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Goa stakes claim to be 'Cannes of the east'
2008-11-24
PANAJI, India (AFP) - Goa's chief minister wants to rebrand India's most prestigious film festival along the lines of Cannes in the south of France, but the pledge has set him on a collision course with organisers. "Like Cannes, we want the festival to be known by the Goa name. We will brand the festival as the Goa Festival," Digamber Kamat said late Saturday at the launch of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI). About 60 foreign-language films and 80 Indian films are to be shown before the 39th annual festival ends on December 2, including the country's Academy Award entry "Taare Zameen Par" and Bollywood favourites. Officials in the resort state have previously asked India's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and Directorate of Film Festivals to give it more responsibilities during the event. The Entertainment Society of Goa is this year responsible for four sections of the festival. Goa has hosted the event since 2004. But organisers insist they want to keep overall control and the festival's existing identity, rather than turning it into the "Cannes of the East." "If the state decides to have a Goa film festival or some other international film festival then the venue will be shifted to Delhi or some other city," festival director S.M. Khan said. "IFFI will remain as IFFI," he added.
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