Nov 21, 2024 09:44 PM IST
The Indian Panorama has 25 feature films and 20 non-feature films to be showcased at the 55th edition of IFFI
PANAJI: The selection of films for the International Film Festival of India was not influenced by politics and there was no political pressure on the jury to select films for the Indian Panorama section, jury member Himanshu Sekhar Khatua said at a news conference on Thursday.
The Indian Panorama section, a flagship offering at IFFI that seeks to showcase the best 25 films from across the country, opened with a film, Swatantrya Veer Savarkar, on the Hindutva ideologue.
“There is nothing political here. Everyone here has said cinema, cinema, cinema is the only thing that happens here. There is no politics in this and no political pressure either. We are all independent entities, all have diversified thoughts, but we keep the country in mind, Indianness in mind and how to best showcase India. No pressure, nothing was from any political party,” Khatua said on the jury backing Swatantrya Veer Savarkar as the opening film of Indian Panorama 2024.
The jury members said the selection of 25 films out of 384 was a difficult task and that they were unanimous in their decision to showcase the diversity of filmmaking in India and the diverse cultures and languages they represent.
“It was a herculean task for the jury members since all of them came from different parts of the country and wanted to ensure that all parts of the country get deserving representation,” Khatua said.
The jury of the non-feature film (short films and documentaries) section of the Indian Panorama section sought a better platform for non-feature films in India and urged OTT platforms to take the lead in commissioning and promoting non-feature films.
Awareness generation, funding, and a structured channel for promotion are critical to supporting this genre, they said.
The jury members also suggested that the government consider allowing CSR funds to be spent on individual non-feature film projects. They welcomed the National Film Development Corporation’s (NFDC) recent initiatives to finance non-feature films in the Northeast, along with the launch of the Documentary Resource Initiative.
The Indian Panorama has 25 feature films and 20 non-feature films to be showcased at the 55th edition of IFFI. The package of 25 feature films including 5 films from mainstream cinema have been chosen from a broad spectrum of 384 contemporary Indian feature films, a statement by the ministry of information and broadcasting said.
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