also a jury member and Mohanlal were among those present on the occasion. About 230 films from 54 countries are to be screened at the week-long festival. As many as 133 film makers, including those abroad, are attending the film fest. The competition section has 14 films, including Naalu Pennungal (Four Women) directed by noted filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan.