Issues only with passes, will be resolved: Biffes chairman

"There were just 48 days from the day of announcement of BIFFES to the first day of screening. And that's all the time we got to prepare everything," said Sunil Puranik, the chairman of the Bengaluru International Film Festival, at a press conference held on Thursday.

Speaking about the choice of February to hold the festival, Puranik said that the festival could have been held later in more leisure, but the organisers sought to live up to international guidelines.

Puranik also apologised for the issues of delegate pass distrbution in the morning of the festival's first day of screenings.

Earlier that morning, delegates had to wait a long time, some even up to two hours, in queue to collect their passes. Some of those were senior citizens. Those who finally got to the counter were told that their delegate passes were not available.

One delegate, who had been attending BIFFES for the past three years as a senior citizen, told DH that this year, he was told that the Rs 400 senior citizen pass was not available, so he had to buy the Rs 800 regular pass.

He also had to stand in the regular queue, which was longer and more convoluted than the senior citizen queue.

Puranik apologised for all the inconvenience caused and said that by Thursday, all issues would be resolved.

"But the issue was only with passes. Every other aspect of the festival worked smoothly," he said.

When asked about how Day 1 of BIFFES faces these issues practically every year, BIFFES' Artistic Director N Vidyashankar, who was also at the press conference, said the government should set-up a body to bring more order. This, however, was pooh-poohed by a journalist who said that organisers talk about setting up a festival directorate every year but it never happens.

Puranik, who is serving as the BIFFES Chairman for the first time, promised a alternate "best system" in about 3 months.

There were also questions about why the inauguration ceremony of BIFFES, helmed by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, was delayed on Wednesday.

Delayed inaugurations are practically a part of Biffes tradition. The 2019 ceremony, chaired by then chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, was also delayed by a couple of hours.

The government may have changed, but the delay remains.

Puranik said that the issue here was unavoidable as the flights of singer Sonu Nigam and film actor Yash were delayed, and the programme could not start without them.