'Lokah' selected for BIFAN International film festival

Director Dominic Arun's blockbuster Malayalam film 'Lokah - Chapter 1 - Chandra', featuring actress Kalyani Priyadarshan in the lead, has now been selected for the prestigious BIFAN (Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival) 2026.

The film has also been selected for the 23rd Indian Film Festival Stuttgart 2026, its makers announced on Wednesday.

Taking to its X timeline, Wayfarer Films, which is owned by actor Dulquer Salmaan, wrote, "We are thrilled to announce that our film has been selected for: BIFAN (Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival) 2026, 23rd Indian Film Festival Stuttgart 2026."

For the unaware, the film, which was billed as Malayalam cinema's first female superhero film, went on to set the cash registers ringing, raking in over a whopping Rs 300 crore globally.

The film, which came in for much critical acclaim, also received a lot of love from audiences. In fact, the outpouring of love was so huge that actress Kalyani Priyadarshan penned a note of gratitude to both the audience and her film unit.

At the time of her film's collections going past the Rs 200 crore mark, the actress took to her Instagram page to pen the post. In it, she had said, "Yesterday, our film reached a number that was only possible because of you, the audience. I’m beyond speechless, and truly beyond grateful for the love being showered on this film. In our industry, content has always been king, the biggest star of all - and once again, you’ve proved that to us. Thank you for giving us the chance to show that stories with vision will always find their place with you."

The actress had a special word of appreciation for her director Dominic Arun.

She had said, "And @dominic_arun (our Dom)… thank you for giving us a vision we could believe in with our whole hearts. You’re the reason we were all so excited to give everything we had - and it’s safe to say none of this would have been possible without you. To the most amazing cast and crew…this win feels special for me only because I have you guys to share it with."

The film was produced by Dulquer Salmaan's production house, Wayfarer Films, as part of a superhero series.

Written and directed by Dominic Arun, the film had cinematography by Nimish Raviand and editing by Chaman Chakko. Music for the film was by music composer Jakes Bejoy. The film had action sequences choreographed by one of the best in the world, Yannick Ben. Additional Screenplay and dramaturgy for the film were by Santhy Balachandran, while art direction for the film was by Jithu Sebastian.