Europe, US films to vie for honours
PANJIM, JUNE 28
The competition section at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) is set to become bigger this year with Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni announcing that the competition section is going global.
Films from Europe, the Americas and Australia would now be able to compete for top honours in the competition section at the 41st IFFI scheduled to take place here in November.
Hitherto, the competition section was open only for the cinema from Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG) Manoj Srivastava, which co-hosts the annual event, said IFFI’s competition section has now been opened for global cinema.
“This year we expect films from Europe, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand in the competition section”, Srivastava said.
He stated that since the competition section was constrained to few Continents, IFFI was missing on bigger participation including Hollywood, which will now be able to showcase its films for the festival.
“The competition will now be tough. Widening the competition will bring in better content. The quality of content will definitely go up”, the CEO said.
The competition section is opened for global filmmakers as per the recommendations of experts’ committee, which has been formed to review the festival.
Srivastava said IFFI which was conceived in 70s had Asian competition section, which was conducted only when the festival was held in Delhi. “When it was moved out of Delhi, the section was deleted from the festival as it was called `filmotsav’,” he said.
The section was restructured in 1995. African and Latin American countries were added to the competition section in 2005 when the festival travelled to Goa.
