Anatomy of a Film Festival
Promoters of the International Film Festival of India ~ both Central and local ~ are struggling with the branding and mission of the festival, as the festival with Goa as the permanent venue shows signs of stagnation. The utterances of the ESG vice-chairman, pushing for axing Bollywood glitterati and their films, has sent the festival further into an identity crisis.
When IFFI was first ushered into Goa, dreams of Cannes and Venice were sold to filmgoers and tax payers. What will the IFFI finally represent ~ so called meaningful, serious and local films? Or is it to be a regional film festival? Granted that a big chunk of what Bollywood produces is slapstick which fails to impress or provoke. But can commercial cinema be left out entirely?
An ideal film festival has to first belong to each and every Indian and artistes, producers, directors, film critiques, film students, media and people should own the festival and contribute to the festival by analyzing it, throwing up new ideas, represent diversity. This is an unpopular thing to say, but perhaps if the festival is anchored in Goa and not rotated across regional venues, India’s rich diversity really doesn’t rub off on it.
The Union I&B minister’s claim that shifting the festival to Goa would make the State the nodal point of international film buffs and travelers is yet to materialize. Secondly, there is a perceptible stagnation in terms of ideas, infrastructure, organization and audience enthusiasm. In as early as 2005, Malayalam filmmakers had demanded that IFFI be shifted out of Goa as it represented a “Carnival”. The third question which arises is whether Goa has been able to put in place international level infrastructure and fourth, if it has created a culture of promoting non-mainstream cinema that all major festivals manage, after nearly a decade of the festival. Unfortunately, the answer is: No. Additionally it has not been able to create a film culture over a decade of the festival’s existence here. As of now the festival is limited to film stars who come for jaunts, film makers, film students, holidaymakers, and few local film makers and enthusiasts. IFFI has failed to catch the imagination of a large section of Goans, forget the surrounding areas of Maharashtra, Karnataka or other parts of southern and western India. Goa has also been unable to create the international standard dedicated infrastructure such as a film city and till date IFFI is preying on infrastructure of the city of Panjim and the infrastructure created for Campal residents by the Portuguese.
It has failed to draw attention to and raise the profile of films with the aim of contributing towards the development of cinema, boosting the film industry worldwide and celebrating cinema at a national level leave alone international level. The festival has failed to attract the world’s greatest film artistes and emerging talent or honor creativity, or even define the destiny of a good film. Neither is IFFI a springboard for creation. It does not even have an authentic international dimension with participation of famous film making countries.
Has the festival raised one’s passion for cinema? Does it discover new talent? Does it bring together professionals from around the world with the aim of contributing to the creation and distribution of films or impact the film industry? Do the master classes and film bazaars have any impact? Or is it just an excuse to have lavish banquets with free flowing liquor and utter waste of food by patronizing local starred hotels?
In terms of impact does a film which does well at IFFI prove important for its critical and commercial interests and to sell films, and does it define the image of the film? Are films producers eager to launch their films at IFFI and sell their works to a wider audience? The answers to these questions would determine whether it is meaningful to retain IFFI in Goa permanently or to rotate it across regions.
