Adoor Gopalakrishnan

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Adoor Gopalakrishnan Unnithan (b. Adoor, Pathanamthitta district, Kerala, South India, July 3, 1941) is an internationally known Indian film director. His films are made in the Malayalam language.

Contents 1 Awards and Milestones 2 Documentaries and New Cinema movement 3 Important films 4 External links

[edit] Awards and Milestones

Some of the awards Gopalakrishnan has won for his films:

• Dadasaheb Phalke Award - Lifetime Achievement Award in Film awarded by the Government of India (2005).
• National Film Awards - various categories for Swayamvaram, Kodiyettam, Elippathayam, Anantharam, Mathilukal, Vidheyan, Kathapurushan and Nizhalkkuthu.
• International Film Critics Prize (FIPRESCI) - won consecutively for five feature films.
• London Film Festival - Sutherland Trophy - in 1982 for Elippathayam
• British Film Institute Award - Most Original Imaginative Film of 1982 - Elipathayam
• Padma Vibhushan - second highest civilian award from Government of India
• Padma Sri

[edit] Documentaries and New Cinema movement

Apart from nine feature films, he has over 30 short films and documentaries to his credit. All the nine films he directed, from Swayamvaram to Nizhalkkuthu, were screened at many international film festivals and won him many national and international awards. The Helsinki Film Festival was the first film festival to have a retrospective of his films. He has headed the jury at the National Film Awards and many international film festivals.

Apart from his films, Adoor's major contribution towards introducing a new cinema culture in Kerala was the constitution of the first Film Society in Kerala, "Chalachitra." He also took active part in the constitution of "Chitralekha," Kerala's first Film Co-operative Society for film production. These movements triggered a fresh wave of good films, called "art films," by directors like G Aravindan, PA Becker, KG George, Pavithran, and Raveendran. At a time this movement was so strong that even the popular cinema had to make synthesis with art cinema to create a new genre of films.

Adoor is an alumnus of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII).

[edit] Important films

• 1972 - Swayamvaram (One's Own Choice) - Direction, story and script (with Kumaran)
• 1977 - Kodiyettam (Ascent) - Direction, story and script
• 1981 - Elippathayam (Rat Trap) - Direction, story and script
• 1984 - Mukhamukham (Face to Face) - Direction and script
• 1987 - Anantharam (Monologue)
• 1989 - Mathilukal (Walls)
• 1993 - Vidheyan (The Docile)
• 1995 - Kathapurushan (The Protagonist)
• 2000 - Kalamandalam Gopi (documentary)
• 2003 - Nizhalkkuthu (Shadow Kill)

[edit] External links

• Adoor Gopalakrishnan at the Internet Movie Database
• Adoor's oeuvre
• Adoor in Action collection of photos of Adoor