Day 2 of activities at the India
Pavilion - organized by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, in
association with FICCI - at the Cannes Film Market 2014 started at 10 a.m. with
structured B2B meetings between Indian and international delegates – with the
aim of allowing Indian participants at the Cannes Film Festival to be able to
promote and facilitate their business goals. Shri Bimal Julka, Secretary,
Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Govt. of India, met with Cameron
Bailey, Artistic Director, Toronto International Film Festival; Jerome
Paillard, Executive Director, Marche du Film Festival de Cannes; and Amanda
Nevill, Chief Executive, British Film Institute.
Post lunch, at 2.30 p.m., was the
hugely awaited interactive session on 'Co-Production: Merging Resources to
Create Magic'. Starting with a keynote address by Shri Julka, this session,
with speakers from six countries, focused on the how co-production makes
filmmaking viable and lucrative by providing access to public or subsidized
funds to filmmakers and increases sales and chances of syndication in the
international space. According to Shri Julka, co-production agreements not only
enrich bilateral exchanges towards substantial cultural benefits, but also
bring in foreign exchange to a country's exchequer, and contribute to actual
economic growth. This power-packed session saw insights from Dave Gibson, CEO,
New Zealand Film Commission; Carolle Brabant, Executive Director, Telefilm
Canada; Franck Priot, Deputy Director, Film France; Nina Lath Gupta, Managing
Director, NFDC; Cindy Shyu, CEO, Light House Productions, China; Pierre
Assouline, Owner, Producer, Only Films, Paris, and Westeast Films, Mumbai; and
Mr T.P. Aggarwal, the first Indian Vice President of FIAPF. Weighing in on the
creative concerns of co-produced filmmaking were Indian film veterans Dr Kamal
Haasan and Mr Ramesh Sippy. The session was anchored by veteran filmmaker and
producer Bobby Bedi. Two important announcements were made at the session –
that the first India-New Zealand co-production, Beyond the Known World, is on
the verge of being finalized; and that an India-China audiovisual co-production
agreement – it will be India's 10th audio-visual co-production agreement with
other countries – is in the offing.
This session was followed by
fascinating conversation wherein legendary filmmaker, actor, producer and
writer Dr Kamal Haasan was interviewed by critic and anchor Ms Anupama Chopra.
Dr Haasan captivated the tightly packed audience with his candid answers on all
things film and his experience as an actor for fifty-plus years. On being asked
why we have not yet cracked the competition section at Cannes and won the Palme
D'Or yet, Kamal Haasan said 'The problem is that we are a self-sufficient
nation!' He stressed that Indian filmmakers need to stop being satisfied with
the familiarity and safety of local markets and start taking risks – so that
India can constantly produce truly global content that is appreciated across
the world.
Shri Julka also met with the
artistic team of the upcoming Indo-French coproduction based on Rabindranath
Tagore's short story 'Kabuliwallah' – the film will be directed by renowned
Afghan filmmaker Atiq Rahimi. Shri Julka expressed that the Government of India
is keen to collaborate on the project, which would provide a boost to
Indo-Afghan ties.
The evening saw an exclusive
networking evening co-hosted by the I & B Ministry of India and the New
Zealand Film Commission. An intimate interaction between filmmakers, producers
and commissions from New Zealand and India, the event was the first of a kind
Indian initiative aimed at promoting and forging ties for co-production and
other partnerships between the two countries.
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