KIFF 2017: Cinephiles at the festival get a taste of prison... and love it

The first edition of the Kazhcha Indie Film Fest, which took place at the Lenin Balavadi grounds in Thiruvananthapuram, did not offer just good movies but also great food. And guess what, the stall that sold delicious food was put up by the department of prisons, government of Kerala!

The counter, manned by two officers from the department, had delicious food items prepared by inmates of Thiruvananthapuram prison and packed neatly in packets.

The project, we were told, was the brainchild of state director general of police Lokanath Behera and called Food for Freedom cafeteria.

Talking to Cinestaan.com, one of the officers at the food counter, who did not wish to be identified, said about 50 inmates of the central prison  at Poojappura worked in shifts to make the delicious food items that proved immensely popular at the festival.

The stall served delicious items like chappatis, snacks, biryani (chicken and egg), fried rice and a number of vegetarian and non-vegetarian side dishes. They also served beverages like tea and coffee.

"We also sell water bottles," the officer said. "We sell a one-litre bottle for Rs10, half the rate at which you will find it in other places."

The Food for Freedom programme has come as a boon to not just connossieurs of food but also the inmates who get an opportunity to earn more while in prison.

"Earlier a prisoner would make around Rs50-60 a day, but now because of this programme they make over Rs100 a day," the officer said.

The stall was clearly popular among film buffs visiting KIFF to catch the movies being screened there, doing business worth almost Rs13,000 a day.