But, when you get down to the minute analysis, IFFI has not given Goa the kind of returns that were envisaged when it was first mooted to be held in the State. It has limped forward, taking painful jumps over controversies that have surrounded it from the time it was first held in the State. Even before the curtain opened on the first IFFI in Goa, there was a signature campaign from Panjim residents opposing it. It didn’t get much traction, and the festival took off with much fanfare, and it’s been 15 years since it has been held in Goa, and this year when the curtains open on the festival, it will be the 50th year of the festival – a golden jubilee that is being planned to surpass others before it, but what does Goa get out of it? Nothing, it appears, as local films get no special preference from the organisers. After the Konkani film fraternity rose to condemn the fact that not a single Konkani film had been selected for screeing at IFFI, not even the National Award winning film, ESG announced that Amori will be screened in an IFFI Panorama Special Section, whatever that may be.
It was this neglect of Konkani films that brought IFFI into the news a whole month earlier than it otherwise would. Controversies of course have always fuelled the media coverage of the festival, but this force one to look back and see what exactly Goa has gained from the festival. Precious little is what the benefits to Goa have been, whether economically, culturally or even in the movie world, the gains, if any, are negligible. During the days of the festival, the local hotels, restaurants, transporters, entertainers, decorators see some increased volumes of business, but it all dries up once the curtains come down on the festival. The State, that takes pride in being a tourism brand, has never been able to leverage the position of being a permanent host of the International Film Festival of India in any manner whatsoever. Fifteen years it has been hosting IFFI, but till date it has neither made inroads into the film world, nor does the State attract the attention of the tourist as a film festival destination, the manner in which Cannes or Locarno do. Mind you, this is what was expected of Goa, that it would rival Cannes. It has not even made the feeblest of attempts to do that.
The situation will not change, unless the State makes efforts to leverage the hosting of the festival to its gains. Right now Goa shakes itself up from its slumber only in November when it gears up to the hosting the festival. For the other 11 months of the year there is little related to the film industry or movie making that takes places in the State. So what happens every year is that Goa pays out of its money to host the festival and earns nothing, it makes loses actually on hosting the festival, year after year. This calls for some introspection on whether this festival is worth hosting or is a burden on the State’s exchequer and infrastructure.
We are weeks away from the 50th edition of IFFI, and two years ago there was a promise made that the State would have a convention centre for the golden jubilee edition. It hasn’t yet come up, and of course it won’t in the coming days. There is just a little over a month to go before the festival begins. This milestone of the event will have to take place in the makeshift venues that have been hosting it since it first came to the shores of Goa.
