Malappuram film festival concludes
The 70th International Film Festival of Malappuram, organized by Rasmi Film Society (reputed as the first Indian film body to organize 70 international film festivals), concluded on Tuesday with a screening of the Oscar-winning movie Slumdog Millionaire directed by Danny Boyle.
17�films (Farewell Gulsari, Breath, Mulade, The Photographer, Gulmohar, Refugee, My Marlon and Brando, The Yellow House, Raman, Adayalangal, Ramchand Pakistani, Behind the Sun, Flower in the Pocket, Beautiful and Postcards From Leningrad) were screened at the four-day festival.
The festival was inaugurated by veteran Malayalam actor Madhu at the DTPC Auditorium, Kottakunnu on Saturday. Che (2008), directed by Steven Soderbergh, was the opening film. During his inaugural speech, Madhu called upon film societies to withstand the onslaught of commercial movies. He said film societies had the responsibility to guard society from falling victim to the commercial fever.
Inaugurating an open forum on cinema in the cyber age, director M.G. Sasi said that more or less the same kind of elements would be found in all creative work, be it a book, a painting or a film. Sasi spoke at length about the nuances of his award-winning film Adayalangal. Speaking at another open forum on verbal and visual language, film critic A. Sahadevan called upon�people to return to the classics.
The event marked the 34th anniversary celebrations of the Rasmi Film Society, which has been actively promoting a culture of cinema in and around Malappuram district since its launch in 1975. The fest was organized in association with the Kerala State Chalachitra Akademi, the National Film Development Corporation, the National Film Archives, the State Public Relations Department, the Film Society Federation, Malappuram Municipality, the District Tourism Promotion Council, and Kodur Grama Panchayat.
