The demand for delegate passes for the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK), it appears, can never be met, going by the pace at which delegate registration is closing down. On Tuesday, when the Chalachitra Academy offered cinema lovers one more opportunity to register themselves as delegates, by making available 1,000 more passes in the general category on its website, it all disappeared in a matter of 20 minutes.
When the registrations for the general category first opened last month, 7,000 delegate passes were booked in just four hours. Several long-time delegates of the festival had complained that could not register their names for the festival, which prompted the organisers to find a way to accommodate 1,000 more.
One more cinema — Ajanta Theatre — was rented out for the purpose, thus taking the combined seating capacity across 15 theatres to 8,848, which is expected to be sufficient to accommodate all the 11,000 delegates.
The inauguration of the delegate cell and the distribution of delegate passes for the festival, which was postponed following the calamity caused by the cyclonic storm will begin at the main venue at Tagore Theatre at 11 a.m. on Wednesday. Fourteen counters have been set up for the purpose.
There will be a separate counter for enquiries and for technical support.
