THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The countdown has begun but the beats are not audible. Only a day to go but for the city, the 16th edition of International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) would very well match a black-and-white era with no sights or sounds to proclaim its beauty. The hoardings carrying the theme design of the film festival and the posters which should have adorned the sidewalks and street walls by now are still missing. Except the main venue at Kairali-Sree theatre, the rest of the theatres playing host to the festival are yet to throw any hints on the upcoming event. Even the schedule for the screening of films appeared in the official website only late Wednesday evening. The inertia breaks a promise the festival has made over the years with the 10,000 plus delegates who are waiting for the curtains to go up.It is hardly time to forget the bullock carts that moved around the city three years ago announcing the arrival of the film festival. Or the jumbo hoardings that appear every year in the hot spots, pampering the eyes and cooling the minds of film buffs. Money crunch had hit the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy then and the bullock carts were forgotten. Though hoardings and posters continued to make up for it. But this year, caught in the many controversies from the beginning, the significance of connecting the festival with the city seems to have slipped off the organisers’ minds. ‘’The work has begun, the hoardings and posters would be in place by Thursday,’’ said Gandhimati Balan, vice-chairman of Chalachitra Academy. Sources confirm that the tender procedures for setting up hoardings were initiated on Tuesday only. However, an Academy official who cited heavy work load as one reason for overlooking the publicity area also chose to blame it on the theme design of the posters. ‘‘It must be the design that is not immediately visible for we have placed it everywhere for the public to see”. However, baring a few places in the city, the posters are yet to catch the attention of the mass. The 12 to 14 places which were identified for placing the hoardings remain vacant till the evening of Wednesday.
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