Thiruvananthapuram’s film groups work to restore the city’s historic attractiveness

Even now, watching a movie is the ideal method to relax. Multiplexes are aware of this and happily greet weekend visitors with pricy tickets and gourmet popcorn.

But this desire to pack multiplexes is a relatively new development. Up until a few decades ago, the state, and especially its capital, had a distinct culture consisting of movie clubs that screened excellent films.

The film society movement in Kerala, which began with the founding of the Chithralekha Film Society in 1965 and lasted until the 1990s, was very dynamic, giving rise to notable filmmakers like Adoor Gopalakrishnan and G Aravindan as well as intellectuals who could appreciate fine cinema.

In 1976, five ISRO cinema fans founded the Chalachitra cinema Society. Among the five was N Krishnamoorthy, who went on to become well-known as Soorya Krishnamoorthy and founded the Soorya Stage and Film Society in 1977 to serve the film enthusiasts in the capital.

Kerala had more than 300 film societies registered with the Federation of Film Societies of India between 1975 and 1985, the height of the state’s film activity. All of these cultures prospered until the middle of the 1990s.

With more than 1,000 members, Chalachitra was becoming a famous destination for movie enthusiasts with its seven-day Trivandrum International Film Festival. However, with the help of government money, Chalachitra Academy launched its International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK).

The culture of the film society began to decline after that. The downturn was further exacerbated by taxes imposed on the usage of public areas where the movie screenings took place. George Mathew, a former Chalachithra office holder, believes that the introduction of television was the cause of this.

At that point, P K Nair, the founding director of the National Film Archive of India, organized the Film Lovers Cultural Association (FILCA). Together with certain enthusiasts, he attempted to rekindle the serious fans’ passion for movies by putting up monthly festivals.

According to FILCA general secretary Sabu Shankar, “the IFFK’s festival was an annual one and there was no opportunity for serious film lovers to update themselves on good cinema.”

However, even this endeavor was short-lived, since the FILCA likewise chose to end in 2022. Its monthly film screenings replaced its monthly film festivals. Other cultures became paler as well.

“FILCA then made the decision to add a new team and expand on the foundation. We set up the website, created a digital magazine, selected films to be broadcast on a monthly basis, and arranged the technical details. Subsequently, we brought back the regular screenings in association with other struggling organizations like Chalachitra, BEAM, SPARC, CET Film Society, and Soorya, adds Sabu Shankar.

Every month since its renovation in 2022, masters- and theme-based film festivals have been held by FILCA in collaboration with other organizations.

It used to be held on Sundays in the State Central Library, but since Covid, the library’s Sunday hours have changed. We had to move it to Bharat Bhavan as a result. Officially, we have asked that the library hours be restored to their pre-Covid schedules,” FILCA representatives said. The event is scheduled on March 17. Alejandro Jodorowsky, a Spanish filmmaker, will have four of his works presented at BSS Hall.

Films from the festival-based conversations will also be captured by FILCA and will soon be shown on KSFDC’s over-the-top platform, C-Space.

The future of film societies seems dark to those who attended the movie buffs’ groups of the 1970s and 1980s. “Why should anyone be a part of a film society when they can watch any movie they want from the comfort of home?” is a common sentiment among those who believe their time is over.

However, film clubs are more than just places to view movies.

“They instill an appreciation culture, and our goal is to encourage people to watch and talk about excellent films.” We want to work with academic institutions and support the film clubs there. Additionally, an 11-month appreciation course at schools and colleges has been proposed, according to Sabu Shankar. The course would include monthly movie screenings and discussions.