Their seventh visit together to IFFK

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: For Henk Erkamp and John O’leary, the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) is not just about watching good movies, but a grim reminder of the fate that united them. The friends, who were on their seventh visit together to the festival, were present on the inaugural day of the festival on Friday in Thiruvananthapuram.Peddling from one venue to the other on their bicycles, the duo seemed to be enjoying the splendour of the festival to the maximum. Henk, a native of Holland, who has been a regular presence at the festival for the past 12 years, said it was after meeting John, who is from England, in 2004 that they started attending the festival together.“There is a reason behind that. Both of us cannot forget the day we met for the first time. I was here in Thiruvananthapuram to watch the ninth edition of the IFFK. Though it concluded on December 17, 2004, I decided to spend a couple of weeks more here. During my stay here, I met John. On December 26, he asked me to join for a bicycle ride from Kovalam to Poovar, and I agreed. It was only half an hour after we left the shore that the tsunami struck. It was a narrow escape and that December 26 united us,” said the Dutch. The friends usually bring their favourite cycles along with them. Henk owns a latest Holland-made Gazelle while John has an Airnimal Chameleon. “Both are folding travel bicycles. We bought them from our places,” says John. Regarding IFFK, John said the festival was getting better and better every year. “The quality of the films screened are really good and the atmosphere here is terrific,” he said.  Henk said the hospitality he received and the good organising coupled with the quality of the films prompted him to come every year for the festival. For him, the festival is also a stress-relieving time from his job as a government employee in Holland.“This year, I came to Thiruvananthapuram in September itself to skip the winter in Holland. I took a house for rent and John came along with his family later,” Henk said. The friends go for bicycle riding five times a day and has already covered 31,200 km together during this trip. “And for travelling from one venue to another, we use our bicycles because it is not time consuming and will help us catch the movies that we want to watch on time,” said John.