From this year, IFFK goes fully digital

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In its 23 years history,

IFFK

(International Film festival of Kerala) will completely forego film print format for screening movies for the first time. Since 2012, films in traditional format had been on the decline as a good share of films came in DCP (

digital cinema package

). Still curated packages and screening of old classics from across the world necessitated projection in film format, something IFFK organizers always had to do with care.


“It would be the first IFFK where not a single movie would be screened in film format. It would be all digital this year,” said IFFK artistic director Bina Paul. Around 93 films are being screened in world cinema and all of them would be in digital format and curated sections have been reduced due to budget restraints.

For two films, special arrangements have to be made for projection and sound; Roma by Alfonso Cuarón and

Jean-Luc Godard

’s ‘The Image Book. While 7.1 sound system and 4k have been insisted for screening of Roma, Godard’s new film will be screened using 7.1 sound technology.

IFFK’s slow and steady shift to DCP format has not been without its own set of challenges. There had been instances in the history of IFFK when filmmakers would be seen scrambling across the venue with an anguished face because the films would not load and screenings would be delayed.

The organizers had roped in leading companies and reputed technical consultants to minimize schedule changes which cropped up due to hitches in DCP. In earlier years, when films came largely in DCP, around 11 technical experts would be on duty round the clock in 12 theatres for one week. They would handle over 200 films that came in four different formats (from different countries) like digi-beta, blue-ray and DVDs

Each film had to be pre-loaded into the server to detect any kind of error prior to screening. DCP formats are enormous say 200-230 Gb in size and loading a single film sometimes took nearly four hours. Since every theatre had 4-5 shows daily, engineers would stay awake all night loading each film before the screening began.

Handling prints of classics was always a challenge for organizers. In 2013, the print of the movie The Ring had been borrowed from British Film Institute and they sent a claim that the print had been damaged. They had claimed 370 pounds for the damage and academy had to shell out extra bucks as compensation.

Once Australian Archives also sent a complaint to the academy saying that the print of the film ‘Breaker Morant’ was damaged during projection and they had demanded a payment of Rs 3.15 lakh. The academy managed to reduce it to Rs 1 lakh after negotiations.


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