What makes the IFFK stand out in a crowd of film festivals from across the world is the people’s participation it has managed to achieve. This year too, the IFFK proved its worth, thanks to the manner in which it was organized.
Though the IFFK is miles ahead of many others in terms of people’s participation and popularity, in terms of content quality, it is still behind many Asian festivals. Asian film festivals like those organised in Japan, Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong, are much ahead of Kerala’s festival. If the IFFK works towards enhancing quality, it is sure to be on par with these festivals.
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Looking back at the 21-year-history of the festival, we can classify the challenges that need to be addressed into three categories. One, the physical infrastructure for the conduct of the festival. Two, the choice of films and screening. And three, the related programs that run parallel to the film festival.
Infrastructure
The fact that around 15,000 delegates arrive to watch movies screened at the IFFK is unique in itself. When such a humongous crowd arrives for the festival, the IFFK needs to address the challenge of having in place the physical infrastructure required to accommodate them. One way of addressing this issue is to build a film festival complex that would accommodate such big crowds.
It is high time Kerala built film festival complexes like those in Cannes, Venice, Berlin, and Tokyo. The main theater complex should have the capability to seat around 2,500 people. The films that are screened in the competition section, and those that could see rush need to be screened at this large theater.
Besides, there should also be theaters that accommodate around 400 to 500 people. The theater complex as a whole should accommodate at least 10,000 people. It should be through such measures that audience participation should be taken into account, and not through reducing the number of delegates.
The current situation is that the Kerala Chalachitra Academy is forced to give away passes to people other than the delegates who wish to come for the festival. The passes being set aside for ministers, MLAs, media and all should be limited.
Choosing films
This year, as many as 184 films were screened at the IFFK. If you look at the number of films screened at other film festivals across the world, this number is huge. For instance, the films of Kim Ki-duk attract people in large numbers. Such movies are shown after paying screening fees. The number of films that need screening fees should be cut down and other films should be more. The festival should select only a total of 100 films. If that is done, it would be possible to pick the best films for screening at the festival. If the screening of films is increased from three to five, it would help in reducing the rush. Also, choosing films under the sub categories can also be cut down. Nowhere in the world do festivals have these many sub categories.
Related Programs
If the IFFK has to claim a slot among the best film festivals in the world, it is a must that related programs such as film market and the like are included as part of the festival. A film market has become necessary in terms of taking Malayalam films to the world stage.
(The author is an award-winning filmmaker)