Meeting at Cannes to increase international footprint of Indian Cinema

Cannes, May 22 (IANS) Officials from Ministry of Information and Broadcasting explored opportunities to increase the global footprint of Indian cinema at a meeting attended by international filmmakers and policy experts at the Cannes Film Festival here.

Given the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting's role in the development of the film sector in India, especially the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), the Film in India initiative, the National Film Development Corporation's (NFDC) Film Bazaar, the NFDC tied up with Marco Muller - Artistic Director, Pingyao International Film Festival, to introduce these initiatives to acclaimed international filmmakers and representatives of various national bodies from countries that have an international co-production with India.

Ashok Parmar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, said in a statement: "This meeting enabled us to introduce internationally celebrated filmmakers to IFFI, which is in its 48th year and thus, showcase the latest critically acclaimed films."

"We would be delighted to have these eminent personalities conduct master classes and workshops in Film Bazaar and visit different locations in India, which is in sync with our Film in India initiative under the aegis of the Film Facilitation Office. We also had the opportunity to speak about international collaboration between talent and co-creation of content since we have signed co-production treaties with several countries," he added.

Parmar also informed the filmmakers that the setting up of the National Centre of Excellence in Animation, Visual Effects and Comics in Mumbai and a new Film and Television Institute in the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, will enhance the skill of the film sector.

The congregation was also informed of the ministry's ambitious National Film Heritage Mission through the National Film Archives based in Pune and the National Museum of Indian Cinema in Mumbai under the aegis of Film Division, as an endeavour on the part of the government's effort to preserve the century-old cinematic heritage of the country.

At the May 21 meeting, it was also discussed how the Directorate of Film Festival could promote Indian cinema across various cities in Britain and Poland and at the same time give their films a footprint in India.

The Ambassador of India to France, Mohan Kumar, who was present during the deliberations, said: "We had very useful discussions centred around two fundamental objectives: how to achieve greater visibility for Indian cinema worldwide and how to promote India as a destination for foreign movies.

"Discussions with directors, producers and policy makers from UK, Italy, Poland Germany and China proved fruitful and a possible road map to increase the global footprint did emerge."

Fatih Akin (Director/Producer - Germany), Nurhan Sekerci (Producer - Germany), Bady Minck (Director/Producer - Austria/Luxembourg), Simone Gattoni (Director/Producer - Italy), Heather Stewart (Creative Director - British Film Institute, Izabela Kiszka-Hoflik (Head of Film production and Project Development - Polish Film Institute and Michel Pradier and Marielle Poupelin - Telefilm Canada were the international filmmakers and delegates in attendance at the India Pavilion, organised by NFDC on behalf of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.