Goa : IFFI has played a key role in showcasing of various linguistic films, according to Nirupama Kotru a senior official of the central ministry for information and broadcasting.
Kotru was praising IFFI during a Chai and Chat session organized at the festival this year.
“IFFI has played a key role showcasing various linguistic films that are showcased very well. They don’t get enough distribution and IFFI is a great platform. Film festivals are all about celebrating cinema,” she said, adding that it was also a great avenue for meeting renowned names like Majid Majidi, Atiq Rahimi, etc.
“It is a huge challenge for us to run this festival and it is an exciting journey. I feel a strong focus on regional cinema is required and not overall mainstream cinema. There is some beautiful independent cinema as well,” she said, adding that the festival was also offering a platform for documentary films.
“IFFI is surely going in the right direction. We must give a chance to regional cinema and documentaries to explore their avenues,” she said, saying that the Mumbai International Film Festival was already a good platform for documentaries.
Festival director Shankar Mohan, who was also a part of the discussion said that the festival had managed to do tremendous service and help sponsor growth in festivals all over India, most of them being government sponsored.
“IFFI was shifted to Goa in 2004. Before Goa, the festival was a travelling festival. The idea was to reach out to various industries across India. It was important to feel every culture,” he said.
“IFFI is primarily a feature film festival. Short film and documentary sections were introduced in 2011. IFFI takes care of documentaries equally and have focused forums,” he said.
Swapnil Naik of the Entertainment Society of Goa said that government of Goa had been very supportive throughout.
“Since the past 10 years, we have seen to it that we get all the co-operation from the state government,” he said.
Source : Lokesh Shastri