Selfies, it seems, have been creating quite a lot of problems for those who are not intended to be in these photographs, but somehow end up being in there, thanks to the crowded festival venues. Many delegates have been taken by surprise after seeing themselves in the selfies posted by strangers in social media. IFFK festival office has been receiving a lot of complaints over this issue. Though taking selfies is perfectly fine, the ones taking them would do well to be mindful of the intrusion into the privacy of those sitting around. Exploring a better angle could be a solution.
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The previous edition of the IFFK was known as one that was largely bereft of technical glitches. Sadly, this time around, complaints have cropped up regarding problems relating to the reservation facility, particularly through the IFFK mobile app. Many festival-goers, who reserved their seats for screenings, were in for a rude shock as they were informed by the volunteers that they did not figure in the list of reservations. Those who were at the receiving end of such flaws had to wait outside the cinema halls until all others took their seats. In some theatres though, delegates were let in if they showed the reservation history in their IFFK mobile app.
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Reserving your seats early seems to be a sin as far as Tagore theatre is concerned. The balcony at Tagore is not ideally suited for viewing films. So, delegates usually prefer to occupy the seats in the ground floor. However, those who have reserved their seats here are asked to occupy the balcony by the organisers, as the large crowd in the unreserved queue can be better managed at the ground floor, which has a lot more space. So, at Tagore, go unreserved is the slogan now.
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While delegates are in a mad frenzy to make it to the movies of their choice, certain other attractions of the festival are being forgotten, such as the Designer's Attic, an exhibition of cinema posters, designs and publications of the Malayalam cinema industry. Curated by Director Lijin Jose, the exhibition and the video installation along with it aims at bringing to light the lesser known aspects of moviemaking. However, not many seem to be making use of the same.
(Contributed by Sarath Babu George, S.R.Praveen, Sreelakshmi Sivaraman)
