THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : The exit of Ranjith from the role of chairman of the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy (KSCA) has happened at a crucial juncture. With his exit, he has also lost the role of the director of the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) 2024. Now, uncertainty looms large over the event, which is scheduled to be held from December 13 - 20.
The first IFFK was held in Kozhikode in 1996 and its first three editions were conducted under the aegis of the Kerala State Film Development Corporation. When the KSCA was constituted in 1998, it took over the IFFK. Actor Prem Kumar, the incumbent vice-chairman of the Academy, is slated to be the interim chairman.
“The state government will take a call on how to address this issue. The Academy had already called for entries towards IFFK 2024. Currently, the process is on for film selection, deciding the delegates and classification of films under various competition and non-competition sectors,” Prem Kumar told TNIE.
Before Ranjith took over the mantle of KSCA in February 2022, there was the post of artistic director which was held by Deepika Susheelan. She had to quit after being in office for seven months. Since early 2023, the post of artistic director, IFFK, has been lying vacant. But the Academy brought in a team of officials to work in place of artistic director. Bina Paul, former chairperson, KSCA, told TNIE that there were lots of systems in place at Chalachitra Academy to hold IFFK 2024.
“But the absence of the chairman who is also the festival director is definitely going to affect its functioning,” she said.