This Kozhikode collective sells posters at IFFK to fund debut feature
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Amid the crowd of moviebuffs at Tagore Theatre, one of the main venues of the 29th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK), a group of young people is selling posters in a corner. Delegates can be seen choosing and buying posters of their favourite films here.
What looks like a small business is actually run by a Kozhikode-based film collective raising funds for their movie production.
The collective, called Baraka, started four years ago with just four members and has now grown to more than 20. They focus on independent filmmaking and supporting other filmmakers. To raise money, they sell posters and take up other small jobs.
Baraka already made several short films. Their first feature film, Kakkatholayiram Communistkar, is now in post-production. And to fund the film, they are selling posters at Tagore Theatre.
Kakkatholayiram Communistkar tells the story of a protest in a small village in Kerala to show solidarity with Palestine. The movie is shot in black and white in a 4:3 format.
"The film is very political. We want to make movies that talk about revolution. People are becoming less interested in politics and becoming apolitical these days, so we think it’s important to speak about it loudly," said Adarsh P K, co-director of the film and a member of the collective.
Baraka hopes to submit the film to IFFK once it is complete and dreams of it being selected for screening.
"The idea to sell posters came from our circle because we already make posters, and we have in-house artists. We sell movie posters, photos of famous people, and more. Most of them are pictures from the internet, but some are our own sketches," Adarsh added.
Baraka started selling posters in 2022, beginning at Kozhikode Beach. Last year, they brought the posters to IFFK.
The collective drew inspiration from Russian films, especially the style of starting with slow-paced scenes and moving to faster ones. The production also involves experienced artists and includes large crowd scenes with 250 to 4,000 people.
Baraka was formed during Adarsh’s college days at the M. Dasan Institute of Technology (MDIT), Kozhikode, where the initial members were students.