KOCHI: After eight days of movie extravaganza, the 26th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) organised by Kerala State Chalachithra Academy (KSCA) will conclude on Friday. Meanwhile, preparations have already begun to organise the Regional International Film Festival of Kerala (RIFFK), Kochi, on April 1.
The five-day festival in Kochi will showcase around 70 movies from across the world and around 5,000 delegates are expected to take part. During the IFFK in Thiruvananthapuram, 173 movies were screened. On Thursday, the penultimate day witnessed the last screening of 60 films.
State Chalachithra Academy deputy director (festivals) Shaji H told TNIE that offline registration has already begun for the Kochi event and the response has been overwhelming.
The RIFFK will be held at three theatres — Saritha, Savitha and Kavitha. “Online registration will begin on Saturday and selected movies from the IFFK will be screened at the festival. There is a good response from the students. We are expecting around 4,500 to 5,000 delegates to attend the RIFFK,” said Shaji.
The academy is charging Rs 500 and Rs 250 each for delegates and students, respectively, for RIFFK. According to officials, the academy will have to spend above Rs 1 crore for organising the fest in Kochi.
State Chalachitra Academy secretary Ajoy Chandran said around 3,000 seats are available for the RIFFK and up to 5,000 delegates can take part. “Regional IFFK is one of the priority projects of the academy. We planned the regional fest immediately after the IFFK because of the Covid protocol. When we planned, only 50% occupancy was allowed at theatres and later the restriction was lifted. Around 8,000 delegates took part in the IFFK and if there were restrictions, only half of them would have been able to attend.
Hence, we planned for the Kochi IFFK,” said Ajoy Chandran. It has been two years since the academy last organised a full-fledged IFFK and owing to the pandemic situation, the festival was held in four legs in four districts last year. According to officials, the academy spent around Rs 7 crore for organising the IFFK. “This year, it was all about regaining the past glory and once again, we were able to organise a festival in a full-fledged manner. This was the first time KSRTC operated exclusive bus service for the delegates and we got appreciation form several quarters for the way we handled transportation of the delegates,” said Ajoy Chandran.
Show will go on