Local Goa News

Thursday, November 24, 2016

Foreign delegate numbers drop at ‘global’ event

Panaji: The International Film Festival of India (Iffi) may be touted as a global event and recognized as one of Asia's largest film festivals, but, unlike most festivals of a similar scale, foreign delegates seem to have given the 47th edition of Iffi a miss.

The only international visitors spotted at the Iffi venues were guests who had been invited for the screening of their own films.
The participation of foreign delegates—especially those who attend solely out of their interest in films—at Iffi has seen a steady decline year after year, ever since the festival started in 2004.
"Iffi cannot be compared to festivals like Cannes, which are centered around business. Iffi is about film screenings and is quite different," said Iffi director C Senthil Rajan.
But Jyoti Venkatesh, a film critic who has been attending Iffi for 40 consecutive years now, said it is an undeniable fact that foreign delegates at this year's Iffi are indeed far fewer in number.
"There has been a steady decline in the number of foreign delegates visiting Iffi over the years. This is because the directorate of film festivals can afford to invite only a small number of foreign film crew to promote their films at Iffi due to budget constraints. As far as film enthusiasts are concerned, there are better festivals for them to spend on, if they are going to choose one to travel abroad to," he said.
Goan filmmaker Laxmikant Shetgaonkar, who has won accolades at Toronto Film Festival, said, that Goa government has not done enough to create an atmosphere that can make people want to travel to attend Iffi.
"I am sorry to say, but Iffi should not become a platform only for senior citizens to come and spend their time. The number of youngsters and professionals visible at Iffi is far less. The Goa government should come out with a policy that can nurture local artistic talents, which will eventually create the right atmosphere at the festival," he said.

TOI Goa News

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