Shaji N. Karun
Shaji N. Karun.
Photo: H. Vibhu
As the first chairman of the Chalachitra Academy, each IFFK is always special. Under my watch, the first IFFK was held in Kozhikode, the second in Kochi and the third in Thiruvananthapuram. I am still in favour of a travelling festival.
I was instrumental in giving shape to the first Aravindan lecture and it gives me great pleasure to see it gain strength and importance every year. We chose the emblem of the crow pheasant for the Academy and, inspired by Aravindan’s film, the motif of the shadow puppet for the IFFK.
What gladdens me is the presence of the largest number of delegates for any film festival in India. That showcases the democratic nature of the IFFK.
But it is not correct to equate the success of the festival with the number of delegates. When there is such a crowd, it is the authorities’ responsibility to hone the cine tastes of viewers. I wonder if that is always happening.
Yet, its nature as a people’s festival justifies the organisation of a festival of this nature.
(As told to Saraswathy Nagarajan)
Sanju Surendran
Sanju Surendran Photo: Special arrangement
It was just after graduation that I first attended IFFK. I remember meeting many filmmakers and being in awe of them and the films I watched. Then, in 2007, my diploma film, Theeram , based on a short story by Priya A.S., was screened at the fête - in those days shorts and documentaries used to be screened too, in addition to feature films. That was an incredibly proud moment for me. In 2009, I got the opportunity to make the signature film. It was one that showcased the filmmaking process, told through the journey of a film strip riding on the rhythm of waves. The most memorable moments, however, was listening to the Aravindan Memorial Lecture by the legendary Mani Kaul. He was talking about how cinema is a temporal medium and being a huge fan of Aravindan, he made many references to the filmmaker’s works. What an eye-opener it was!
(As told Nita Sathyendran)
Vipin Vijay
Vipin Vijay Photo: Shehnad Jalal
The controversy and the debate surrounding the signature film I made for IFFK 2007 remain as a moment to look back on. I think it’s about the vision of the film not its explanation that people found problematic, probably. I was aware of the digital uncertainty, a kind of new information capitalism that might take shape in the next 10 years. In some sense it was an alarm. It was a Trojan horse carrying subversive messages. I feel that cinema can only deal with things that you are close by; by things that you address at an immediate level. It is humanly impossible to have a complete vision of the globe. One can only see things in abstraction and rarefaction. Year after year, the signature film gets mentioned in the media and by cineastes during IFFK. Now, that I look back it was in that period that I decided to make my first feature film, which again explored the digital aesthetics situated within a post-human consciousness. I am thankful to the IFFK to have had faith in cinematographic rigour, which also reassures the fact for me today that cinema can only be looked at from its rootedness and from a close proximity.
(As told to Nita Sathyendran)
Sanal Kumar Sasidharan
Sanal Kumar Sasidharan
Becoming a filmmaker was my ultimate aim but I didn’t know how to go about it. It was the IFFK that showed me the right direction, especially Polish director Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Dekalog , a collection of 10 one-hour films. I think it was screened in one of editions in the late 90s or early 2000. I was so overwhelmed after watching those movies! I felt like, ‘Wow! This is what cinema is about!’
The movies broke all my notions and concepts about filmmaking. Those films gave a jolt to my sensibility and changed my approach to filmmaking. In fact, I am what I am today because of those movies. It was in 2014 that my movie, Oralpokkam , was screened at the IFFK. But the best moment for me would be watching Dekalog . There have been other memorable moments such as watching the films of Kim Ki-Duk. Films of Mohsen Makhmalbaf also left behind a lasting impression.
(As told to Athira M.)
