Minister Inaugurates India Pavilion at Cannes
Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting, Government of
India,
Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (Retd), today inaugurated
the India Pavilion at Cannes Films Festival. Speaking at the packed inaugural
session of the India Pavilion the Minister said, “New Government at the Centre
was certainly more decisive and focused and is constantly working towards
taking India to higher levels of growth which is inclusive. The government was channelizing that objective through
campaigns like ‘Make in India’ and ‘Skill India’ and realizes that the film
industry is an important part of these campaigns given its tremendous potential
towards job creation”.
The Minister further stated that “India had already signed coproduction
agreements with a slew of countries. In the last one year five co-productions had
been undertaken with France alone. We need to take these partnerships to the
next level now. He added that the government was rigorously working towards
providing a seamless work environment for the film industry by establishing a
single window clearance mechanism. Also, a center of excellence for gaming and
visual effect s has been announced. The government would do its best to be an
infrastructure partner and would like to have faculty coming from the industry
itself and looks forward to more faculty exchanges.
The session also saw unveiling of the 46th IFFI, 2015
regulations and ‘India Film Guide’ by the Minister. The India Film Guide is a
comprehensive booklet with information on policy initiatives by the government
pertaining to film sector, the listing of Indian companies at Cannes Film
Market, Indian Films at Cannes and contacts of important people in the business
of film making.
The
session was attended by luminaries such as Dr Mohan Kumar, Ambassador of India to
France, Mr. Bobby
Bedi, Film Maker, Ms. Nandita Das, Actor/Film Maker, Mr. Roshan Baig, Minister
of Information and Public Relations, Government of Karnataka, Mr. K Sanjay
Murthy, Joint secretary, Films, Ministry of I&B, Government of India and
Mr. Ravi Kottarakara, Former President,
Film Federation of India.
Mr.
Bobby Bedi, Film maker, in his welcome address said that, “India’s presence at
Cannes had increased tremendously over the past decade and we have seen an increase
in representation in terms of quantity and an improvement in the quality of
content as well”. Dr Mohan
Kumar, Ambassador of India to France said that the ambition should be to get
Indian films in the most important category of films at Cannes. He added over the
next two to three years he would strive to work on that. The quality of films
from India had been rich in content and quality.
Mr.
Ravi Kottarakara, Former President, Film
Federation of India felt that India has on offer some of the best shooting
locations. There has been a tremendous change in the Indian film landscape and
the sector is definitely going to grow by leaps and bounds. We should try to
experiment more to have a wider global acceptability. Also, India’s linguistic cinema
which includes films in Tamil, Malayalam, Bengali, Marathi, Bhojpuri are as
good as mainstream Bollywood films and should get an equal opportunity to be
showcased. Ms. Nandita Das, Actor/Film maker said that she would like to raise
the issue of censorship in India. As we mature, it is important to promote
freedom of expression rather than curtailing voices. Mr. Roshan Baig, Minister
of Information and Public Relations, Government of Karnataka suggested that it
will be really great if the regional film industry is showcased as a part of
the delegations to some of the major international film festivals. Mr. K Sanjay
Murthy, Joint Secretary, Films, Ministry of I&B, Government of India said
that over the course of next few days they hoped to learn from various film commissions
and carry back new partnerships and learning experiences.
Courtesy: pib.nic.in
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