FILM FESTIVAL 2003
OFF TO A GRAND START
DEPUTY
PM EXPRESSES CONCERN OVER PIRACY
I&B
MINISTER SEES GREAT POTENTIAL IN ENTERTAINMENT
SECTOR
The 34th
International Film Festival of India was inaugurated here today
by the Deputy Prime Minister, Shri Lal Krishan Advani at an impressive
function at Siri Fort Auditorium. Renowned actor Kamal Hassan
was the Guest of Honour and actress Kareena Kapoor acted as the
Thali Girl. The Information and Broadcasting Minister, Shri Ravi
Shankar Prasad and Delhi Chief Minister Smt. Shiela Dixit, addressed
the inaugural session.
The Deputy Prime
Minister, Shri L. K. Advani assured the film industry that the
Government would take all possible steps to check the menace of
piracy, which is eating into the vitals of the industry. At the
same time, he appealed to the film viewing public to contribute
in this regard by not viewing the pirated films.
Shri Advani lauded
the Indian cinema for extending the use of Hindi to almost all
parts of India. He said like IT, India has got the potential of
becoming a leader in the entertainment sector through the films.
In many parts of the world even today India is recognized through
its films, he said.
Speaking on the
occasion, the Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Shri Ravi
Shankar Prasad said that the world today is recognizing the worth
of Indian cinema and in the fast globalising world entertainment
also has to come out of the regional mode. If entertainment has
to succeed in the world, it has to look to Asia and India is bound
to occupy the pride of place.
Referring to
the shifting of the festival to Goa from next year, Shri Prasad
that the natural ambience of Goa would offer the vibrant symbol
for branding Indian films. He said, festivals offer good networking
and commerce for which the Film Bazaar, which was introduced last
year, is offering great opportunities.
The Guest of
Honour at the festival, noted actor Kamal Hassan thanked the Government
for giving industry status to films but pleaded for expeditious
financing. The 10-day festival is being attended by over 3000
delegates from 36 countries. In all 212 films would be screened
in the Indian Panorama, Cinema of the World, Retrospectives, Country
Focus and the Asian Competition Sections.
Eleven films
from Asian Countries, two each from Iran, Sri Lanka and India
and one each from China, Israel, Japan, Korea and Thailand would
be vying for the Golden Peacock for the Best Film and Silver Peacock
for the Best Promising Asian Director. Mr. Krzystof Zanussi would
be the Chairperson of the Jury for the Competition Section.
Two special retrospectives
of B. R. Chopra and K. S. Sethumadhvan’s films are being organized.
Eleven-feature films directed/produced by these two famous directors
would be shown.
Three seminars
are being held on the topics (1) Shape of the films to come (2)
The Hunt for Indian Films – Marketing Indian film products, and
(3) Around the world in 90 minutes – Benefits of attending film
festivals and markets. Open forums on topical issues would be
conducted by the Federation of Film Societies of India.
For the Lifetime
Achievement Award this year, famous actress Liv Ullmann has been
selected by the Jury consisting of Shekhar Kapoor, Budhadev Dasgupta
and Mani Ratnam.
Film Bazaar this
year has attracted 24 entries and buyers from Australia, Malaysia,
South Africa, Uzbekistan, England, Russia and some other countries
and organizations have confirmed their participation.
Premier of three
films are being held this year, including the inaugural film ‘Pinjar’.
The other films are ‘Mian Maqbool’ and ‘Chokher Bali’.
