Rs.170 million film centre to come up in Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 8 (IANS) A Rs.170 million film centre will come up in Kerala in February next year which would be modelled on the lines of the British Film Institute.

"The Kerala Film Centre would be developed in five stages and is likely to be completed by 2015," said T.K. Rajeev Kumar, chairman of Kerala State Chalachitra Academy.

"This was a long cherished dream of the film fraternity here and the state government has already given us 2.5 acres of land near the Kerala Film and Video Park on the outskirts of the capital city," Kumar told IANS.

The union human resources development and culture ministries have already set aside Rs.250 million as grant."

The proposed centre would house a full-fledged film library, a museum, an archive centre, digital studio for editing and also a film school.

"We have visualised it as a centre for serious research and would also have short-term courses run with the technical support from the Pune Film Institute," he said.

The project will be discussed at the 10th International Film Festival of Kerala that begins here Friday.

"The building will be made of mud to keep the archival films free from moisture as mud is the best material for such a purpose," said Kumar.