Step-motherly treatment to docu films at Iffi: Pandey

PANAJI: Documentary films are getting step-motherly treatment at the International Film Festival of India (Iffi) with not a single award constituted to recognize the work of documentary filmmakers at the festival, multiple Green Oscar winner Mike Pandey said in Panaji on Wednesday. He also criticized the Indian government for recovering service tax from documentary filmmakers even though they produce educational content for the country’s audiences.
“Feature films are dominating Iffi. Why are documentary films being given this step-motherly treatment? When feature films are being given so many awards, documentary films too should have one or two awards constituted for them. If we are serious about achieving the Swachh Bharat dream about making India a super power, the fastest way to educate millions of people is through documentaries. We are doing a service to society, yet the government charging us service tax,” said Pandey , who represents the Indian documentary producers’ association (IDPA) at Iffi.
He also said that documentary filmmakers need to be provided a space at the festival venue each year where discussions and negotiations can be facilitated for future projects.
“India has very archaic laws. It is a very difficult country to shoot documentaries in, with six to seven clearances required from the bureaucracy. Why can’t we have a single window clearance system?” Pandey said.
He said that the government needs to club documentaries with some department like education so that a budget could be systematically earmarked each year for their growth and for their wider viewing in India.
Pandey suggested that a separate viewing facility could also be provided for documentary films at Iffi so that more filmmakers could be accommodated.