With the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy deciding to do away with the Open Forum, citing unruly behaviour of participants among other reasons, the Federation of Film Societies of India (FFSI) has decided to organise a parallel open forum during the 17th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) that began here on Friday.
Federation Kerala unit president and film-maker K.R. Mohanan said the parallel open forum would be held adjacent to the main venue at the Kairali, Sri, Nila theatre complex.
PG Pavilion
The forum, to be named PG Pavilion, will come alive at 5 p.m. on Sunday as a mark of protest against the academy’s decision to discontinue the open forum, which has been widely considered Kerala’s contribution to international film festivals in India.
The open forum came into being with the first international film festival in Thiruvananthapuram called Filmotsav in 1988 and was held under the shamiana in the forecourt of the Government Guest House at Thycaud.
The late P. Govinda Pillai, who passed away recently, then the chairman of the Kerala State Film Development Corporation, had fully endorsed and promoted the idea. Cinema was also one of his major areas of study. The decision to name the venue of the FFSI’s open forum after Govinda Pillai had been taken to honour his memory, Mr. Mohanan told The Hindu .
