IFFI will be technically superior this year: Organisers

Panaji: The 43rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) is going to be technically superior to previous fare, an organiser of the festival said Monday.

According to Vishnu Wagh, vice chairman of the Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG), which is one of the two agencies in charge of hosting the festival that takes place here annually, also said that the Goa government is also looking at setting up a film city and an entertainment hub in the state. "We are in the process of upgrading the production facilities. The A.K. Bir committee is in the process of making an audit of the available infrastructure as well as recommending additional infrastructure for the event," Wagh, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator, told reporters here. The A.K. Bir committee -- which also has among its members Govind Nihalani, Kishwar Desai, Prasoon Joshi, Nandita Das, Pritish Nandy and Shabana Azmi -- is currently evaluating the available infrastructure used for screening the several hundred films and documentaries at each festival. The brief given to the committee consists of preparing an audit of current facilities as well as coming up with suggestions to improve and enhance the film viewing experience at the IFFI, which is jointly hosted by the central government`s union Ministry for Information and Broadcasting and the state government`s ESG. Wagh said one of the rub-offs of the IFFI was making Goa a legible point on the film and entertainment map of India. "The creation of infrastructure is the biggest plus which comes along with the IFFI. Our target is to use the impact of the IFFI and the reach it gives us to create a film city as well as an entertainment hub for Goa," Wagh said. The IFFI will be held in Goa in November this year. IANS