THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Even as the state government decided to call off all state-funded festivals in the wake of the devastating floods, the Department of Culture is for holding a toned down version of the prestigious International Film Festival of Kerala. In a final attempt, the department will take up the matter with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan when he returns from the US after treatment. In addition to IFFK, most state-funded festivals including the arts festivals, university youth festivals and other cultural programmes organised by the state government have been cancelled.
Soon after the order was issued by the General Administration Department, as per the directives of the Chief Minister, Minister for Culture A K Balan expressed reservations over the same. The minister had also sought clarification from the Chief Secretary on the decision.
“Festivals like IFFK are the signatures of Kerala’s cultural sphere and there are hundreds of filmmakers who come up with their films aiming only at IFFK. Films meant to be screened this year cannot be included in the next festival. Moreover, IFFK is a globally recognised film festival and is being keenly awaited by film lovers from across the globe,” Minister Balan told Express.“In fact, there’s a similar issue in the case of arts festivals and other similar celebrations.
Already many artists, especially stage performers are in trouble, with no stage during the Onam season. For many of them, such celebrations provide a means of livelihood. The government cannot ignore these facts. I’m of the view that no cultural festival should be cancelled.” Already many young directors have come out against the government’s decision to call off the film fest. Many of them have expressed their reservations and written to the government.