NEW DELHI: The 58th Cannes film festival has taken off in the French Riveria resort amidst the flavour of Bollywood, which will showcase India brand at this world's glamorous film festival.
And, present there will be the industry chambers and the entertainment industry, including representatives from the TV world.
For the third consecutive year Confederation of India Industry (CII) is headed for Cannes to project the Indian film industry in the international market and supported by ministry of information & broadcasting and National Film Development Corporation (NFDC).
For the first time the Film and Television Producers Guild of India has joined hands with CII to bring together a high-powered delegation from Indian film to Cannes. I&B minister Jaipal Reddy will lead the Indian delegation.
Some of the key Indian delegates include Subhash Ghai, chairman of CII National Entertainment Committee, Bobby Bedi, co-chairman of CII National Entertainment Committee, Amit Khanna, president Film and Television Producers Guild, Manmohan Shetty, MD, Adlabs Films, Sunit Tandon, NFDC, Ronnie Screwvala, CEO, UTV, Sandeep Bhargav, CEO, Sahara One Motion Picture Company, Akbar Khan, MD, Mashreq Communications, Anshuman Swami, CEO, Applause Entertainment among others. Y C Deveshwar, Vice President, CII , N Srinivasan, Director General ,CII will accompany the delegation.
The presence of actress Nandita Das who will be on the Cannes jury this year, a feat accomplished by Aishwarya Rai in 2003, is a big boost and great value add to the India brand. Nandita Das will also inaugurate the CII India Pavilion, according to an official statement from the CII..
The highlight of this year's extravaganza would be the screening of "Pather Panchali" on 12 May, as a 'kick-off' event at this year's Cannes Classics Series. Cannes Classics was introduced as an integral part of the festival three years ago. This year, 'Pather Panchali' has been selected to honour it as one of the world's greatest films on the 50th anniversary of its release in 1955. 'Pather Panchali' received one of the most prestigious awards of the event in 1956 -- The Best Human Document.
This year movie outfits exhibiting at the India Pavilion at Riveria
include NFDC, Sahara India Mass Communication, Indian Motion Pictures, Sunstone Entertainment, Mashreq Communication and Planman Life among others.
CII feels that Cannes is an excellent platform for Indian film industry to interact and network with global showbiz community and also understand international production distribution and exhibition market scenarios better.
Over 60 Indian films will be screened at the Cannes Film Market, including the English version of Subhash Ghai's Kisna , Sunstone Entertainment's Chicken Tikka Masala, Eros International's Matrubhoomi--A nation without women and Ketan Mehta's The Rising , among others.
Coinciding with the fest, CII will hold an India Evening, a glitzy
show, which is already a talking point at Cannes. The India Evening is scheduled for 19 May at the Carlton Beach Restaurant.
Every year, the Cannes festival brings together over 7,000 participants from 70 countries including 16,000 buyers, 14,000 screenings in 30 venues.
