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Photo: S. Mahinsha

On a roll Bina Paul Venugopal says that the cine-literate audience in the State has made IFFK a celebration of cinema

“It is team work,” insists Bina. “We at the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, which organises the festival, recognise that we have been given an important space that has been created to showcase films that would not have been accessible to our viewers. Our aim is to expose viewers to films outside Hollywood, Bollywood and so on. For instance, when do we get an opportunity to see a film from Tunisia or Morocco?”

And going by the kind of films screened over the years, the Academy certainly has a lot to feel pleased about. But Bina feels that it is the cine-literate audience in the State that has made IFFK a celebration of cinema.

“It has to do with attitude, involvement, empowerment and participation. We wanted to remove the exclusivity that was earlier attached to films festivals. Moreover, the sheer variety of films ensures that there is something for each viewer,” she says.

Agreeing that ensuring the quality of the package of films that are screened is a major responsibility, Bina adds: “One has to choose films that will cater to the audience. An audience that has already been exposed to filmmakers such as Kim Ki-duk, Makhmalbaf, and so on. But it has been a great joy and challenge to screen films from places such as Africa, Latin America, the Maghreb countries ….

It is fascinating to watch how women filmmakers from conservative societies are making films that convey so much more than mere stories.”

Pointing out that one of the attractions of this year’s fete would be a package of films made by women directors from Latin America, Beena says that these films have a flamboyance that might be missing in a film made in Morocco or Tunisia.

Playing down the fact that her being a woman could have played a role in the selection of films and the character of the festival, she says, “I have never thought of my gender being a factor. But yes, it could have been a factor that might have made a palpable difference but not the only one,” she says laughing.

Much more than gender, Beena, an alumna, of Film and Television Institute of India, feels that it is her training and work as a film editor that has definitely helped her in her work as the artistic director.

But she adds that her work as artistic director and film editor has also benefited from the exposure to acclaimed directors, films and festivals.

Naturally, she is pleased that the festival has won the accolades of filmmakers in India. “For instance Ketan Mehta is a votary of the festival in Mumbai. Many international film-makers such as Abbas Kiarostami were bowled over by the participation and level of awareness of the delegates.

“But as a cineaste and an organiser I am worried about the future of the festival.

It is not about the number of the films or delegates. We have to devise a growth strategy.

“Technological changes, screening facilities, digital revolution… all these will have to be factored in. Should we have a market to sell films?

There are many questions to be resolved. The Pusan festival is only as old as us but look where they are today. We need our own complex; a blueprint for the future.”

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