Funds slashed for film fest, yet unions see red

KOLKATA: The state government''s austerity drive seems to have stopped at the doorsteps of chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee''s favourite culture complex Nandan, as the finance department coughed up half-a-crore on Wednesday to facilitate the forthcoming Kolkata film festival.
Bhattacharjee will brief the media about the festival on Thursday. The festival will begin on November 10 and the grand finale will be on November 17.
Retrospectives of six films by Theodore Angelopoulus of Greece and nine films by Italian legend Marcello Mastroianni will be the main attraction for classical connoisseurs in the foreign section,while six "hot" films from new French directors will draw crowds.
Over 50 films from across the globe including several from Latin America will be shown at Nandan, Rabindra Sadan, Sisir Mancha, Chaplin and New Empire. Two sections on Mani Ratnam and Aparna Sen will form the focus of the Indian Panorama.
Opposition unions and even some ministers have expressed resentment at the government largesse to the festival.
"We virtually beg the finance department for funds for road repair and other emergency work and the finance minister always cites a crisis. But he changed his mind in case of the film festival since it is the chief minister''s pet programme," quipped a minister from a partner party.
"The government, almost bankrupt, failed to pay dearness allowance and salary arrears and slashed bonus, sermonising us to go for austerity drives. But the chief minister himself is now indulging in wasteful expenditure," said Samir Mazumdar, leader of the State Government Employees'' Union (Nabaparjaya).
However, finance secretary Samar Ghosh maintained that the sanction was slashed from Rs 80 lakh to Rs 50 lakh this year in view of the funds crunch. Moreover, amusement taxes would be imposed on festival tickets.
"It is the most low-budget film festival in the world. The fund slash has compelled us to tighten our belts further. We are trying hard to rope in corporate sponsors," said a festival functionary.
Sahara India is likely to share the expenditure as the organisers approached the visiting Sahara chief Subrata Roy, sources said. There will be no screening at the Girish Mancha and Madhusudan Mancha this year due to financial pruning.