NIFD neglecting Parallel Cinema

The filmmakers of art films or so called parallel cinema came out in open to protest against the step-fatherly treatment being given to them by National Institute of Film Development (NIFD) and International Film Festival of India organizers.

Art filmmakers depend on government funding for making meaningful films as their films hardly get any commercial success and in most cases not even screened at commercial theaters.

Such films used to find solace in Film Festivals and some government funding. But lately these funds have become sparse and even Film Festivals are rapidly moving towards commercialization (IFFI, Goa).

The art film makers were not the only sect that’s perturbed. Regional cinema suffers from the same apathy, according to P.R. Ramadas Naidu, who produced the Kannada film “Pravaaha” (The Flood), on the problems of village artisans.

“Earlier, regional films would be broadcast nationally (on TV). Now, after the conversion of Prasar Bharati into a corporation, regional films face much discrimination,” Naidu told reporters.

He alleged that the royalty paid to regional filmmakers had declined and only a handful was telecast on the state-run Doordarshan, that too in off-peak slots.

“Doordarshan has social commitments too. It should not view things merely in terms of how much (revenue) each slot fetches,” he said.