mismanagement at International Film Festival of India
Hundreds of movie lovers including delegates participated in sit-in protest against mismanagement at the 37th International Film Festival of India here when they were not allowed to enter the venues despite having the required passes.
They were protesting for being disallowed to watch the movies being showcased at the film festival due to irregularities and utter mismanagement by the organisers of the event.
The protestors complained that despite the fact that the Inox multiplex, one of the venues for films screening, having a seating capacity for 1,272 people, more than 5,000 delegate passes were issued. And, the gap between demand and supply caused a lot of inconvenience to all.
As a result, there is a heavy rush to enter the theatres much before the scheduled time.
Besides long queues, many film directors, producers, and technicians are finding it hard to watch popular movies.
On Saturday afternoon, the situation reached a boiling point when the individuals, who were not allowed to enter the halls, started shouting slogan against the management authorities of the festival.
“The organisers, along with the police personnel rushed in to pacify the agitating people, but to no avail. A meeting between the sore delegates, and the organisers was called amidst much commotion,” said Mohd. Idris, a delegate from Uttaranchal
“Though peace has prevailed for now, the matters will again come up on Sunday. The authorities are also gearing up to sort out the problem,” said Nandini Paliwal, Chief Executive Officer, Entertainment Society Of Goa.
The 37th IFFI is being held from November 23 to December 3 2006, in the coastal state of Goa. This festival’s top prize — the Golden Peacock�will also carry along with it a cash prize of a million rupees, and goes to the director of the prize-winning film
The ‘most promising director’ gets a silver peacock and a cash prize of half-a-million rupees (Rs 500,000). There’s also a special jury award, of a silver peacock and a cash prize of half-a-million rupees for an individual’s artistic contribution.
In 2006, this festival is being divided into the following categories�competition (feature films by directors from Asia, Africa and Latin America); cinema of the world; retrospectives, tributes, focus; Indian panorama; mainstream Indian cinema. There will also be a film bazaar, an initiative of recent years to promote and sell Indian film.
The International Film Festival of India (IFFI) (sometimes referred to as the India International Film Festival) is a ten-to-eleven day film festival organised by the Indian Directorate of Film Festivals and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The first IFFI was held in 1952; since 1975, it has been held annually.
Since 1952, India has hosted 36 International Film Festivals, both competitive and non-competitive. These festivals became annual events from 1975 onwards.
— ANI
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