The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Weeklong film festival begins

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jul 29, 2006

Kerala

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Weeklong film festival begins

Staff Reporter

Baby releases festival book, copy handed over to Sanjay Jha

SHARING A LAUGH: Minister for Culture M.A. Baby and film director T.V. Chandran at the inaugural function of the 11th Trivandrum International Film Festival in the city on Friday evening. — Photo: S. Gopakumar

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Watching new films is like exploring new continents, Minister for Culture M.A. Baby has said.

He was speaking after inaugurating the 11th Trivandrum International Film Festival (TIFF), organised by Chalachitra, in the city on Friday.

"A director wields the camera like a writer uses his pen," the Minister said. There is no art form in the world that cannot be manifested through films. Film is the art form of this century, Mr. Baby said, referring to the famous saying of the Russian leader Lenin.

"It will take several days to finish reading a good book. But a good cinema unveils a world of fantasy before the audience in just two hours," he said.

The Minister later released the festival book by handing over a copy to Sanjay Jha, director of `Strings,' a travelogue love story.

Director T.V. Chandran, who presided over the function, said the quality of Malayalam film had been deteriorating over the years. "Though the popular perception is that conducting international film festivals will benefit regional films, the concept is inversely true of Malayalam films," he said.

Architect G. Shankar, who recently won the `man of the year award' instituted by a private television channel, was felicitated on the occasion.

The inaugural function was followed by the screening of the Steven Spielberg movie `Munich.'

The weeklong festival will conclude on August 3.

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