THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: There were people who suspected that IFFK delegates had gone too tame. They were given a reality check on Monday, when angry delegates forced the cancellation of the 11.30 a.m. show of Mohamed Diab’s Egyptian film ‘Clash’ at Kairali theatre. The film, which was screened at the opening film of the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes this year, had terrific word of mouth after its first show on December 11.
So, not surprisingly, a large queue had formed in front of the Kairali-Sree-Nila Complex by 10 a.m. for the second screening of the film. Only 40 percent of the 400-odd seats in Kairali are reserved, which means over 200 seats were available on a first-cum-first-served basis. By 11 a.m. the queue for non-reserved seats had grown far back into the main road in Thampanoor. This swell in number had prompted many in the front to beseech the security to open the glass door to the theatre.
Kairali had emptied out by around 10.45 a.m. after first film of the day, Ken Loach’s ‘Riff-Raff’. But it was after 11.15 a.m. that the reserved queue was let in. “But when we went in, instead of encountering an empty theatre, we found that more than 50 percent of the seats were occupied,” said Shyam-sunder, a software professional. Even before all the reserved delegates could get their seats, it was full.
“This can only mean that the organisers had sneaked in their people before the queue was let in,” Syhyamsunder said. A few celebrities - I V Sasi, Menaka, KPAC Lalitha - were already seated. An impromptu protest broke out and a group of delegates climbed up the dais and started raising slogans. Chalachithra Academy chairman Kamal raised himself up the dais, stood amid the protesters and apologised. But the anger was not doused. Kamal had no choice but to cancel the show and promise that 'Clash' would be screened at Nishagandhi at 6 p.m. on the day.
