Film fete could have been shifted to Delhi

By Gautaman Bhaskaran

TOKYO, SEPT. 28. Now that the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) has been officially cancelled after weeks of speculation, the word of Mr. Tadao Sato, Director-General of the recently- concluded Fukuoka International Film Festival, seems almost prophetic. Mr. Sato had told this correspondent at Fukuoka that he was unhappy at the way the Indian Film Festival was shaping up as there was hardly any improvement.

It is a pity that a country such as India which produces around 700 movies every year should go without a festival. The last was held in January 2000 and the next, given the compulsions of the global festival calendar with an event every month, cannot take place before October 10, 2002.

This brings into focus important issues. There was little logic in shifting the date from January. October is crowded with festivals in Venice, Montreal, Toronto and Tokyo. And the argument which the Directorate of Film Festivals put forth - that hosting the event in October would make it easier to get hold of better works, since the major festivals would be over by then - is without basis.

For, the reason why quality films go to Europe or North America is that India provides little scope for marketing a film. With the whopping costs involved in making a movie today, no producer wants to ship a print anywhere for the love of cinema. He looks for money and profits, and India's marketing agency, the National Film Development Corporation, has failed to put in place a satisfactory system where celluloid works can be brought and sold. In fact, the NFDC has been, of late, neglecting the Indian festival, and at times failed to set up a stall even as a token presence.

Besides, the Indian Film Festival has not been able to shake off an age-old stigma - that prints in its custody are damaged. This view was heard recently at a press conference in Tokyo, held to announce the list of films for the upcoming Tokyo International Film Festival. The Indian Ministry of Information and Broadcasting must not only help remove such an impression but also ponder over the temptation of hosting the event in various cities.

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Section  : International
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