Published Paper Details:

Kerala's film society movement, spanning six decades, wove art and activism into a vibrant cinematic tapestry, transforming Malayalam cinema and joining global film debates. This study traces its path through three eras, revealing how cinema became a communal force amid tensions of taste and access. In the 1960s and 1970s, societies like Chitralekha sparked a love for world films, fostering the Malayalam New Wave with works like Swayamvaram, yet faced claims of urban elitism. The 1980s saw collectives such as Odessa carry political tales like Amma Ariyan to villages, redefining cinema as a call for justice, though debates over artistry's role simmered. By the 2000s, festivals like IFFK and digital platforms like M Sone revived cinephilia, showcasing Ee.Ma.Yau and nurturing bold voices, but new divides through passes and connectivity persisted. Drawing on Pierre Bourdieu's taste framework, archival records from India's film vaults, and voices of activists and festival goers, the research shows cinema's power to unite and challenge. Kerala's story echoes global cinephilia, from Susan Sontag's theater reverence to Third Cinema's revolt, offering a postcolonial lens on film's social role. Its resilience, adapting from reels to streams, highlights a model for cultural survival, yet gaps in rural reach and women's roles urge further study. For scholars of film and culture, this saga probes how cinema bridges local lives and universal questions, pointing to new paths in digital access, gender, and global comparisons.