The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, through three different orders, completely transferred the mandates of the Films Division, Directorate of Film Festivals, National Film Archives of India, and Children’s Film Society to the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC).
The NFDC is the government agency that was previously responsible for the production of feature films. It will now handle the production of films of all genres, including feature films, documentaries, children films and animation films; promotion of films through participation in different international festivals and organising various domestic festivals; preservation of film content, digitization and restoration of films; and distribution and outreach activities.
The order further stated that the ‘Films Division’ name will be retained and used by the vertical for the production of documentaries in the NFDC.
The transfer of the mandate of the Directorate of Film Festivals to the NFDC will bring the organisation of different national and international film festivals under one roof, which the ministry says will “bring in more synergy and focused international outreach.”
Major upcoming festivals to be organised by the NFDC include the Mumbai International Film Festival, the International Film Festival of India at Goa, and the Children’s Film Festival.
Following the transfer of the National Film Archives of India mandate to the NFDC, it will now implement the digitization and restoration of films and documentaries under the National Film Heritage Mission.
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Through this order, the government has also announced financial incentives for audio-visual co-productions with foreign countries. To further stimulate the audio-visual service sector of the economy and promote creative and technical services, the ministry has approved incentives to promote the shooting of foreign films in the country, which will be spearheaded by the NFDC through its Film Facilitation Office.
Bringing all these activities under a single management is aimed at reducing overlap and ensuring better utilisation of public resources, according to the I&B ministry.
However, the ownership of the assets available with these units will remain with the union government, as per the order.
The government has also allocated a budget of Rs 1304.52 crore upto the year 2026 to implement all these activities.