International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2010 will have United Breweries Group boss Vijay Mallya visiting on November 30, officials said on Monday.
Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG) Chief Executive Officer Manoj Srivastava said that said that Mallya would be the Chief Guest for the award function of Short Film Centre (SFC) on Tuesday.
“SFC concept has clicked very well and it has given a platform for the documentary filmmakers. Presence of a personality like Mallya would give further boost to the concept,” Mr. Srivastava told PTI.
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UB is a major partner for SFC, showcasing 30 documentaries in its competition sections and lending platform to several other short films during IFFI.
ESG officials said that this is for the first time that Mr. Mallya would be visiting IFFI since its shift from Delhi to Goa.
UB’s Kingfisher brand has raked in sponsorship to the tune of Rs 50 lakh for the festival. The company has also set up activity centre ‘Kingfisher Village’ alongside the festival venue.
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Short Film Centre, a concept introduced by ESG, has two competitions -- International films and Environmental Films (Vasudha Awards). Environmental competition has 10 films and international competition has 20 films in this section.
The International films jury is headed by renowned filmmaker Goutam Ghose and Environmental films competition is adjudged by a team led by Green Oscars winner Naresh Bedi.
The short film centre concept was severely criticised by Goan filmmakers who had termed it as a waste of money. ESG had even trimmed down the budget of this section forcing the society to get Kingfisher as a partner.