The six-day Regional International Film Festival of Kerala (RIFFK) came to a close here on Thursday with the delegates at an open forum on the final day seeking a separate character for regional film festivals.
Archana Padmini and Mammad M. of Montage Film Society, Manjeri, Malappuram, said that regional film festivals should have an ethnic character of their own and should not be an extension of the IFFK. K. Gopinathan, critic, said that the focus should be on the content of films, not on their numbers. Civic Chandran, activist, said that the cultural representations from foreign countries such as cuisine and attire should accompany screening of internationally-acclaimed foreign movies.
Chelavoor Venu, cultural activist, said at the open forum that the academy should help small film societies conduct film festivals at a time copy right issues were cropping up from film producers. “It is now easy to download a movie from the Internet and show it at a festival. But, some of the film societies are facing legal problems from distributors. The academy should help such societies,” he added.
Beena Paul, vice-chairperson, Kerala Chalachitra Academy, said the event in Kozhikode had been organised retaining the values of the International Film Festival of Kerala, being held at Thiruvananthapuram. It was also aimed at reducing the crowd at IFFK.
“This year’s festival in Kozhikode was as good as IFFK, in terms of organisation and delegates' participation. It is all set to become an important event in the film calendar of the State,” she said. Ms. Paul pointed out that films which were not screened at IFFK, which had more regional characteristics, too were shown here. “We will try to continue the festival here next year too,” she added. As many as 53 films, including three documentaries, were shown at the festival.
