Date:25/06/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/06/25/stories/2007062557110300.htm

Karnataka - Others

Goa to sign MoU on film festival soon

Special Correspondent

Officials to meet Information secretary

PANAJI: Officials of the State-owned Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG), which is the nodal agency for International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa, will meet Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) in New Delhi early this week to finalise the draft of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) of IFFI, 2007.

The festival will be held in Goa from November 23 to December 3. Chief Executive Officer of ESG Nandini Pallival told The Hindu on Thursday that the officials would be led by Chief Secretary of Goa J.P. Singh. Once the draft was cl eared after the meeting on Tuesday, Goa was expected to sign the memorandum of understanding with the Information and Broadcasting Ministry soon.

After holding IFFI for the past three years, the new memorandum of understanding between Goa and the Centre for the 2007 film festival is expected to scale down peripheral activities which are said to be responsible for the criticism that they take the focus away from the serious business of cinema and turn it into a carnival.

Ms. Paliwal said that the view was that IFFI should now focus on hardcore film-related activities. This was also expected to help address traffic problems and security issues which led to controversies.

Among the proposals, one is to increase the delegates’ registration fee. It is proposed to increase the registration fee to Rs. 500 from Rs. 200 to reduce the pressure on screening facilities at the festival venue. The financial arrangement for the festival between the State and the Ministry, however, continues to remain the same. The ESG on its part would continue its efforts to tap diverse revenue sources. Asked whether the proposed plans of taking over the IFFI organisation by Goa had remained a distant dream, Ms. Palival said, “As of date, Goa has been shouldering the logistics part of IFFI. During IFFI 2007, we will focus on programming and other aspects to emerge as an independent organiser of the festival from 2008.”