The city’s growing stature as the hub of Malayalam film industry received a boost with the proposed film post-production centre at Kadavanthra figuring in the budget.
The State Chalachithra Academy will take the lead in setting up the new complex on the land owned by the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA). The five-storey building will have two floors dedicated to indoor shooting. The focus area of the post-production centre will be the provision of modern facilities for dubbing, editing, and colour grading, according to senior officials of the Department of Culture.
With a major chunk of film shooting and post-production work getting shifted to Kochi, the department hopes that the centre will attract the attention of filmmakers and technicians. A section of outdoor equipment at the Chitranjali studio in Thiruvananthapuram will be shifted to the proposed centre. It will be given on rent for film production, the officials said.
Boost for Biennale
Meanwhile, the Kochi Biennale Foundation (KBF) welcomed the ₹7-crore allocation for the Kochi Biennale in the budget. KBF treasurer Bonny Thomas said the fifth edition of the Biennale could not be held in December owing to the pandemic crisis. “We now hope that it could be held in November this year. The Biennale will be a major boost to the State’s cultural and tourism sectors,” he added.
The budget earmarked ₹50 lakh for elevating the 175-year-old headquarters of Chavara Elias Kuriakose at Koonammavu into a museum. Father Francis Dixon Fernandez, priest at St. Philomena’s Forane Church at Koonammavu, said the museum would showcase the teachings and works of Chavara Elias Kuriakose. “It will also chronicle the history of the Varapuzha Archdiocese and Koonammavu,” he added.
