The ongoing Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) has drawn praise for the rich bouquet of contemporary international cinema and centenary tributes being screened.
But followers of Malayalam cinema have pointed out a notable omission in the homage section — the National Award-winning filmmaker and screenwriter K.G. George, who passed away in September.
The festival selection committee head has apologised for omitting the proponent of new-wave Malayalam cinema and has promised rectification in the next edition of the festival.
“We cannot ignore K.G. George. His contribution is significant and he would be in the same league as Shyam Benegal and Mani Kaul. The way he portrayed women and their struggle is exemplary. He also raised social questions. He symbolised middle-of-the-road film-making,” said K.K. Kochukoshy, who stepped down as president of Calcutta Malayalee Samajam earlier this year.
“Perhaps the language was a limitation,” wondered the retired National Library official, who used to volunteer as a translator at the film festival in the early years of his service life.
“K.G. George definitely deserved a homage,” agreed filmmaker Sanjeev Sivan, who is taking part in the festival with his lyrical Malayalam feature film Ozhuki Ozhuki Ozhuki. “He was one of the finest filmmakers we have seen in Kerala."
The day George passed away, Sivan revisited his favourite K.G. George film on YouTube, Panchavadi Palam.
“It is on corruption. A bridge in a village is in bad condition and the panchayat raises money to build a new one. There is a physically challenged character, who is looking forward to the new bridge more than anyone else but it collapses on the day of its inauguration. No one else, be it the politician who heads the panchayat or the contractor, is bothered but the crippled man is killed. He is actually a metaphor for the public,” Sivan said.
KIFF is paying homage to Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida, Spanish writer-director Carlos Saura, Satyajit Ray’s cinematographer Soumendu Roy and Iranian filmmaker Dariush Mehrjui, who passed away in January, February, September and October, respectively.
The chairperson of the KIFF film selection committee, Goutam Ghose, apologised for the omission when the matter was brought to his notice by Metro.
“It is an unfortunate miss. KG was a friend and a fine filmmaker.... He made some wonderful films. I will alert the committee and we will surely include his work in the next edition of the festival,” said the veteran filmmaker.
