Film lovers mourn IFFI cancellation

mumbai: belt up for the bad news. the international film festival of india (iffi) stands cancelled this year, sushma swaraj, minister of information and broadcasting, has announced. the festival was scheduled to have taken place from october 10-20 in bangalore. iffi was to have been co-hosted by the directorate of film festivals (dff) and the karnataka state government, but the state government backed off with just two weeks to go, citing drought conditions in the state.according to an official statement, the dff is also concerned about ``the increasing uncertainty of the extent of international participation in the festival on account of the emerging situation in the region,'' babu-ese for the threat of war in afghanistan. news of the cancellation has plunged film directors, producers and cinephiles into gloom. as it is, the festival had been postponed from january to october. says govind nihalani, whose deham was to have been premiered in the indian panorama section, ``i am very upset that iffi has been cancelled. for indian films, the festival is our window to the world and vice versa. it makes it possible for indian films which are not fully mainstream to be noticed, travel worldwide and occasionally even be sold. my film is going to the london and jakarta festivals, but i did have some hopes of finding international buyers at iffi.'' adds ashutosh gowariker, whose lagaan was also to have been showcased in the panorama, ``lagaan has missed out on a chance to participate in the prestigious panorama and i am very disappointed. when there is great competition between film festivals worldwide, it is unfortunate that our festival has been cancelled. i do respect the sentiments of the people of karnataka, but even at short notice, some effort could have been made to organise an alternative venue, so that the festival could continue, even if not in the best of conditions.'' gowariker is somewhat fortunate that lagaan has already been released nationally and internationally, but others whose films were premiering in the panorama will be hit harder. these include fareeda mehta's kali salwaar, gul bahar singh's the goal, gopi desai's bas yaari rakho and b. lenin's ooruku nooruper. while there is widespread sympathy for the drought-affected, not everyone is buying the official reason for the cancellation of the festival. says shyam benegal, whose zubeidaa was slated to be shown in the panorama, ``the drought in karnataka seems more of an excuse than a reason. after all, the drought has been on for a couple of years at least, and certainly at the time the state agreed to host the festival in the first place. there is hunger 365 days of the year in some part of india or the other. if it was a question of money, the central government could have sorted it out with the state government.'' if there is an underlying reason for karnataka's decision to pull out, it is occluded for the time being, although there is some speculation that it is part of a larger agenda concerning the release of cauvery waters to tamil nadu. postponement of the festival would have been tricky. ``with just two weeks to go, it would have been difficult for the dff to organise an alternative venue, even in delhi,'' benegal points out. ``besides, the international federation of film producers' association (fiapf), which governs film festivals, requires advance clearance of theatres, seating capacity and so on. it is important for us to stay within the fiapf membership as accredited festivals find it easier to get films and access to international networking. this is a black mark for us with the fiapf, as i do not think the official reason holds much water. if it was a genuine reason like the threat of war and cancellation of flights, film prints and guest arrivals, it would have been different.'' said sudhir nandgaonkar, programme director of the international film festival of mumbai, ``sushma swaraj has proposed that the indian panorama films, at least, be divided between the international film festivals in calcutta (november 10-17) and mumbai (november 21-28). we are considering the proposal and may show 15 films each.'' the films scheduled to have been screened at iffi include liv ullman's faithless (sweden), an american rhapsody by eva gardos (u.s.), legend of love by farhad mehranfar and one more day by babak payami (both iran), vatel by roland joffe (france) and foolish pomegranate tree by peter meszaros (hungary). the 60 delegates who had already confirmed their participation included american actresses uma thurman and nastassja kinski, sources said. official sources have confirmed that the next iffi will be held in october 2002.