Will Goa remain an" IFFY" venue for IFFI in future?

Soon after the chairman of the steering committee for the International Film Festival of India, Mr Mike Pandey wrote a letter to the state government stressing on the need for better co-ordination between the Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF) and the Entertaining Society of Goa for improving the mega film festival, the DFF has gone ahead and removed the clause from its draft as regards the Memorandum of Understanding for IFFI 2011, which stated Goa as a permanent IFFI venue.

The IFFI MoU is annually signed between the state and the central government. It may be recalled that the MoU for IFFI 2010 had clearly mentioned Goa as a permanent venue for the mega film festival. The successive union ministers representing the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had, from time to time, also announced Goa to be the permanent venue for the IFFI.

The CEO of the Entertainment Society of Goa, Mr Manoj Srivastava, speaking to ‘The Navhind Times’ admitted that the draft MoU received from the DFF had no mention of Goa as a permanent IFFI venue.

"However, the governing council of the ESG has taken note of the same, and we are trying to protect the interest of Goa by getting the clause re-admitted in the DFF MoU," he added.

Speaking further, Mr Srivastava said that contrary to the contents of the letter written by Mr Pandey, the ESG is extending all support to Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for the organisation of the IFFI.

"And we are not working with only DFF, but with the central government to organise the event," he maintained, reiterating that there already exists synergy between the DFF and the ESG, and the related observation made by Mr Pandey was untrue.

Replying to a question as regards creation of IFFI cell in Goa by the DFF and appointment of Mr Shankar Mohan as its director, Mr Srivastava said that the works to be carried out by the IFFI Cell and the ESG have already been bifurcated, and both agencies would work towards successful organisation of the mega film festival.

Interestingly, a meeting of the IFFI steering committee headed by Mr Pandey and held in New Delhi this Monday gave a jolt to the plans of the Chief Minister, Mr Digambar Kamat to hold the opening ceremony of the IFFI 2011 at Ravindra Bhavan, Margao.

The noted film-maker, Mr Gautam Ghosh, a member of the steering committee stated that the Ravindra Bhavan was equipped with a single projection system, while all the international film festivals recognised by the International Federation of Film Producers Association (IFFPA) need to screen movies in cinema halls having minimum double projection system, uninterruptedly.

Mr Ghosh also expressed fear that in such a case, the IFFI may face the threat of de-recognition from the IFFPA. And upgrading the Ravindra Bhavan to this need would require major changes in its existing projection room, with limited time left at the disposal of the government.

The steering committee meeting was attended by the top officials of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting including director of DFF, Mr Anil Saxena and joint secretary (films), Mr D P Reddy, besides the secretary for information and publicity, Mr Rajeev Verma; the IFFI director, Mr Shankar Mohan; and the CEO of the ESG, Mr Manoj Srivastava.

Courtesy: NT network