The state government has appointed jury members for the Kerala State Film Awards 2021. The jury will be chaired by Hindi director and screenwriter Saeed Akhtar Mirza. He is the maker of notable parallel films such as Mohan Joshi Hazir Ho! (1984), Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyoon Aata Hai (1980), Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro (1989) and Naseem (1995), which won two National Film Awards in 1996.
Director and film critic K Gopinathan and eminent director Sundardas will chair the two sub-committees of the preliminary jury. Both will also be the members of the final judging panel.
Doordarshan’s former deputy director and documentary director Baiju Chandran, writers and screenwriters VR Sudheesh and Sushmesh Chandroth, sound designer Gissy Michael, director and screenwriter Sangeetha Padmanabhan and cinematographer Venugopal are the other members of the panel.
Apart from Saeed Mirza, Sundardas and K Gopinathan, the jury members for the final judgement will include Hindi director and screenwriter Suresh Triveni, playback singer Bombay Jayashri, cinematographer and director Fauzia Fathima and sound designer Harindranath Dwarak Warrier.
Chalachithra Academy Secretary C. Ajoy will be the Member Secretary on the Preliminary and Final Judging Committees. The preliminary jury has eight members and the final jury has seven members.
A total of 142 films have given applications for the state awards, of which seven are children’s films. The screening will begin on April 28.
