‘Need for TV channel to promote parallel cinema’

Panaji: The jury of the Indian panorama section at Iffi 2016 debated on ways to increase the visibility of Indian non-feature films in the country.
“When we talk of Indian films, we only think of Bollywood. Many films by lesser known filmmakers have been recognized outside India, but are treated as B class films in the country,” chairperson of the Indian Panorama feature film section jury and award winning Manipuri filmmaker Ariban Syam Sharma said, adding that India had been very unkind to small time filmmakers who want to express themselves.India's diverse culture and traditions are very colourful and something to be celerbated.
Director and feature film category jury member Bijaya Jena said that for the last two decades, she has unsuccessfully been proposing to the information and broadcasting ministry, that regional films be screened at state-run theatres in the country, particularly those that are empty for a couple of months in the year. She suggested that these be released by the government and the proceeds from the screenings (where no entertainment tax will be levied) be shared 50-50 with the government and filmmaker. “The government must patronize artists,” she said.
Sharma also proposed two film festivals- one for popular cinema and the other for meaningful parallel cinema. A channel on Indian television where parallel cinema could be screened, he said, would be a dream come true for filmmakers. Asked why very few Goans films make the cut at Iffi each year, Sharma explained that films were selected on the basis of their quality and technical brilliance and not on the basis of region.