Better organisation, less glamour, more serious cinema. That briefly, is the trend the Goa government has defined for the fourth International Film Festival of India. The budget is being scaled down, and the focus will move away from the usual Bollywood song and dance at the opening. The festival is scheduled for November 23 to December 3.

“I am opposed to exorbitant spending on big film stars. We want to make the festival truly film centric, keeping the focus mainly on serious cinema,” Chief Minister Digambar Kamat told Deccan Herald.

Still reeling from all the criticism over last year’s organisational gaffes and the huge amounts paid out to Bollywood actors like Salman Khan and Priyanka Chopra, the state government has tightened the budget to Rs 5 crore for this year, expecting another Rs 5 crore to come in from sponsors. Expenditure for IFFI 2006 touched Rs 14 crore. One of the conditions for making Goa the permanent venue for the film festival is that the state government has to foot the bill. No financial help is extended by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, which otherwise continues to call the shots in programming, delegate registration, festival brochure content, media passes and this year, even the IFFI newsletter.

Film Festival’s reluctance to transfer some of the responsibilities to the Entertainment Society of Goa has delayed the signing of the memorandum of understanding between the state government and the DFF for this year's festival.

There are some minor issues that we need to sort out with the DFF before we sign the MoU,” ESG CEO Nandini Palliwal said.

Members of the ESG’s governing body are also annoyed at the deliberate rumours that the IFFI could be shifted to another venue, after the huge investment in infrastructure in Goa.
“We now have the experience and the infrastructure and are prepared to hold our own film festival if it comes to that,” a member told this newspaper.