Hit by pandemic, IFFI’s virtual-physical format is major present this 12 months

The pastel yellow and white, colonial type constructing that homes the Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG) is on a road in Panaji that runs parallel to the Mandovi river until it meets the Arabian Sea. For the final ten days or so, the road was lit up, with lights dangling from electrical poles and timber all alongside it.
It appeared like an earnest try to brighten the venue that yearly hosts the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), as a result of barring the lights, little else instructed the pageant is on.
The pall of the pandemic sat heavy on this 12 months’s version of IFFI, which concluded on Sunday. It was seen within the absence of any massive crowds close to any of the seven venues the place the films have been screened. To evaluate, queues have been longer exterior the entrances to the a number of offshore casinos in Goa, only a few hundred meters north on Mandovi.
Officials nonetheless insisted that crowds have been current although just about. Because of the pandemic, the target this 12 months wasn’t to get the crowds, an official stated, however to make sure that “people who matter”, like film critics and college students, amongst others have been current.
It is the primary time IFFI was performed on this hybrid vogue of bodily and digital screenings. Officials who managed the pageant stated practically a 1000 individuals throughout the nation watched films on-line, and round 3500 registered themselves to be bodily current at one of many seven screens close to ESG.

IFFI director Chaitanya Prasad stated the pageant was “very meticulously planned”.
“The way Covid progressed, our planning also took that into account. If the cases were unfortunately increasing at some point of time, that was a time we kept our work together. We also kept options — if the festival is stopped or postponed, what will we do.” He added that when it was determined to postpone the pageant, they zeroed in on the dates — January 16-24 — and caught to them.
According to Prasad, they organisers had selected holding digital screenings even earlier than the postponement plan was finalised. “When we invited applications for cinema, we gave the option for entries to be virtual only, physical only, or both. At that point of time, that was for November, we had an overwhelming response for virtual,” stated Prasad.
Finally, a combined, format was chosen. Prasad stated round 85 films premiered within the pageant, together with some which have been “world premieres”.
Though the entire registrations have been lower than half these in 2019 — when round 10,000 individuals had registered — final 12 months’s version additionally marked it’s golden jubilee.
The variety of entries nonetheless didn’t take a really large hit this 12 months. A complete of 224 films from throughout 60 nations hit the screens this 12 months, in comparison with the 300 in 2019.
Officials stated that even because the pandemic disrupted lives world wide, the participation of worldwide movies and their crew will not be disheartening. At least 46 worldwide administrators, actors and actresses, whose films have been screened on the pageant managed to make it.
Several Indian filmmakers, together with Madhur Bhandarkar, Rahul Rawail and Hariharan additionally performed digital “masterclasses” on filmmaking.
“What we feel is that this hybrid version is going to stay. Will definitely happen in the next edition, with more improvement. This was a trial phase, where hopefully, we have done well.” Prasad stated.
Speaking extra concerning the new format and it’s challenges, Prasad stated the expertise of screening movies solely on-line was new as “we have to be very careful because the streaming process, where the rights are given to us”.

He defined that “there are issues as far as streaming of films virtually are concerned for world premieres” as they’re largely for the “the Indian audience”. Further, Prasad stated if the films have been supposed for world viewers, then the parameters can be completely different. “Next time, we will pitch for that,” he stated. “Because we were doing the first time here, we had to be a little cautious and not overambitious. Our focus was to reach out to people who matter in cinema — students, film critics, among others.”
Though “there were no ticket sales” and no person can enter the screening until that they had registered beforehand, however “people who matter for cinema are here”, Prasad reiterated.
For the brand new format, the organisers lower down the variety of screenings per day to twenty-eight. Prasad added, “The quality of cinema is no less this year.”