At fest, kudos from outside and brickbats from within

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The 16th edition of the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) which concluded here on Friday on one hand evoked awe and praise from delegates from other states and countries, and on the other hand intense criticism from participants within the state.
Film personalities from abroad and other states were very vocal in applauding the festival for the quality of films that were selected and were amazed at the audience turnout.
“Most of the films in the competition section were brilliant. It was a good idea to have a festival focused on the cinema from Asia, Africa, Middle East and South America. The films I have seen at the IFFK have reinforced my optimism about the future of films as a medium. I believe filmmakers will also be able to evolve and make powerful films as the world and societies change,” Australian filmmaker and IFFK jury chairman, Bruce Beresford told TOI.Filmmakers Miaoyan Zhang from China, Pablo Perelman from Chile, Leena Manimekali from Tamil Nadu as well as Beresford and several others from outside the state were surprised at the huge turnout at the festival. “Such turnout is usually seen in cinema halls. Moreover, serious films usually draws only limited crowd across the world. But the audience response here is awesome,” said Pablo.“The audience here is very serious and silent, and sits through the whole film calmly. They are very critical and discerning in their response. We hardly see such audience anywhere in the world,” Manimekali said. On a critical note, filmmaker and MACTA president Harikumar said this edition of the IFFK lacked a sense of discipline and coordination.
“The selection of films for the festival certainly leaves lot to be desired. The various festival committees were formed mainly to accommodate certain people and not after evaluating their capacity to deliver,” said Harikumar who was a key figure in the seminar committee of the IFFK.“The way the IFFK ‘honoured’ veteran Malayalam film personality Madhu was a classic example of the how indisciplined the festival was. A book that was brought out to ‘commemorate’ the contributions of Madhu was an insult to him in terms of content and production,” he fumed.Film critic C S Venkiteswaran was not happy with the attention given to Malayalam cinema. “The organizers seem to be paying scant attention to Malayalam cinema. The shabby treatment meted out to young filmmakers like Sherry and Manoj shows their scorn for Malayalam cinema. They have not made any attempt to project Malayalam cinema to the world. The thrust was only at bringing world cinema to Kerala, while the reverse flow did not appear to be a priority,” he said.Filmmaker Lenin Rajendran, however, cautioned that the audience turnout should not be the sole criteria for evaluating the festivals.
“We need not exaggerate the minor organizational deficiencies. What is important is to understand whether the festival can become a platform for serious debates on the creative challenges for filmmakers across the world, especially from within the state. Monitoring the outcome of the initiatives launched at the festival for ‘marketing Malayalam cinema’ was also equally critical,” he said.Renowned filmmaker Shaji N Karun said film festivals have to play a crucial role in times like these when Hollywood cinema is swallowing content and form of the cinema from developing countries. “It is important that we focus on films from Asia, the Middle East and Africa.”But in spite of all organizational shortcomings, a refreshing aspect of IFFK is that it continues to woo an increasing number of people who are sensitive to art, culture and socio-political issues, from all over the state. Films seem to be the only medium left that acts as a rallying point in the state. And it is refreshing to see that the state is funding such an event in spite of its subversive potentials.