IFFK ends amidst protests

The 13th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) concluded with the awards ceremony held at Nishagandhi open air auditorium, Thiruvananthapuram. The IFFK, which began amidst protests by Aikya Vedi workers, is set to end on yet another note of protest. While the earlier protest was for the non-inclusion of the film Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, this time, two Malayalam film-makers (Biju and Ashok R. Nath) have voiced their dissent over the lackadaisical attitude of festival officials towards their films.

These filmmakers had obtained entry for their films Raman and Meezhikal Sakshi respectively, after they obtained an interim order from the High Court asking IFFK authorities to include their films in the 'Malayalam Cinema Today' section. Though their films were screened at the Nishagandhi auditorium on December 17 and 18 respectively, the two directors alleged on Thursday that the festival authorities did not ensure delegate participation by not giving proper publicity for the screenings. Although the court order was to screen the films at 6 p.m., Raman was screened only at 9 p.m., their press release said. The film-makers also allege that no arrangement was made to bring the jury to the screening venue.