There is a tug of war between the Goa government and the I&B Ministry over control of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) next year. Chief Minister of Goa, Pratap Singh Rane, has announced that from next year, his government plans to take control of the festival from the I&B ministry; the ministry has made it clear that it will not hand over the reins.
Sources claim that I&B ministry secretary S.K. Arora had even recommended the closing down of the Directorate of Film Festivals as it would become redundant once the festival was handed over to Goa.
But I&B Minister Priyaranjan Das Munshi has insisted the selection of films for the festival remains with the directorate. Meanwhile, at the ongoing 37th IFFI, 5,000 passes were distributed; the festival has the capacity to host only 2,000 delegates. “The directorate did that, not us,” Chief Minister Rane remarked angrily.
khalid.mohamed@hindustantimes.com