Panaji, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Singh Thakur stressed on doing more to make the country power house of content creation by scaling up regional film festivals and making India hub of world cinema.
'We need to do more, we want to make India a powerhouse of content creation, by scaling up regional festivals. We want to make India the post-production hub of the world cinema by leveraging immense tech talent of youth. We want to make India the destination for films and festivals, we want to make India the hub of world cinema, and the most favoured place for storytellers,” he said, while speaking at the closing ceremony of International Film Festival of India (IFFI).
Terming the 52nd IFFI as a festival of many firsts, he said it had been keeping up with the winds of change. “For the first time at this IFFI, we had the presence and enthusiastic participation of OTT platforms. IFFI has embraced new technologies, platform choices of audiences and has kept pace with changing times. We have also showcased best films from BRICS nations and we hope that this partnership blossoms further,” the minister said.
He recalled the first-of-its-kind initiative “75 Creative Minds of Tomorrow”, wherein 75 budding artists were hosted at IFFI and given a rare opportunity to present their talents at the international platform, as part of the national celebration of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
“In a unique initiative aimed at identifying and nurturing young talent, we selected 75 Creative Minds of Tomorrow. I am confident that some of them will come back after a few years not just as a part of the film industry but also as icons of cinema.
'The kind of encouragement they got - the master classes by the who-is-who of the cinema industry, they are one of the lucky few to have got this opportunity,” he said.
The 75 youngsters comprising 7 female and 68 male artists, all below 35 years of age, have been chosen based on their exquisite skills in different fields of film making including direction, editing, singing and screenplay, among others. The youngest among them all is 16 years old, Aryan Kumar from Bihar, chosen for his skills in Film Direction.
Thakur said around 10,000 delegates from across the world, including filmmakers, students and cine enthusiasts participated in the festival in a hybrid format.
'There were 234 screenings in which nearly 450 hours of movies were screened. Total hours watched online comes to a whopping 30,000 plus hours,” he said.
The Minister recalled that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced that as part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, the government will celebrate the birthday of tribal freedom fighter Birsa Munda as Janjatiya Gaurav Divas.
“The Government of India has celebrated November 15 – November 22, 2021 as Janjatiya Gaurav Saptah. It is great that we get a film on the tribal community this month itself,” he said.