ESG vice chairman Damodar Naik welcomed the Government of India’s decision to declare Goa as the permanent venue of IFFI and promised all cooperation in staging a spectacular worldwide Film Festival. They will not besmirch India’s reputation. “Beyond that I can not really comment”, Arora told reporters after he was asked if he was anxious about the call given by FTII students to protest at the IFFI venue against the appointment of actor Gajendra Chauhan as the institute’s director.
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Addressing a press conference in Goa, I&B secretary Sunil Arora rubbished the media speculations that FTII students will protest at the IFFI venue.
The music maestro will be a part of Film Bazaar, an annually organised market where delegates buy, sell, exhibit and pitch their content and the NFDC Knowledge Series sessions.
The Goa government, meanwhile is not taking any chances and is on the guard to tackle any situation at the event.
Organizers of the 46 edition of Iffi said they are not perturbed by the protests that students of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) have threatened to hold at the festival. “The Goa Police is competent to deal with any eventuality”, said state chief secretary R K Srivastava.
FTII students had staged a 139-day strike from June 12 to protest Chauhan’s appointment, claiming he was unfit for the position.
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India’s biggest global film festival will screen this year 187 films from 89 countries, to be opened with “The Man Who Knew Infinity”, directed by Mathew Brown and based on India’s mathematical genius Ramanujan.
