Kerala film awards to be given away in August

ALAPPUZHA: The much-delayed distribution of state film awards is likely to be held by mid-August. The Chalachitra Academy has issued a notification inviting entries and it hopes to announce the results by July 20. The awards will carry the revised cash prizes recommended by the Adoor Gopalakrishnan committee last year. The finance department’s reluctance to accept the panel’s proposals was blamed for the delay.

Finally, they were cleared on May 14, a week after Deccan Chronicle reported about the proposals gathering dust there. “Things are on the right track now,” Academy secretary Rajendran Nair said. The last date for submitting entries is June 15. A 10-member jury, comprising three mandatory directors and three technical experts as per the Adoor panel recommendations, will be set up by the next week.

If there are more than 50 films in the competition, which is normally the case, the jury would be divided into three for preliminary screening, with each having a director, technical expert and a critic. The final list for screening before the full panel will not have more than 21 films. “It’s a welcome step despite the delay,” said director Sanal Kumar Sasidharan, whose Oraalppokkam, will be among the competing films. “The government has implemented many recommendations of the Adoor panel with regard to awards. I got the notification the other day, my film will be submitted in a day”.