Indian Film Culture.P65 - federation of film societies of india

Q: I had been to Karlovy Vary this year where there were
five films produced by TV Polska. They say they produce
5 to 10 films every year. Even big films like Andrej Wajda’s
Katyn have been produced by them. In Poland, the directors
have to approach the television channels. Is NFDC
considering such collaborations with TV? Is there a possibility
of reviving this?
A: Not at present. We have spoken to Doordarshan, but
nothing has been finalized yet.
Q: What is the average yearly production of NFDC – co
production, part finance and 100 per cent finance?
A: As I said, it could be anywhere between four to six films.
Q: The general impression in the industry is that NFDC is
not producing films anymore. Last year at AFF, the Konkani
and Rajasthani films from NFDC were entered in the competition
section. During the festival, we heard filmmakers
saying that they thought that NFDC had stopped production.
Is the process still the same? The script committee
has to approve it before it is financed? Do you still have
the script committee and the NFDC Board?
A: Yes. The script committee has to approve the script and
recommend it for finance and the approving authority for
a film is the Board of Directors. Om Puri is the Chairman
of the Board. Apart from ex-officio and functional directors,
Jahnu Barua and Ketan Mehta are also members of
the Board.
Q: Earlier NFDC would export even films from private
producers and put up stalls at various festivals. Have you
stopped doing that as well?
A: We still do that. But now, the ministry has a scheme and
it sets up an Indian Pavilion.
I admit that as far as independent filmmakers are concerned,
we are not doing as much as we would like to do.
Since we also had to carry out significant internal restructuring
in NFDC, that took priority. Given our constraints
of finance there was no point in taking up a film and not
being able to deliver on it.
In this scenario, there was a brief period where NFDC was
almost inactive on not just export of films but on all fronts.
In general, there was a widening gap between the NFDC
and the film industry. So the perception that went out was
that NFDC was no longer around. To regain the trust of
filmmakers will obviously take sometime. It will not happen
overnight.
Q: What is the scenario regarding NFDC’s distribution of
films?
A: Distribution is a very difficult business. I also acknowl-
August 2010 / Indian Film Culture 18
edge that this has been a critical failure for NFDC. I think
the small theatre scheme floated by the founders of NFDC
was an excellent idea. It was similar to what is done globally.
In every country, there are art theatres or specialty
theatres where films that cannot generally make their way
through the commercial distribution system are released.
That is missing in India. NFDC had envisaged this but
somewhere the theatre financing model ceased to work.
We can only try to learn and attempt to make a difference.
I do believe that, in order to be a really meaningful institution
vis-à-vis the film industry, NFDC has to develop some
kind of a distribution system.
Now, there is recognition within
the government that the
developmental mandate is
important. There is a clear cut
demarcation of our developmental
activities and the business
activities. Our developmental role
is to fulfill the mandate for which
it has been set up i.e. to facilitate
the growth of Indian film
industry.
Q: Distribution has become difficult now as the so-called
parallel cinema which NFDC was promoting in a big way
is out of theatres. The multiplex culture demands stars and
makes it even more difficult. But there is a ray of hope. For
example, in Karnataka, all the Kannada distributors have
joined hands and have taken Chitra theatre and started a
programme called Chitravarsha. Every month on Friday,
Saturday and Sunday, they show films with tickets,
publicise them, and they are doing well. NFDC has a lot of
films and it could consider doing this. Is this under consideration
under the new scheme?
A: Yes.
Q: Why has NFDC withdrawn the scheme where producers
were mandatorily told to give another print exclusively
for Panorama weeks?
A: There is no withdrawal from any kind of schemes. As I
said, there was a discontinuation of many activities like
production, distribution. All those challenges needed to be
addressed at once and one had to prioritise them. For us it
was critical that we start production, and the government
is very supportive. If the developmental mandate has to be
meaningful, then that mandate should not be dependent on
the annual earnings of the Corporation. It was the crosssubsidisation
of NFDC’s developmental mandate from rev-