The State government should provide a subsidy of Rs.20 lakh for Malayalam movies with artistic value.
The Kerala State Chalachitra Academy should be authorised to identify such movies made in a year.
This was among the demands made at a press conference held here on Saturday by a group of directors who have set up a ‘Film Makers Forum for Better Films'.
In Maharashtra
Forum general secretay Sasi Paravoor pointed out that in Maharashtra every film made in Marathi got a government subsidy of Rs.40 lakh.
This had led to a quantum jump in the number of Marathi films.
It is ironical that in Kerala, filmmakers are required to provide English subtitles for their movies so that the chairman of an awards committee - hailing from some other State - can understand what the movie is all about. No filmmaker from Kerala goes and judges movies for awards given by other State governments. Only in Kerala is a filmmaker has to cough up Rs.1 lakh to get sub-titles for his movie, director T.V. Chandran pointed out.
Academy's role
Forum president Lenin Rajendran told press persons that the title registration and publicity clearance needed for a film prior to its censoring should also be done by the academy and not by bodies such as the Film Chamber of Commerce.
The State government should provide special subsidies and exemption from entertainment tax to those movies which win awards at the State, national or international level.
“The government should act to ensure that at least government theatres are available to show quality movies,” he said.
The government should also consider instituting a film market during the IFFK to showcase Malayalam movies, the forum said in a memorandum to Minister for Culture M.A. Baby.
