THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With state government cancelling the plan to construct a film festival complex for IFFK (International Film Festival of Kerala) on Chithranjali studio premises, the Chalachitra academy is in talks with department of industries to find a space on Kinfra campus at Kazhakkoottam.Officials from minister AK Balan's office said that they were looking for space at Kinfra to construct the academy headquarters. However, sources at the academy hinted that Kinfra authorities have communicated the availability of 12 acres that could be used for construction of the festival complex.Academy officials are facing a dilemma now after considering the distance factor. "The project at Thiruvallam was abandoned mainly because of the distance to the proposed festival complex from the city. If that factor is applied, the distance would be much bigger in case of Kazhakkoottam," said an official with the academy.The academy has already completed the construction of a study centre on Kinfra campus, which will be inaugurated in August. On Saturday, minister Balan said that the festival complex will be set up at Kinfra campus in Kazhakkoottam. He was inaugurating the Sangeetha Nataka Akademi awards function in Thrissur After the plan to construct the complex at Thiruvallam was shelved, the academy has been looking for a space inside the city. "Our plan was to find at least 2 acres in the heart of the city. It could not be realized mainly due to shortage of land. There were discussions on making use of the land owned by PWD, which did not fructify," said an official. The academy was set to call tenders for the festival complex at Thiruvallam when the project was suddenly aborted.

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