THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The 26th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) will come to a close on Friday after screening movies from around the globe for eight days. Minister KN Balagopal will inaugurate the concluding session of the festival, which has screened 173 films, including several award-winning films.

Bollywood actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui will be the chief guest of the function with writer T Padmanabhan as the special guest. Culture Minister Saji Cherian will present the film awards. Co-operation Minister VN Vasavan will present the media awards.

Adv VK Prashanth MLA, district panchayat president D Suresh Kumar, jury chairman Girish Kasaravalli, Netpak jury chairperson Reshmi Doraiswamy, FIPRESCI jury chairman Ashok Rane, KR Mohanan, endowment jury chairman Amrit Gangar, cultural department principal secretary Rani George, Chalachithra Akademi chairman Ranjith, secretary C Ajoy, vice chairman Premkumar and artistic director Beena Paul will be present. The film which won the gold medal will be screened at the festival.