Filmmaker K.R. Manoj has accused the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy authorities of blocking the producers of his documentary Work of Fire from submitting the work for the upcoming International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK).
According to him, he had submitted the documentary last year too, when it was dropped due to ‘technical reasons.’
“The film was selected in the competition section of the IDSFFK 2017. But it was dropped at the last minute. I was promised a chance to resubmit it this year. But this year, an executive member of the Chalachitra Academy blocked my producer, the Public Service Broadcasting Trust (PSBT), from submitting the film citing some other ‘technical’ reasons. I came to notice this when the selection list was announced,” said Mr. Manoj.
Work of Fire takes a look at the vicissitudes of the Indian fireworks industry, raising a question on the need for fireworks.
It had represented India in the World Public Television Conference this year in New York and was in the competition section of the Mumbai International Film Festival 2018.
Mr. Manoj had earlier directed the film Kanyaka Talkies and documentaries like A Pestering Journey.
No response
He said that academy Chairman Kamal had not yet replied to his mail regarding the film’s exclusion.
Members of the academy general council, including noted filmmakers and critics, had also concurred with his position and said that there was no justification for the exclusion, he said.
Mr. Manoj said that the academy authorities were rejecting a documentary from Kerala at a time when there was hardly any long documentary work representing the State at the festival.
“There is no long documentary from Kerala in the competition section this year. Last year also, the situation was similar. There is a dearth in quality of documentaries being produced in the State. In such a scenario, it is unfair to reject a documentary from the State suggesting technical reasons. Isn’t it the responsibility of the academy to promote works from the State as part of the festival? In the past too, films that had to be withdrawn from the festival due to technical reasons were accommodated the next year,” he said.