Showing posts with label Directorate of Film Festivals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Directorate of Film Festivals. Show all posts
Cabinet approves merger of four govt film media units with NFDC
9:11 PM
THE TIMES OF INDIA (December 24, 2020)
New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the merger of four government-run film and media units — the Films Division, Directorate of Film Festivals, National Film Archives of India and the autonomous Children’s Film Society, into the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC).
A ministry statement said the merger of the film media units under one corporation will lead to convergence of activities and resources and help better coordination. “The vision of the new entity will be to ensure balanced and focused development of Indian cinema in all its genres; feature films, including films, content for the OTT platforms, children's content, animation, short films and documentaries,” it said.
Sources said recommendations for a closer coordination of the work done by the units were first proposed by the Bimal Julka Committee. There was also a view that units like the Films Division, the oldest of the four, was generating high salary bills but contributed little by way of quality content over the years.
While each of the film units like the National Film Archives of India, Directorate of Film Festivals and the Children’s Film Society had been given a specialised mandate when they were each set up, it was felt that the units had failed over the years to keep abreast with industry standards and it would be better managed by bringing them under one roof with different verticals.
Sources said the government may offer a one-time fund corpus to NFDC to set up necessary systems, but the company will eventually need to find funds and run itself independently, thereby reducing the burden on the state exchequer. The merger also brings within NFDC’s fold the autonomous Children’s Film Society, which was founded in 1955 under the Societies Act to provide value-based entertainment through films to children and young adults.
Times View: The merger is a huge step by the government. Limitations notwithstanding, all these institutions had developed a distinct identity in their respective fields over the years. One only hopes that bringing them under one umbrella will actually lead to improved functioning and not the opposite.
DFF replaces Shahid with Astu as opening film; Hansal Mehta miffed
9:00 AM
Bharati Dubey (MID-DAY; July 1, 2014)Director Hansal Mehta is crying foul after the Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF) decided to replace his National Award winning film, Shahid, with Marathi film, Astu. Shahid was apparently supposed to be the opening film at the National Film Festival that began in New Delhi on Sunday, but the organisers decided to screen Astu instead.
Mehta says, “On May 15, I was told that Shahid would be the opening film at the National Film Festival; I even confirmed my presence at the event. But it looks like this decision was reversed and I learnt about this only from the internet. I found this entire episode to be very arbitrary and I wonder why I was not informed about the change.”
The DFF office, however, maintains that the film festival was postponed twice and filmmakers, including Mehta, were informed about it. Shankar Mohan, the DFF chief, says, “I am sure Mehta must’ve got a mail from our office. When the festival got cancelled twice, the plan to start with Shahid was also called off. Besides we needed a sizeable amount of people to be present at the opening, so Astu was chosen. The entire cast and crew were present at the opening on Sunday.” But Mehta denies getting any intimation about it. “I have to check again, but does that mean they changed the opening film without informing us even after sending the invitation?” he asks.
The director adds that this could be a politically motivated move. “I am constrained to believe that there are reasons beyond cinema for this sudden change and having a protagonist named Shahid is perhaps one of the causes. I was opposed to the hypocritical appeasement politics practiced by the previous government and Shahid clearly demonstrates my stand on the matter. I am also vehemently opposed to the chauvinistic ‘majoritysm’ that looms large over the change promised by the new setup. My only appeal is that keep your political compulsions out of cinema. I am not passing any judgement over Astu which was chosen over my film; I am just sad that films made with passion seem to become pawns in an unseemly political game."
Shankar Mohan rubbished all claims made by Mehta.
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