Manipur wants filmmakers in India, Bangladesh to make the state their shooting location

Manipur State Film Development Society told producers there will be incentives for filmmakers making movies in the state

With insurgency coming down in the Northeast in the past few years, Manipur wants to promote the state as a destination for filmmakers in order to transform its image from being a troubled state to a tourist attraction.

As part of the effort, the Manipur State Film Development Society (MSFDS) on Thursday urged 26 filmmakers from the rest of India and neighbouring Bangladesh to choose the state as their next filming location.

MSFDS secretary Sunzu Bachaspatimayum made the offer to the film producers attending the Producers’ Lab at the 53rd International Film Festival of India (IFFA), which concluded at Panaji (Goa) on Thursday.

The MSFDS Secretary told producers that the state has a film policy offering incentives to producers who shoot their films in Manipur. "The exact amount and conditions of the incentives are in the process of formulation. The state, as of now, also does not charge any location fees to shoot and MSFDS is the single window for processing all film-related permissions in 10 days," MSFDS said in a statement.

The MSFDS secretary also said that the state is coming out with a comprehensive film location compendium to assist producers in deciding their locations in Manipur.

Manipur is, for the first time, participating in the Film Bazar at IFFA and even has a Manipur pavilion to attract film crews from around the globe to shoot in Manipur, which is yet to be explored.

Manipuri feature and non-feature films were screened at the IFFA, an opportunity the Northeastern state was given as it is celebrating the golden jubilee of their films.

Bihar and Pondicherry also highlighted the incentives being offered to filmmakers choosing their states as shooting locations.