Every year, the Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFes) is organised in haste. This year’s edition was put together in a record time of just 34 days, said H. N. Narahari Rao, artistic director, BiFFes. However, his request to Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to establish a permanent festival secretariat and provide more time to plan the international event did not elicit a favourable response at the inauguration ceremony last week. “You people did not know that the festival could be organised in 34 days? Next time, we will give you only 30 days,” Mr. Bommai had said, only half in jest.
The formation of a festival secretariat has been a long pending demand. “The Chief Minister’s response reflects the lack of understanding about an international film festival and the work that goes behind it. Most CMs who preceded him also had a similar view, whenever we demanded a permanent festival secretariat,” said one of the curators with BIFFes.
N. Vidyashankar, who was the artistic director of BIFFes for all its previous editions, said a permanent secretariat is a must to put together a better festival. “The Chief Minister is only talking of the event, which can be organised in a few days probably. But not its form and content. Someone from BIFFes needs to follow up, attend film festivals across the world, find films and bring them to BIFFes. It is a round-the-year work,” he said.
Though the absence of an international delegate this year has been attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic and the disruption in international flights, the short notice at which the festival was organised had a role to play, said those involved in curating the films. “Getting international filmmakers and technicians to come to BIFFes is almost impossible when the event is organised at such short notice,” Mr. Vidyashankar said.
Filmmaker Rajendra Singh Babu, former president of Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy, underscored the need for a permanent secretariat, especially as the festival received accreditation from International Association of Film Producers’ Association this year. “It’s time a permanent festival secretariat is established. But every time we have mooted the idea, it is shot down. A secretariat also doesn’t cost much for the government,” he said, adding the festival is being put together through personal initiatives of N. Vidyashankar, H. N. Narahari Rao and a few passionate fans, but needs to be more organised and streamlined.
