Controversies have had a long-running affinity to the Chalachitra Academy and its film festival. Filmmaker Kamal, the new academy chairman, got involved in a minor controversy recently, when he made a comment on the ‘limited influence’ of the film society movement in the State in his first press meet.
He said film societies in the State have had influence only among a small section of the film viewing public, and that there was a need to get organisations like Kudumbasree involved in taking classic films to the masses.
Those involved with the film society movement for years have not taken kindly to these comments. “Adoor Gopalakrishnan formed the first film society in the State more than 50 years ago. Till then, hardly anyone in Kerala had an idea about good cinema and world cinema. Film societies sprouted across the State, introducing us all to a new way of seeing. The societies had to face difficulties, including lack of funds and no screening space. But, it has paid dividends in the form of the International Film Festival and through the new filmmakers, who learned cinema through these societies,” says V.K. Joseph, secretary of the Kerala chapter of the Federation of Film Societies of India.
He also points at how the film societies played a key role in developing Malayalam subtitles for classic films and in forming the curriculum for film studies.
“Yes, there are limitations. But to tide over these, the academy needs to work with the societies. It can, for example, buy the copyrights of good films from other languages, develop Malayalam subtitles and screen them,” says Mr. Joseph.
Following the debates on the issue, Kamal has clarified his comments, saying that film societies are very much part of the academy’s scheme of things. The intention is to screen classic films through Kudumbasree neighbourhood groups, so that women, currently caught in television soaps, are exposed to good cinema.
(Reporting by S.R. Praveen)
