International Film Festival of Kerala set to get a permanent venue

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The 24th IFFK, which will be held in December 2018, will be hosted at a permanent venue in the heart of the capital. The IFFK complex will be planned as a cultural hub, with a multiplex, a convention centre and a space for other cultural and artistic activities. The complex will be linked to a ‘film city’ project that will come up at Chitranjali. This was announced by both culture minister A.K. Balan and finance minister Dr Thomas Isaac at the inaugural of the 21st IFFK.

“It will be a tough order to build the largest film city, but the IFFK complex will be the best in India,” Dr Isaac said at the inaugural of the 21st IFFK. Chalachithra Academy chairman Kamal had said that the complex, to keep the popular character of IFFK intact, would not be taken out of the capital city. The Academy has already identified a place right in the heart of the city in Kowdiar, in the heritage zone adjoining the majestic Kowdiar palace.

After the ministers made the promise, local MP Shashi Tharoor too made a fervent pitch for a complex. “A permanent venue is something our own Adoor Gopalakrishnan has been asking for a long time,” he said. “Now that the ministers have assured us, we are willing to extend any support to them. But if the promise is not met, I will be the first to criticise,” he said.

The finance minister said that the state government would invest Rs 2,500 crore in culture within a span of five years. Besides a permanent IFFK venue, the state will also invest in ‘cultural centre’ in each district. These centres, too, will have multiplexes, galleries, and music halls. “These places will be rented out to artistes and performers at supportive prices,” Dr Isaac said. He said that the Malayali society should evolve to appreciate the arts. “Only then can we grow as an alternative society,” the minister said.