Kerala boasts one of the most cine-literate and discerning audiences in the world. Cinema and politics are two abiding passions of the people of Kerala. Bizarre experiments in the medium, with few takers elsewhere, find vociferous votaries here. Tucked away behind the serene backwaters and the swaying palm fronds, even in the remotest areas, are scores of very active film societies.

To satisfy their quest for the best and the latest in the medium and to counter the effects of crass commercialization, the Department of Cultural Affairs of the Government of Kerala, (incidentally the first state in India to take this initiative) created in August 1998, an autonomous institution called the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy.

The Kerala State Chalachitra Academy (Motion Picture Academy of the Kerala State) the only Academy for Motion Pictures in India works for the promotion of Cinema as a cultural expression. The Academy is guided by the motto that Cinema should contribute to the total development of man, both as an individual and as a social being.

The Academy is engaged in a program of spreading film literacy amongst the people through the promotion of Film Societies, publication of books and periodicals, and the conduct of film appreciation courses, seminars and workshops for students as well as professionals.

The objectives of Chalachitra Academy are:

• To help Government in the formulation of policies connected with film and television related activities,

• To set up a film and video archive,

• To set up a Directorate of Film Festivals,

• To manage and distribute State Award for films and video programs,

• To set up an Audio Visual Library for the public,

• To function as a link between the Government and film industry,

• To evolve a financial mechanism to support films having aesthetic and social importance,

• To extend promotional support to makers of good films and TV/Video programs,

• To advice the Government to set up a Film and Television institute in the State and to start a State Television channel,

• To plan and execute specific films and television activities with the co-operation of KSFDC and C-DIT,

• To promote children’s films and to create sufficient arrangements to exhibit them in schools and other cultural centers,

• To set up a documentation cell to document the history of Malayalam Cinema and profile of film personalities,

• To organize film appreciation and study camps in different places,

• To set up an Academic Library and provide research facilities to public and students,

• To publish books, journals, etc on cinema and television,

• To support film societies by providing grants and other facilities,

• To hold meetings, seminars conferences, lectures, symposia and discussion on cinema, television and other arts,

• To honor eminent personalities in cinema and television from the State and the country,

• To distribute subsidy to Malayalam films and to carry out such directions as may be given by the Government from time to time.