THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The delay in the online delegate registration for the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) has raised concerns among film enthusiasts. A group of film enthusiasts under the banner of the delegate forum had approached Culture Minister A K Balan to ensure the facilities provided to the delegates be made available this time too.
Chalachitra Academy secretary Mahesh Panchu has said none of the services provided to the delegates will be done away with. Facilities such as canteen, free auto-rickshaw services and events such as Open Forum and Meet the Director will be there this time too. He further said the online delegate registration will begin on November 9.
The delegate forum had sent a letter in this regard to the minister on November 1. The group had insisted the services such as free autorickshaw service, bulletin, canteen facilities and other events such as Open Forum should not be done away with. However, Panchu said this time, the bulletin will be made available online. “We are trying to cut the cost incurred in printing the bulletin. Last year, an expense of around Rs 12 lakh was incurred for printing the bulletins. We had to print 8,000 copies on a daily basis. If we get a sponsor, then we will roll out the usual bulletin, else it will be an online version,” he said.
Meanwhile, the delegate registration began on November 1 at the centres set up in five districts. The offline passes are being distributed via these centres. One centre each has been set up in the five districts viz. Thiruvananthapuram, Kottayam, Thrissur, Kozhikode and Kannur. As many as 2,500 passes will be distributed this way. Each centre will issue 500 offline passes. “This has been done following complaints those who are not computer-savvy lost out on getting the tickets last time. As many as 175 tickets have been reserved for those above 50 and 25 for the differently abled. The rest 300 can be availed by anyone,” he said. The rest 7,500 tickets will be distributed online.