Thiruvananthapuram

Kerala's Minister for Cultural Affairs and Cinema, P C Vishnunadh, on Saturday dismissed reports suggesting that the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) would be shifted from Thiruvananthapuram to Kochi, clarifying that the festival will continue to be hosted in the state capital.

Addressing media persons, Vishnunadh said the proposal announced in the state budget pertains only to the creation of a permanent venue for IFFK and should not be interpreted as a relocation of the festival.

“The IFFK will continue to be organised in Thiruvananthapuram. The budget announcement was aimed at establishing a dedicated permanent venue for the festival, and efforts will be made to identify suitable land within the city for that purpose,” he said.

The minister explained that the proposed international film city in Kochi and the permanent IFFK venue in Thiruvananthapuram are two independent initiatives and should not be linked together.

He also assured that development activities at Chitranjali Studio, the state-owned film production facility, would continue despite plans for a new film city in Kochi.

Film City Planned in Kochi

According to Vishnunadh, the proposed J.C. Daniel International Film City – Chitranagaram project in Kochi is envisioned as a world-class filmmaking and tourism hub.

“It is being conceived as a film city of international standards, with the potential to become an important tourism destination and a landmark project for the country,” he said.

Earlier in a social media post, the minister described reports of the IFFK being moved out of Thiruvananthapuram as “baseless” and reiterated that the festival would continue in the capital city.

Budget Proposals for Cinema Sector

The minister highlighted that the state budget had addressed several long-pending demands of the Malayalam film industry, including granting cinema the status of an industry.

The budget has earmarked Rs 100 crore for the proposed J.C. Daniel International Film City in Kochi and also announced plans to create a permanent venue for IFFK in Thiruvananthapuram.

Other cinema-related initiatives include strengthening anti-piracy measures and allocating funds for a memorial dedicated to late actor Salim Kumar in Ernakulam.

The clarification follows confusion generated by the simultaneous mention of both the Kochi film city project and the IFFK venue proposal in the state budget speech, leading to speculation on social media and in sections of the media.

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Several prominent Malayalam film actors and directors have welcomed the budget's focus on the film sector, particularly the decision to recognise cinema as an industry and the proposal to develop a major international film production hub in Kochi.