Adoor Gopalakrishnan

Nov. 13: Adoor Gopalakrishnan, one of the most acclaimed filmmakers in the country, has set the cat among the film festival pigeons.

Adoor has suggested that instead of “expectations of hot scenes”, a certain level of education, familiarity with films and discipline are expected of film festival audiences.

The director, whose movies have been screened at every respectable film festival in the world, made the comment in his capacity as chairman of the organising committee of the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK), scheduled in December.

As in Bengal, where a similar event is now under way, in Kerala, film festivals are part of an indispensable diet spiced with talkathons, rice and politics.

What Adoor meant was that film festivals should not be overrun by voyeurs who hunt for flashes of skin and make a nuisance of themselves during the remaining part of what could be masterpieces.

But his effort to regulate entry to what is essentially a niche event — reduced over the years to political grandstanding or feel-good jamborees in some states — has ignited a firestorm of protest in Kerala.

Tempers flared this week when Adoor told a news conference that first-timers — those who had never seen world movies — should not come to the festival. He added that it would be better if those who wished to register themselves as delegates had “some education” as the film subtitles were in English.

“While eligible persons are waiting outside the theatres, ineligible ones storm the halls, expecting some hot scenes,” he was quoted as saying.

Unlike some other festivals, entry to IFFK screenings are open only for delegates. During the previous IFFKs, a delegate pass was given to anyone who would register in advance and pay a fee.

This year, aspirants will have to answer a series of questions on the language they are proficient in, whether they are film professionals or members of any film society, the number of IFFK festivals attended earlier and the names of three films they liked.

“K in IFFK is Kafkaland. First-timers banned. Would first-timer Adoor entered IFFI in 1962? Got to pass a test too!’’ tweeted noted writer and critic N.S. Madhavan. “Don’t know French? Don’t come here. What if the Cannes people tell that to Adoor?” Madhavan asked.

Adoor, however, told The Telegraph: “It’s a manufactured controversy. I have been accused of being biased against the local languages. The truth is I’m a promoter of Malayalam. What I have been quoted as saying is something I could never have said.”

“Dozens of foreign delegates turn up for the festival, spending money from their pockets, but sometimes fail to even make it to the halls because of the unruly conduct of the crowd. Many a time, those who enter to see one movie refuse to move out. For films with an overdose of sex, the crowd swells,” he added.

Calcutta also has its fair share of such viewers — as is evident from the following Facebook update from Arindam Sil, one of the key figures behind the ongoing film festival.

“Overheard at Film Festival one cine goer to other. ‘Whose film are we going to watch? Other One — @SunnyLeone. He meant Tsai Ming Liang (a celebrated director of Taiwanese films).”

Ming Liang becoming Leone sums up the mood of one section of the festival audience: pick what to watch based on the name or the poster or the buzz holding out the lure of “uncut action”.

“In this digital age, with pornographic material easily available on the Internet and on mobile phones, voyeurism is no longer such a draw,” said Rhitobrata Bhattacharya, a member of the Calcutta festival’s selection committee.

However, filmmaker Sekhar Das, also a part of the selection committee, said the craze was yet to die down.