The International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) had over the past two decades managed to foster a community of viewers who keenly watch world cinema, Agriculture Minister V.S. Sunil Kumar said.
He was addressing the gathering after inaugurating an event to announce the arrival of the 21st edition of the IFFK here on the Shanghumughom beach on Sunday.
“I had participated in the first edition of the festival as a viewer, watching cinema over the full length of the festival. The changes over time are pretty drastic. In the early days, only a select set of people participated in it. Now, there is huge participation from the student community. The government’s and the Chalachitra Academy’s aim is to take the festival to more people. No other State has such a film festival organised by the government,” said the Minister.
On the occasion, the Minister released 21 balloons into the sky, to signify the 21st edition. Actor P.Sreekumar released the official posters of the festival.
Filmmaker T.K. Rajeev Kumar said it was important that artistes from the Malayalam film industry participated in the festival.
Chalachitra Academy chairperson Kamal said the festival has now become the biggest not just in the country, but even in Asia, considering the number of delegates who have registered for it.
Academy vice chairperson and Artistic Director of the festival Bina Paul Venugopal spoke.
Touring Talkies , a mobile film venture of the Academy, concluded its journey on the beach. The talkies began its journey on November 1 at Kasaragod, with the co-operation of film societies of districts and screened 14 films that bagged the Golden Crow Pheasant Award at the previous film festivals.
The event concluded with a musical performance by the Thrissur-based band ‘Oorali’ and the screening of the film Ottal , directed by Jayaraj.
