Film Employees’ Federation of South India (Fefsi), a collective of 23 independent film technicians’ unions, is asking the Tamil Nadu government to revive Film City in Taramani or elsewhere in order to facilitate Tamil films to be canned at locations within the State.
On Monday, Fefsi president and popular director, Ameer, unveiled the Federation’s new flag and listed the demands they would be placing with the Chief Minister’s office on Tuesday at the end of a proposed rally.
Apart from the demand to revive Film City, Ameer said the Federation would also request the Chief Minister to provide for tax concessions for film shootings in the State.
“This would prompt producers to shoot large portions of their films in the State, and this would help local technicians,” Ameer said. “Currently most films are shot in neighbouring States, where there are strict rules on compulsorily engaging local technicians,” he said.
The Film City project in Taramani was originally launched by the Tamil Nadu government in the 1990s and thrived as a shooting spot for several films.
However, in recent years, it has fallen to disuse and more recently, large portions of its land have been handed over to Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation to be converted into a software park.