Shaji N Karun at IFFK 2022: Cinema that can surpass time is the best cinema

As most Malayalam cinephiles would be well aware of, Shaji N Karun’s name would definitely figure in the names of filmmakers who’ve played a notable role in taking the glory of Malayalam cinema to the global stage. Throughout the course of his more than three decade long career, the filmmaker has helmed some of the most memorable classics in Malayalam cinema, including Piravi (1988), Swaham (1994) and Vanaprastham (1999), which have raked in numerous accolades. The filmmaker has also played an important role in the early years of the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK), having served as the the chairperson of the festival, as well as the chairman of the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy. At this year’s IFFK, the director was a part of a discussion at Sree Kairali theatre, where he discussed his journey as IFFK chairman and the evolution of the festival, among other things.

The director started off with the time IFFK became competitive, and the journey of the festival getting accreditation from the International Federation of Film Producers Associations(FIAPF). Shaji gave a simple definition of the work that the association does, saying that FIAPF is an international body which is a producers association that makes sure that content is not pirated, and has 190 festivals accredited to them.

Recounting the years when IFFK became competitive in 1998, Shaji spoek of how it required that a lot of prints be transported from different countries. They had to go through customs clearance and undergo various processes through transit. The festival had gotten accreditation from FIAPF within Shaji’s tenure as chairman.

Chronicling the evolution of how the films were showcased in the festival, Shaji said “I think in 2010 we started to get into the digital side of it. Back then it was all in the form of celluloid. If I remember correctly, it had a lot of problems back then, but now it has been formulated into a certain kind of classified clarity in the sense that now people can get it from any part of the world through wireless modes as well. And it can be shown in theatres without the hassle of customs. And any number of screenings too. Then ott and dvd came in”.

He went on “In 2022, the number of films produced all over the world amounted to more than 20,000 I believe, including digital. Some of the finest films are coming from the North East as well. Content is becoming richer, and equipment and filmmaking is more accessible”.

Shaji spoke of how cinema should stand the test of time, saying “Cinema that can surpass time is the best cinema. Some films made in 1930, like those of Charlie Chaplin’s are examples of films that surpass time, and that too sans language. There are examples in world cinema and Indian cinema as well”.

The filmmaker then went on to give a beautiful analogy of how cinema can be like spirituality, an idea he got from his conversation with a delegate at Cannes. The conversation came about when Shaji questioned why Cannes earned a place as one of the most important film festivals in the world. Paraphrasing the delegate, the director said “Cinema is like an idea of spirituality. God is created by the artist.

Visual media is one of the oldest languages in the world. One of the first film festivals took place in 1898, which was four years after the Lumiere brothers invented the first film. Venice was the oldest, followed by Cannes and Berlin. Even though they were politically motivated, being followed by the World War, they helped in the discovery of a huge number of prominent filmmakers”, said Shaji.