Panjim: The 51st edition of International Film Festival of India (IFFI) will be held in a “hybrid fashion” with a mixture of online and auditorium screening of events in light of COVID-19 pandemic.
Moreover, all the cultural activities and events that are usually held outside the festival premises, attracting huge crowd during the nine-day event, stands cancelled this year.
The decisions were taken during the IFFI steering committee virtual meeting held on August 21. The meeting decided to hold the festival by abiding all the Standard Operating Procedure (SOPs) laid down by the Central and State government, in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak across the country.
The meeting was attended by officials of Directorate of Film Festival (DFF), Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG) and filmmakers including Subhash Ghai and Madhur Bhandarkar.
Speaking to reporters, ESG vice chairman Subhash Faldesai said that the festival will be held as per schedule in November, but it would be in a “hybrid fashion.”
Faldesai added that the steering committee will meet again, next week, to decide on which are the segments that could be screened virtually and those, which can be shown in the auditoriums.
“The meeting will also decide on the inaugural and closing ceremonies,” he said.
Faldesai said that the decision on allowing delegates to attend the festival will also be taken by the steering committee, which is exploring the possibility of providing online access to them.
The festival is held from November 20-28 annually. Goa hosts over 10,000 delegates including film fraternity members from India and foreign countries for the event.
Faldesai added that all the cultural activities and events that take place outside the festival premises, stands cancelled this year. Also, no food stalls will be allowed, he added. He further stated that the expense on the festival will also be reduced as many segments would be held online.
The State government has earmarked Rs 16 crore budget for the event.
