Times of India | 4 days ago | 24-11-2022 | 10:27 am
PANAJI: Even as chief minister Pramod Sawant had said that the Kala Academy premises would be partly available to conduct activities related to the 53rd international film festival of India (Iffi), the premises remained largely unused during Iffi. Only a grand decor of the festival was erected outside the main gate of the Kala Academy, seemingly at considerable cost. While the black box was made available to conduct filmmaking and acting workshops held for persons with disabilities by the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), the renovated stepped layout was found inaccessible for wheelchair users. This led to the workshop being shifted to the art gallery space at Kala Academy. Apart from this workshop, Kala Academy remained vacant and bore a deserted look during the festival. Outside Kala Academy, too, the dismantled pavers and digging landed an ugly look to the supposed 'part of festival' venue. Thripura Kotamraju from Hyderabad, who has been attending Iffi as a delegate for the past five years, said that the Kala Academy auditorium being unavailable for screenings severely affected delegates. "Kala Academy had the biggest auditorium, with over 900 seats. I have travelled from Hyderabad especially to watch films at Iffi. I have not got a ticket to a single film of my choice. If we do not get to watch films of our choice, we will have to rethink travelling to Iffi next year," said the senior citizen.
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