National Film Heritage mission to be unveiled at IFFI

New Delhi: A Rs 600-crore national mission to preserve the country`s film heritage will be unveiled at the International Film Festival of India this month, Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari today said.

He also said in addition to the life time achievement award given at IFFI, a special award will be launched this year on the occasion of Indian cinema completing 100 years. The new award aims at honouring the contribution of an individual who has dedicated his life to the Indian cinema. "We are going to unveil a Rs 600 crore National Film Heritage Mission to preserve the film heritage of India. Often old reels get spoiled and so there is a need to preserve all these. This kind of work will be carried on," Tewari told reporters. Addressing the issue of providing single window clearance for international filmmakers coming to shoot in India, he said, "Such a body will have representation from Centre, state as well local bodies so that anybody who wants to make a film in India gets the permission in one go." The 44th edition of IFFI, from November 20-30, will kickstart in presence of legendary singer Asha Bhosle, actress Rekha, actor-filmmaker Kamal Hassan and veteran actor Manoj Kumar. Academy Award-winning Hollywood actress Susan Sarandon, critically acclaimed Iranian director Majid Majidi and Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Holland will also attend the event. The 11-day festival will feature 160 foreign films under various categories and provide a rare cinematic glimpse of Japan through a selection of animation films under the Country Focus category. Works of filmmakers like Kiyoshi Kurosawa (`Real`) and Makoto Shinkai (`The Garden of Words`) will be screened. The event will also have a specially curated section focusing on films from the northeastern region. The international competition prize money is Rs 1.1 crore with 15 films from around the world vying for the coveted Peacock Awards. Tewari also announced that the 18th International Children`s Film Festival, popularly known as The Golden Elephant, will be held in Hyderabad from November 14-20 and will showcase 200 films from 48 countries. "In ICFFI at Hyderabad also, a new award has been instituted for the first time to award the best Children Film of India in last 100 years," he said. ICFFI has received about 285 animation films from across the globe and 26 children films from South America.