Jahnu Barua

PANAJI: Veteran filmmaker Jahnu Barua has called the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) "completely amateurish" and warned of the "imminent death of cinema" if organisational matters are not sorted out immediately.

"The festival is losing importance at the international level. There is lack of vision and coordination between the authorities of Goa and the Central Government," the member of the jury at the 37th festival told The Hindu . The Centre-run Directorate of Film Festivals would have to steer the ship until the Goa Government's Entertainment Society was is in a position to do the needful.

In favour of Hindi

"Noted filmmakers will not come to IFFI if equal treatment is not meted out to all. There is a wrong bias in favour of Hindi. And lopsided execution of plans. For instance, all films in the Indian Panorama needed to be screened at one place,"said the nine-time national award winner.

The festival, closing on Sunday, has been marred by chaos at most screenings. And Goa as a permanent venue has come in for criticism though the authorities have rubbished all claims of shifting the festival to Delhi next year. "A few years ago I was a part of the organising committee. I suggested that they should start a small festival in Goa, then gradually build it up. But they straightaway decided to have the international festival here. There is no cinema culture here, people do not understand the language of the cinema."

Mr. Barua drew a contrast with Kerala and Bengal, where people are "cinema-oriented" and the Government has the experience of holding film festivals.

The IFFI is based on the Cannes model which, Mr. Barua says, is a wrong example. "They should follow Locarno or Sundance. In Locarno, they have temporary theatres with a seating capacity between 2,000 and 9,000. They come up in less than three days and are immediately demolished at the conclusion of the festival."

The IFFI's venues have a combined capacity of about 2,200 seats, while nearly 7,000 passes have been issued. The result: long queues and heated arguments.

Needed correct focus

Mr Barua, who is not in favour of continuing the festival in Goa, also pointed out that the need for a balance between serious and popular cinema.

"For the authorities glamour means Hindi cinema. That is a popular perception. They have brought the same to the festival. They need to have a correct focus. If they are only looking to popularise Goa, they should have a tourist festival."

Little gain

The director of Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Maara, a film on the Mahatma before Rajkumar Hirani made Gandhiji popular, says: "The festival is losing its colour. They are spending quite a lot, much more than for other festivals but there is little gain in terms of cinema. We have the infrastructure and the funds. We are lacking in will. If the festival goes on like this, there is imminent death. Cinema will be dead."

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