Smriti Irani, the newly appointed Information and Broadcasting Minister, has removed the 21-member preview committee of the upcoming International Film Festival of India (IFFI) to be held in Goa between November 21 and 28.
A member of the panel, requesting anonymity, told The Wire, that the preview committee had already seen around 150 films. They were to meet again on August 17 to discuss the grading of the movies.
“No one knows whether the grading given to those films will remain or they will have to be seen again by the new members. The committee is mandated to see all the entries within a certain time period. Because international filmmakers would soon begin asking for confirmations as 450 film festivals take place across the world and no filmmaker likes to wait till the end to know whether his or her film has been selected for IFFI. Nobody wants to miss out on some other festival, if IFFI isn’t interested. It is also not fair. So if delay happens in finalising the list, I wonder how many international filmmakers of repute would come to screen their films at IFFI and not opt for some other festival.”
Recommended
The committee had been appointed for a period of three years by former I&B Minister Venkaiah Naidu so as to ensure continuity in the screening process.
Now, Irani is said to have removed all the members and replaced them with people of her choice. The steering committee, responsible for overseeing the festival, is also likely to be replaced. This decision might cause major logistical issues for the IFFI, given that the planning and management of the event began months in advance.
Image Credit – The Wire