Goa to rope in more industries for successful film festival

Panaji, Sep 15 (UNI) The Goa government is trying to rope in regional film and allied industries for involvement in the coming 37th edition of the International Film Festival of India(IFFI) this year even as it has written to the Centre to hand over the total management of the prestigious event to the state.

''We are consulting the industry in all regions for their total participation in the event for its successful conduct including the film bazaar involving the Confederation of the Indian Industry and various other bodies like the film financial and production houses,''the chief executive officer Ms.Nandini Paliwal of the Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG) said here today.

Interacting with mediapersons after participating in the governing body meeting of the ESG headed by Chief Minister Pratapsingh Rane, Ms.Nandini said the full takeover of the event by the state government was likely to take a few more years as it was gaining expertise now in phases.

It had shortlisted two programmers -Mr Milind Joshi and Mr Milind Mahale-to ''learn the ropes'' from the Centre's Directorate of Film Festivals(DFF) on the art of film selection for the festival.

''This year, the DFF has asked us to handle transport, hospitality and other peripheral roles for the film festival beginning here from November 23 to December three,''she said.

The ESG,which is appointed the nodal agency to coordinate the conduct of the IFFI,was likely to net Rs 5 crore revenue through sponsorships for this year's edition and thus poised to become self-sustaining as against Rs 1.72 crores it secured last year.

The Society had also been consulting the film industry about the modalities of the opening and closing ceremonies of the event taking place at the Kala Academy premises.

The names of the inaugural film and other selections under different categories and the artistes to be invited was solely the duty of the DFF this year. It was likely to come out with details by mid next month,she said.

For a change this year, the ESG had decided to invite students of the major film training institutions including the NIFT for a contest to decide the ''poster'' of the IFFI instead of assigning to renowned individual artistes.

Holding of photo constests based on cinema themes,conduct of workshops on film appreciation,acting and documentary film making involving a canvas of enthusiasts besides the department of art and culture were other features of the festival.

All the films that were to be screened in the Kala Academy would also be screened in five identified public cinema halls as was done before if these theatres met with the technical features of the international cinema.

Meanwhile, the board had also decided to float tenders after the end of the film festival for leasing out the sprawling ESG complex to earn sustained revenue from tenants such as handicraft poria,boutiques, restaurants and other houses besides meeting the property development needs.

The four-screen state-of-the-art multiplex,where the contesting films would be screened during the film festival,is also likely to change hands from the Inox leisures Limited with the state government floating fresh tenders for managing the complex.

The Inox Leisures had been maintaining the government property since inception in 2004 during the erstwhile BJP government headed by Manohar Parrikar Government till date.

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