THIRUVANANTHAPURAMEminent director Adoor Gopalakrishnan said that film cooperatives would help in garnering viewer attention and appreciation for good cinemas.
He was speaking at the flagging off ceremony of ‘Cinema Vandi’ organised by Kazhcha Film Forum on Saturday. ‘Cinema Vandi’ by the forum would take its recent movie, ‘Oral Pokkam’ to the viewers through a road trip from here till Kasaragod.
Referring to the film cooperative ‘Odessa Collective’ by late director John Abraham and his movie ‘Amma Ariyan’, he said that film cooperatives had a history of channeling good movies to the mainstream.
Meanwhile, he said that movies by forums such as Kazhcha, must not be glossed over by tending to stamp them with the label of ‘experimental films’.
“The movie by a cooperative or forum such as ‘Kazhcha’ though not totally in the mainstream need not be called an experimental movie because after all it is the product of collective effort and creative imagination,’’ said Adoor.
‘Oral Pokkam’ was produced by the forum from public funding. Aiming to spread the message of meaningful cinema among the people in the state, ‘Cinema Vandi’ will travel across various parts of the state.
The forum seeks reach out to the people by screening the movie to social groups in the state such local libraries, regional clubs, sports clubs, associations etc.
Writer and screenplay writer Vinu Abraham, who spoke on the occasion, said that non- mainstream movies lack adequate viewership when screened in theatres. However, he pointed out that people rush to theatres to view such films when screened at events like International Film Festival of Kerala.
“Alternative film movements like Kazhcha and Odessa Collective could help non- mainstream movies gain greater viewership,’’ said Vinu.Film critics C S Venkiteswaran, Vijayakrishnan and M F Thomas and film crew of ‘Oral Pokkam’, including director Sanal Kumar were present.