Films Division, the oldest media organization of the union government now wants to start its own TV channel that will screen documentaries and animation films from India.
Director General, Films Division, Mr Bankim while interacting with media during the ongoing 42nd IFFI stated, "We need our own channel to showcase our stories through documentaries. We have our Films Division staff who can work on it. We have even given this idea to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting," he said while speaking to media on Friday.
He, however, in the same breath confessed that a channel requires constant feeding of information, which is quality matter.
Elaborating on the 12th edition of the Mumbai International Film Festival for Documentary, Short and Animation Films (MIFF) he said that the festival will be held from February 3 to 9 at Mumbai. "The international section had 224 film entries of 137 hours programme from 37 countries. From India we had 567 films of 328 hours programme. The shortest film is of 0.33 seconds and the longest is of three-hour duration," he informed.
He further informed that the total budget of the festival is ` 2.5 crores. "We have received just` 20 lakh from the Maharashtra government, which is quite low," he said.
Speaking further about finances he revealed that the total prize money at the MIFF amounted to ` 68.5 lakhs. "In the international section we have 12 awards with a total prize of ` 35.5 lakhs and in the Indian section we have 10 awards with a prize of ` 28 lakhs," he informed.
He further suggested that MIFF should be shifted to different cities every year. "We are deliberating on holding MIFF in more than one city. It could be shifted to another city every alternate year. This exposure should be there for other populous also," he suggested.
During the week-long festival, workshops, seminars and open forums will also be held. Homage would be paid to film legends like Mani Kaul, M V Krishnaswamy, P B Pendharkar, Zul Velani and Dilip Roy by showcasing select films of theirs. There will be also a V Shantaram Lifetime Achievement Award.
