NEW DELHI: Minister of state for information and broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore has said his ministry has introduced an additional activity under existing Plan Scheme for providing financial assistance to filmmakers whose films are selected in competition section of an international film festival of repute or India’s official nomination for Academy Awards under Foreign Film Category.
Rethore told the Parliament that the Directorate of Film Festivals has been designated as the nodal agency for implementing this activity. The details of the scheme are available at http://mib.nic.in/WriteReadData/documents/Film_Promotion_Fund_-_procedure.pdf.
The scheme was introduced with effect from 3 October 2016 and, so far, no eligible proposal for seeking assistance under the film promotion scheme has been received, and therefore no assistance has been provided, Rathore said.
Early this month, union minister M Venkaiah Naidu had announced at a press meet here that the Fund was aimed at promoting Indian cinema at International Film Festivals. This initiative would help independent filmmakers to promote their work across the globe.
Naidu claimed that the Government’s efforts to project India as a soft power and filming destination has been a win-win situation so far, in terms of attracting global stakeholders from various quarters of film industry to India as well as Indian films, expertise and talent being accepted globally at international festivals.
According to details on the website, the Festivals to be covered are:
Eligible Film Festival/Award & Corresponding Fund Value
No. Feature Film Festival Key Sections Fund value (INR)
1. Sundance Film Festival – January World Cinema Dramatic competition 15,00,000
2. Sundance Film Festival – January Premieres 10,00,000
3. Int. Film Festival of Rotterdam -January Hivos Tiger Awards Competition 10,00,000
4. Int. Film Festival of Rotterdam -– January Bright Future 7,50,000
5. Int. Film Festival of Rotterdam – January Spectrum 7,50,000
6. Berlin International Film Festival – February Competition 15,00,000
7. Berlin International Film Festival – February Panorama 10,00,000
8. Berlin International Film Festival – February Forum 10,00,000
9. Berlin International Film Festival – February Generation K-plus
& Generation 14plus 10,00,000
10. Festival de Cannes – May In Competition 20,00,000
11. Festival de Cannes – May Un Certain Regard 15,00,000
12. Directors’ Fortnight– May World Premiere 15,00,000
13. International Critics’ Week – May World Premiere 10,00,000
14. Venice International Film Festival – September In Competition 15,00,000
15. Venice International Film Festival – September Orizzonti 10,00,000
16. International Critics’ Week – September Official Selection 7,50,000
17. Venice Days – September Official Selection 7,50,000
18. Toronto Int. Film Festival – September Special Presentation 15,00,000
19. Toronto Int. Film Festival – September Discovery 10,00,000
20. Busan Int. Film Festival –October New Currents 10,00,000
21. Busan Int. Film Festival – October Window on Asian Cinema 7,50,000
22. Locarno Int. Film Festival Concorso Internazionale 7,50,000
23. Oscars Foreign Language Film 50,00,000 to 1,00,00,000
