Malayalam filmmaker Sanal Kumar Sasidharan revealed that he has withdrawn his award-winning film Chola, from the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK). In a Facebook post, he wrote that the film was selected for the Kaleidoscope section of the festival. “I am much humbled by the invitation but I have sent a mail stating that I am withdrawing the film from the festival, protesting against its overtly biased and unprofessional way of the selection process in the Malayalam cinema today section,” he wrote.
“I believe that, it would be huge irresponsibility from my part to participate in the festival which is openly biased and outdated in its selection process. Chola – Movie will be released soon in theatres! I support the #Reform_The_IFFK movement, a movement initiated by my fellow filmmakers in Indie cinema sector, though I am not part of that movement for personal reasons,” he added.
Chola, starring Nimisha Sajayan and Joju George, had earned rave reviews at the Venice and Toronto film festivals.
With this move, Sanal Kumar Sasidharan has expressed his support for 'Reform the IFFK'—a social media movement launched by a group of indie filmmakers, against the IFFK. Sasidharan has been a critic of the IFFK earlier also, when he had withdrawn his controversial film S Durga from the fest. He even went on to organise Kazhcha Indie Film Festival in 2017, as an alternative to IFFK to promote independent filmmakers.
