Already 200 entries received so far
Kochi Metro Malayalam Short Film Festival, to be held in the last week of December, will feature only Malayalam shorts. (Photo: DC)
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A short film festival is emerging as the first major platform for the propagation of Shreshta Bhasha Malayalam project. Kochi Metro Malayalam Short Film Festival, to be held in the last week of December, will feature only Malayalam shorts. “If a filmmaker is sending a silent film, the title has to be in Malayalam,” said actor-writer Ravindhar, the festival director.
The festival has already received 200 entries. “There is more to films than just feature films. This short film festival is an attempt to explore the potential of the visual medium as a communication, education and motivational tool,” Ravindhar said. “The festival will not just showcase films, there will be lot of interactive sessions where we will brainstorm ways to evolve the medium as a powerful transformative mechanism at the grassroots level,” he added. The festival was given a big boost with Mohanlal himself taking over as chairman of the festival.
Ravindhar feels that the state had never really attempted to tap the potential of its language using the visual medium. “We don’t teach Tamil in schools but our women and children understand the language. And this is courtesy Tamil films,” said Ravindhar, one of the most celebrated villains of Malayalam and Tamil films in the 80s.
The festival is the next step in Ravindhar’s Film Literacy project he had launched in the state’s campuses. It will seem ironical that a major figure of mainstream eighties is doing all he can to inculcate good viewing habits in the youth. “I have screened and lectured about celebrated Malayalam and foreign films in over 60 campuses across the state in the last few years,” Ravindhar said. “I want talents to emerge from our non-urban centres,” he said.
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, an international association of engineers dedicated to using technology to advance humanity, will be the technological partner of the festival. The entire gamut of shorts – animation, short fiction, documentaries and music videos – will be featured at the festival.
( Source : dc correspondent )
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