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Tag: Film Federation of India

  • Kamal Haasan roots for Bengaluru to hold FICCI MEBC in future

    Kamal Haasan roots for Bengaluru to hold FICCI MEBC in future

    BENGALURU: The fifth edition of the FICCI MEBC (Media and Entertainment Business Conclave) came to a new location this year to IT City Bengaluru. MEBC president and actor Kamal Haasan rooted for Bengaluru to be a recurring location for the conclave to be held.

     

    Among the people present at the inaugural function were Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah, Information and Broadcasting secretary Bimal Julka, Film Federation of India president Ravi Kottarakara, Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce president H D Gangaraju, Karnataka government IT BT and S&T secretary Srivatsa Krishna and Association of Bangalore Animation Industry president and technicolor India head Biren Ghose.

     

    “Bengaluru is the second largest IT hub in the world after Silicon Valley and in the years to come we want to surpass even Silicon Valley to become the hub of innovation and convergence of media and entertainment,” said Krishna.

     

    Kamal Haasan said that Bengaluru has all the things needed to make it an IT hub as well as keep FICCI MEBC going in the city. “We will give a push to the digital medium,” he added.

     

    Siddaramaiah emphasised the need for building qualitative online content that will give advertisers innovative ways to reach out to people. “The industry should look at remaking old movies with good value and rich in vernacular content,” he said. He also urged the need for creating programming and growth friendly policies for industry.

     

    Issues that were concerning the film industry were also raised by Kottarakara such as service tax and lack of support from banks for movie funding. “Film making is put in the ‘sinful’ industry along with gambling, drinking and smoking. It is not so,” he said.

     

    The sessions for the two day event included ‘formulating and implementing a viable media and entertainment policy for a state’, ‘reshaping mobile entertainment in the era of digital revolution’, ‘the challenge of news: defining number one in the dizzying newscape’, ‘the broadcasting ecosystem in the digital era’, ‘customising global VFX for Indian cinema’, ‘emerging trends of Indian IP in animation and their exploitation’, ‘the emerging gaming industry in southern India’, ‘emerging technologies and the impact on media and entertainment industry’ and ‘changing trends in regional TV: ratings, content and formats’.

  • Ravi Kottarakara is new president of FFI, to take charge from January

    Ravi Kottarakara is new president of FFI, to take charge from January

    Filmmaker Ravi Kottarakara has been elected as the new president of the Film Federation of India.

     

    At the first meeting of the FFI executive committee held immediately after the 60th Annual General Meeting, Kottarakara representing the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce elected unanimously. The office bearers will assume office in January 2014.

     

    The other Office Bearers are:-

     

    Vice Presidents:

     

    Bijay Khemka (outgoing FFI President)
    T. P. Aggarwal
    C. Kalyan
    L. Suresh
    Kishinchand Janiani
    Rajendra Singh
    Ram Vidhani
    K. S. Ramarao
    Vijay Kumar
     

    Hon. Gen. Secretary
     

    A. R. Raju
    Hirachand Dand
     

    Hon. Treasurer
    Sangram Shirke.

     

    Supran Sen will continue as the Secretary General of the Federation.
     

  • Bangladesh agreeable to resolve problems relating to embargo on Indian Bangla films

    Bangladesh agreeable to resolve problems relating to embargo on Indian Bangla films

    NEW DELHI: The Film Federation of India (FFI) has expressed concern over the embargo on Indian films in some countries.

     

    The FFI has taken up this issue with the Government of Bangladesh and FFI President Bijay Khemka held a discussion on this issue with Bangladesh Information Minister Hasanula Haq Inu who was in Kolkata for the Media and Entertainment Business Conclave organised by FICCI recently.

     

    The Minister invited an FFI delegation to Dhaka to discuss the issue, particularly relating to Bangla films.

     

    Meanwhile, FFI is to organise the Indian Film Tourism Conclave in Chennai, Mumbai and Hyderabad in February to mark 100 years of Indian Cinema.

     

    A gala event will also be organised to mark the centenary.

  • Bijay Khemka is new President of Film Federation of India

    Bijay Khemka is new President of Film Federation of India

    NEW DELHI: Bijay Khemka has taken charge as the President of the Film Federation of India (FFI) with effect from 1 January.

    Khemka, who is from Kolkata, succeeds Vinod Lamba, who is from Delhi. Lamba is now one of the eight vice-presidents of the FFI, the apex body of film organisations in the country.

    The other vice-presidents are T P Aggarwal (Mumbai); L Suresh (Chennai); Jitendra Jain (Indore); Ravi Kottarakara (Chennai); K C N Chandrashekhar (Bengaluru); Ram Vidhani (Mumbai); and K Rama Subba Reddy (Hyderabad).
    C Kalyan (Hyderabad) and R P Anand (Mumbai) have been elected honorary general secretaries. Sangram Shirke (Mumbai) is the honorary treasurer.

    Supran Sen continues as the Secretary General of the FFI.

  • Film Federation of India withdraws decision to boycott IFFI 2012

    Film Federation of India withdraws decision to boycott IFFI 2012

    NEW DELHI: The Film Federation of India, the apex body of the film industry, has decided to cooperate in the organisation of the International Film Festival of India in Goa in November following assurances by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry that there was no intention to keep out FFI from the organisation of the Festival.

    In fact, I&B Joint Secretary (Films) Raghavendra Singh met delegations of the FFI twice in this regard and has also assured them that he will meet them in Mumbai on 5 November for sorting out any thorny issues.

    Early in September, the FFI had decided to boycott all activities of the IFFI to protest its being by-passed and not being called to any meeting of the Steering and other Committees.

    FFI president Vinod Lamba told indiantelevision.com that they were told of the Industry Coordination Committee meeting as late as August-end by which time some major discussions that are normally taken at this meeting had already been taken by the Directorate of Film Festivals and the IFFI Secretariat.

    FFI has always been an essential component of the Steering Committee and its members actively involved in various other committees and sub-committees such as Theatre, Technical, Hospitality and others. But this has not happened in recent years. “FFI can only assume that either the committees have been discontinued or FFI has been kept out of them,” Lamba said.

    The IFFI by its very tenets is a festival held jointly by the Government and the Indian Film Industry, and the Film Federation of India being the apex body of the industry has been “playing their part with total sincerity and efficiency”.

    In 2011, the time honoured tradition of the Vote of Thanks being delivered by the FFI President at the IFFI opening had been done away with at the level of the DFF with no proper and timely information being conveyed formally to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry or FFI, Lamba said.

    “While this callous misadventure may appear to have been nipped in the bud and status quo restored, the deliberate mishandling of affairs at the Inauguration event itself conveyed a greater affront to the persona and position of the FFI President, prompting the then Minister (Mrs Ambika Soni) herself to rush on stage to take corrective action,” Lamba added.

  • Film industry divided as multiplexes run while single screens join strike

    Film industry divided as multiplexes run while single screens join strike

    MUMBAI/DELHI: The one-day strike called by the Film Federation of India and member associations, protesting the 10.3 per cent service tax on the film industry, got a lukewarm response with multiplexes staying open.


    Most single screen theatres , however, remained closed all over the country. The single screen theatres in Delhi, though, did not join the strike.


    On Wednesday, the split in the film industry on the issue of strike came to light as FFI was in support, while Film and TV Producers Guild had distanced from it.


    PVR Cinemas Group President Pramod Arora said, ” What strike? All cinema halls including multiplexes and single-screens in Delhi are open and people are coming in.”


    Agreed Cinemax chief executive officer Sunil Punjabi, “We, multiplex owners, discussed the strike issue at the industry-level and unanimously decided to go ahead with the screenings,” he said.


    In retaliation, FFI president Vinod K Lamba said that the strike was a success. “Out of a total of 10,500 plus cinema halls in India, there are a mere 750 multiplexes. In Delhi, there are less than ten single screens.


    All single screen theatres in Bengal, Assam, and the Northeast states remained closed and 500 artistes, cine technicians, exhibitors etc held dharna and road meeting at Chowringhee. The All TV and Artistes Guild in Bengal stopped work for 30 minutes to express solidarity with the strike.


    A total of around 800 persons observed dharna in Chennai where there was no film activity, according to senior FFI member L Suresh. Similarly, there was no activity in Kerala and Karnataka.


    Lamba also said all single screens in Uttar Pradesh including Saharanpur, Bareilly, and Varanasi were closed. In Maharashtra; only the multiplexes remained open.


    Multiplexes have eaten into the share of the single screens and contribute a major chunk of India’s box office business.


    In the CP Berar, CI and Rajasthan circuit, the bandh had little effect. The Central Circuit Cine Association (CCCA) had issued a circular calling off the proposed bandh.


    CCCA President Santosh Singh Jain said, “When the finance minister has already woken up to the travails of the industry and has promised to look into the matter, it does not make sense to go ahead with the bandh.”


    In Mumbai, the main hub of the film business, laboratories, post-production studios and workers affiliated to several associations did not stop work.


    On the workmen front, workers associated with Cine and T.V Artistes‘ Association (CINTAA) and Film Studios Setting and Allied Mazdoor Union have reported to work.


    The film industry have several bodies that are in conflict and are divided on issues. There are four main film associations – the FFI, IMPPA, Film Producers Guild, and Association of Motion Pictures and TV Programme Producers of India (AMPTPP).


    Explains CINTAA President Dharmesh Tiwari, “While FFI and IMPPA are together, the Guild that comprises big-ticket film producers and AMPTPP constitute the other group. Film workers have no allegiance whatsoever to anyone. They are always with producers who provide them employment and today all concerned producers are working. Hence our workers are working too.”


    Also Read:
    Film industry split on stopping work on 23 February

  • Multiplexes to participate in film industry’s token strike on 23 Feb

    Multiplexes to participate in film industry’s token strike on 23 Feb

    MUMBAI: Deciding to participate in a nationwide strike called by the Film Federation of India to protest against the government‘s proposal to bring the film industry under the purview of service tax, all cinema halls (single-screen and multiplexes) across the country will shut shop on 23 February.

    Said multiplex owners‘ association president Deepak Asher, “All multiplexes in the country will be shut on 23 February. Not only us, single-screen theatres along with the entire film industry from production to distribution to exhibition, will be shut.”

    But would a day’s token strike have any impact? “I guess no, but depending on the response we get on that day, we will think whether to go on an indefinite strike or not. All said and done, the one-day strike would definitely draw attention. People will sit up and ponder.”

    Observed distributor Shyam Shroff, “ The matter being very serious, we have decided to protest. Generally, what happens is the service tax is collected from the consumer and passed on to the government. But in this case, it will pass from distributor to the exhibitor and the best part is that it should not pass to the consumer. So how are things to work out?”

  • FFI up in arms against Goa as festival venue

    FFI up in arms against Goa as festival venue

    NEW DELHI: The Film Federation of India (FFI) will shortly meet information and broadcasting minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi to urge him to scrap Goa as a venue for future International Film Festivals of India (IFFI).

    FFI has decided to launch an agitation ‘that should sound the death knell for Goa as the festival venue’. It will write to the ministry soon citing its grievances in this regard prior to meeting the minister.Goa was declared as the permanent venue in 2004 for the annual IFFI by the previous National Democratic Alliance government, and the 37th IFFI – the third in Goa – was held from 23 November to 3 December. The organization of the festival was taken up on behalf of the directorate of film festivals of the I&B ministry by the Entertainment Society of Goa, set up specially for this purpose.

    The reaction of the film industry was on the cards, as it alleged utter ‘apathy and complete indifference that the festival organizers were showing to the Indian film industry’ and said this was bound to have its backlash.

    The annnual general meeting of Film Federation if India, the apex body with constituents strewn across the country, adopted a united and unanimous decision to put all its might behind the ouster of Goa as the venue for IFFI.

    The film industry under the aegis of the Film and Television Producers Guild had held a party for the festival delegates, and film industry observers at the spot alleged that the authorities did not extend any helping hand in this. Furthermore, several film personalities alleged that they had to run from pillar to post to get their entry cards for the festival.

    The FFI meet felt that “IFFI is a very sacred name for the Indian film industry. It is the nation’s recognition to the outside world as its definitive film festival. But for the past three years since the time the festival has shifted to Goa, the industry is being treated like a pariah. From being confronted with embarrassing questions at the registration desks to being literally reduced to begging for function passes, it was as if this is not the industry’s programme but an outside event where the industry has come in as an uninvited guest’.

    The FFI quoted several examples which it termed as ‘howlers’: Shakti Samanta was asked whether he has made any film; and renowned producer Dr D Rama Naidu was asked to prove his credentials. ‘These are but a few of the remarkable gaffes that kept on happening for the last three years with great impunity. The sheer neglect and unfriendliness that the industry has seen since the festival shifted to Goa might have ignited this tempest last year itself.’

    ‘Can anyone imagine that for the inaugural this year, out of some 5000 capacity, the industry was allocated only 225 seats? And that too with great reluctance on the morning of the function which made it virtually impossible for FFI officials to distribute the cards properly. Is this a film festival or a private function? Not to mention the complete chaos and inefficiency that accompanied the whole organizational process.’

    FFI noted that the concerned officials for the festivals were mostly greenhorns. Neither were they cinema savvy nor did they have any knowledge on how a festival should be conducted. “It is as if all of them were on some different trip that had no connection with a film festival. Otherwise, can anyone explain why additional and much needed infrastructure (screens with larger capacity) was not on the priority list? Why should a festival not have the basic amenities? India’s reputation is at stake in such international gatherings and the complete confusion that prevailed surely made us a laughing stock in the eyes of the world,” the FFI said.

    For the past 30 years, there is a co-ordination system that was in existence between FFI and the festival authorities which was one of the prime reasons why it operated smoothly. Come Goa and all of that has gone up in smoke. In fact, there is a coordination committee that is set up before each edition of the festival which meets regularly before the festival and important decisions are taken. Subsequently, these decisions are passed on to the organizing committee for implementation.

    For the past 3 years, the coordination committee was set up, and they met but nothing was put into practice. Most decisions were unceremoniously rejected by the organizing committee. And to put things into perspective, the coordination committee consists of presidents of all film trade bodies . When decisions taken at such a high level is derided, the entire Indian film industry feels insulted.