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Certain sections of the Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF), which organises the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), had seen it coming. Politics has reared its ugly head and the BJP-led Manohar Parrikar government in Goa has decided to stage the next edition of the annual event without the assistance of the Centre.
There is, however, a catch here: If the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, DFF's parent body, is indeed cold-shouldered by the Goa government, the state could lose the right to hold IFFI. That now seems a certainty with the government in Panaji having inserted a tender notice in newspapers calling for bids from professional event managers with the wherewithal to conduct an international film festival.
The tender notice itself is rather curiously worded. While the heading christens the proposed event "Goa International Film Festival", which is what it will actually become if the state government snaps its ties with DFF, in the body of the text, it is referred to as the "International Film Festival of India".
Going by fine print of the tender notice, the state government has constituted a body called the Entertainment Society of Goa and vested in it all powers to take decisions regarding the mounting and staging of the international film festival in November-December this year. Says the notice: "We are looking for engaging a professional agency which would ensure smooth operation of all technical, organizational and logistical aspects of the festival." No mention of DFF anywhere!
The notice lays down several prerequisites for the prospective festival management agency. "The agency," it says, "will have solid experience in cinema operations, outdoor stages, indoor and outdoor sound systems, connectivity and delivery of internet services, electrical systems and supplies."
The notice, signed by the Chief Executive Officer of the Entertainment Society of Goa, obviously supersedes the powers of the Director, DFF, vis-�-vis the conduct of the film festival. The question is: can the Goa government actually pull off the event at such short notice? The last date for receiving bids is July 30. The process of screening and short-listing bidders is bound to take a month at the very least.
So the business end of the festival - sourcing films and sending out invitations to delegates from around the world - will not begin until the first week of September. That would leave the organizers well under three months to make a success of the Goa International Film Festival.
The DFF, on its part, has already set in motion the process of acquiring films and identifying people for the competition jury. The chances are that the organization will go ahead with its preparations and hold IFFI 2004 in New Delhi itself if it is eased out of Goa. The information and broadcasting ministry is understood to have already taken a decision to that effect.
Up ahead is a situation that could get rather messy. With the Central government withdrawing all its support, the Goa film festival organizers would be left fending for themselves. Worse still, they might find themselves competing with IFFI, which could be held around the same time of the year, if not in 2004, certainly from 2005 onwards. In that event, the politics of film festivals will only get the better of the celebration of cinema. Sad but true!
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IFFI preparations give Goans heartburn
By: Priscilla Mehta / Mid Day
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The International Film Festival of India moves to Goa from Delhi this year. Conservationist groups and citizens are upset over the fact that heritage structures are being given out for receptions, trees are being cut down and that the Mandovi River is being filled up.
Fashion Designer Wendell Rodricks said, �I support the fact that the festival is happening in Goa. What I do not support is that for an eight-day so-called festival work is being done to destroy the beauty of Panjim.�
Local journalist Ethel D�costa added, �A couple of Sundays ago, they began cutting down very old, mature trees. We went there personally to stop them from it and found that they didn�t even have licenses to do so. The next day the contractors were hurriedly issued licenses and the work continued.�
Said Municipal Councillor Patricia Pinto, under whose ward 17 a majority of the events are to take place said, �People have been asking questions like whether spending crores of money on an eight-day event is justified or not.
"Even when people asked for information under the Goa Right To Information Act, they�ve been told that under the Act there needed to be a competent authority to answer questions and that no one had been appointed to be that competent authority. So by exploiting a loophole, citizens are left with no answers.�
Refuting the charges, Rajiv Sen, managing director for Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC), the nodal agency for all the infrastructure works says, �We took time ourselves to finalise the plans and have now put up some of the information on our website.�
Meanwhile Honorary Secretary for the Goa Heritage Action Group Heta Pandit said, �Of the mature trees only three are going to be cut. The planners have tried their best and have agreed to compensate.�
Architect and member of the infrastructure committee Lucio Miranda said, �The issue of the trees is a minor one. We�re proposing to use an urban design element that will benefit Panjim for the next 100 years. Now if there are four trees in the way, let�s not hold back for sentimental values.�
One of the main venues for the festival is going to be the Palace Maquinezes also known as the old Goa Medical College.
Local conservationists are upset that heritage site is going to be given out for receptions.
Pandit said, �Of the structures that are going to be demolished, they were only two minor structures that were built in the 80s. Our group believes in re-cycling and re-use. We actively encourage adaptive re-use of old structures that have outlived their original purpose.�
Moreover some others say that it�s not merely a Panjim problem. Money is being spent to widen roads in certain areas like Panjim, while other areas in the rest of the Goa don�t even have that basic infrastructure in place.
Summing up, Rodricks said, �We would simply like it if the authorities were more considerate to the citizens, the flora and fauna and the historical sites that we have.�
Meanwhile the Chief Minister of Goa, Manohar Parrikar said, �I�ve been busy with the elections and am not aware of what�s been happening on that front for the last few days.�
Now the state has only seven months to get the city spruced up for the event. But before the officials can brighten up the surroundings, they have much to do before smiles return to the faces of the citizens of Goa. | | |
