Kerala - Thrissur   

Excitement amidst concern at TIFF

By Our Staff Reporter

THRISSUR, AUG. 24. The mood is extremely upbeat at the eight-day-long First Thrissur International Film Festival (TIFF) as it entered the sixth day today, though some of its well-wishers have raised concerns about follow-up actions. The festival which is unique in several ways is still drawing a steady flow of audience, particularly students and the younger generation. The opportunity to see the world class films and Indian classics in the theatres in the 35 mm format is being grabbed with both hands.

On an average 10 to 15 films, including documentaries, are being screened every day in the two theatres, Sapna and Jose. There are also open screenings at the Children's Nehru Park every evening. There is active participation of the audience in the `Meet-the-Director' and `Open Forum' programmes that are being held at the Jose Theatre every noon and in the seminars being held at the Nehru Park.

Austerity

One of the refreshing aspects of the TIFF is the simplicity and austerity with which it has been organised and this has contributed a lot in reducing the presence of the `pretentious and glamour-seeking' crowd usually seen hanging around most international festivals.

Even though many of the films that are being screened at the TIFF have already been shown in earlier festivals the organisers have packaged the films in a unique way so that even the classics have acquired a different contemporary dimension. An interesting initiative in this direction was to arrange the classics in sections such as `Disease and society', `Oldage' and `Focus Women' and `Sports and politics'. The powerful anti-establishment documentaries of the British director, Ken Fero, have been a special attraction at the festival.

There were some mess-ups in the screening schedules because of the delays in the arrival of prints but the organisers were able to effectively tackle the issue.

Corporation backing

Another positive facet of the TIFF is the interest shown by the Thrissur Corporation in the festival. According to film buffs, it is the first time that a civic body is extending financial support to an international film festival. The Mayor, K. Radhakrishnan, told The Hindu that the Corporation might consider holding the festival every year. "But a final decision in this regard can only be taken by the Corporation council.''

Different note

However, some of the festival supporters have raised concerns that unless proper follow-up action is initiated, the TIFF would also end up like some of the routine film festivals which are increasingly contributing to the formation of `alternative consumerist culture.'

``While the mainstream cinema is one of the key routes of consumerist invasion, film festivals which provide platforms for alternative cinema can also breed a form of consumerism unless they unleash the energy for creation of new films. The audience may come, watch the film, and that could just be the end of it. Being a medium that is heavily dependent on technology, films have a `potential' to give voyeuristic satisfaction even to rebellious and creative urges of the audience,'' a film society activist said.

``Film festivals should at least be able to produce an audience for good Malayalam cinema by screening more of them, instead of showing only world classics,'' said the noted Malayalam director, K.R. Mohan.

Striking a different note, the TIFF Executive Director, Cherian Joseph, pointed out that the developments like digital technology have reduced the cost of filmmaking drastically. `There are many youngsters who are making films in video and other similar technologies even on campuses. What is important is to expose them to the world classics so that at least some of them will evolve into good filmmakers.''

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