India will have a strong presence in international film market

As part of the efforts to boost film exports, the Government has made a "conscious decision" to ensure a strong presence in the international film market.

"The Government wants to be a proactive facilitator. This time, our thrust is on the market," Sushma Swaraj, Minister of Information & Broadcasting, who is visiting the Cannes film festival on May 14, said.

India is, for the first time, setting up its pavilion at the Cannes film festival.

Twenty-four Indian films, including the award-winning Daman by Kalpana Lajmi, Jairaj's Shantham, Jabbar Patel's Babasaheb Ambedkar, Shyam Benegal's Samar and Dekha by Gautam Ghose will be vying for recognition by international film critics and aficionados.

A number of films by well-known directors and actors -- Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Shyam Benegal, Shabana Azmi and Smita Patil -- are also being sent to the festival.

Denying reports that there was no Indian entry for screening at the Cannes Festival, Swaraj pointed out that Murali Nair's It's A Dog's Life had been selected. She said that the Indian Pavilion at the Cannes will be a single window for buyers and sellers of Indian films.

She also admitted to the reason why, for the first time, the Directorate of Film Festivals didn't sent an entry to Cannes this year: The Jury for the International Film Festivals, which selects films for the Indian Panorama, could not meet.

Swaraj stated that she and the Secretary, I & B, would go to Cannes as part of their visit to France and the UK. The Director of Directorate of Film Festivals, the Deputy Director, Films, I & B Ministry, too, will be part of her entourage.

In Paris, she will meet her counterpart, Catherine Tasca, and the two would discuss Indo-French collaboration in media and films.

In the UK, she will visit the BBC and hold discussions with its top brass to understand the BBC model, to help strengthen the Prasar Bharati.

PTI