In a bid to seek more powers from the Centre to the state in hosting the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), a delegation led by Goa Chief Minister Digamber Kamat, who heads the state-owned Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG) that organizes IFFI, will soon visit the Union Information and Broadcasting Minister, Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi.
The move comes after the Delhi-based Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF) rejected the draft of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to be signed with the Goa government, which stressed that the ESG should be allowed to independently handle certain parts of the film festival like movie premiere shows and Indian Panorama. The government has been trying to get more powers in organizing the festival with an eye to eventually holding the festival on its own.
However, DFF informed the state government that the MoU for IFFI 2008 should be an exact replica of the MOU prepared for last year's film festival. ESG has decided to take a strong stand in this issue.
"We will put across our viewpoint to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry seeking more participation in the festival organisation," Goa Chief Secretary J.P. Singh said.
The permanent venue of IFFI was shifted from Delhi to Goa in 2004 during Manohar Parrikar's tenure as Chief Minister. The IFFI-2008 will be held between November 23 and December 2.
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