Technical muddle mar the smooth conduct of IFFK

The reservation system went haywire due to some technical glitch at the 22nd International Film Festival of Kerala.
Young delegates dancing to the tunes of trumpets at Tagore theatre on Sunday | B P Deepu
Young delegates dancing to the tunes of trumpets at Tagore theatre on Sunday | B P Deepu

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Technical issues continue to mar the smooth conduct of the 22nd International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK). The whole reservation system came to a halt on Sunday. This, by and large, affected the screening of films at various venues. One of the most affected was the main venue at Tagore theatre. A minor skirmish was reported at Tagore theatre in the morning when some of the delegates tried to enter the venue forcibly alleging irregularities in the reservation system. The delegates had to stand in the queue for hours before the theatre. But when they came near the door, they were asked to leave.  The officials told them the “reservation was cancelled”. Eventually, the delegates had to return without watching the films.

“I had reserved tickets for the 11 am show at the New Theatre. When I came here, the volunteers said the seats have been filled. How could the organisers say that? I made efforts to reserve a seat. So in the end, it appears that I became the fool,” said Merlyn Thomas, a delegate.According to the delegates, some of the volunteers allowed people to enter the theatre even though they hadn’t reserved any seats.
At the main venue, some delegates had to enter the theatre by pushing off the volunteers. The entire fiasco is being blamed on C-DIT, the technical partner of the festival.

Sources said the government accepted the lowest bid quoted by C-DIT. Hence the technical partner who had been associating with IFFK for the last few years were dropped. “The technical system is flawed. Azinova, a Technopark-based company was overseeing the technicalities of IFFK. It was doing well. Unfortunately, everything has gone haywire this time and efforts are on to fix the problem,” said an organiser on condition of anonymity.

Sources said nepotism played a big part C-DIT’s selection as the technical partner. “C-DIT is a semi-government organisation. So naturally, the government will give them preference. There were some minor issues and hope they will get resolved very soon,” sources added.

According to Kerala State Chalachitra Academy chairman Kamal, the academy had to accept C-DIT’s bid. He admitted there were technical errors in the reservation system. The organisers are in the process to fix it as soon as possible.“Last year, the reservation system was effective, But this time certain errors affected the reservation system. But we will resolve the issue very soon,” Kamal said.

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