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'We are the oldest film festival in Asia

Malti Sahai, director, International Film Festival of India, has been working round-the-clock for the past month-and-a-half to ensure that the 31st International Film Festival of India -- which kicked off today -- is a smooth affair. "I leave home early in the morning every day," she told Onkar Singh, "and I hit the bed when I am virtually down and out, only to start early the next day."

More than 3,000 delegates from India are expected to attend the festival, in addition to guests who are arriving from abroad. One of her responsibilities at present is to make sure that all of them are well looked after and that their travel arrangements are comfortable. In addition to this, she has to cope with an increasing demand for passes from various quarters.

She has spent the last few days giving last minute touches to the screening schedule of the Indian and foreign films participating in the 10-day long festival. And answering critics who are unhappy because they feel neither do the best directors come to India nor do we get the best films.

What makes this festival different from the ones which are held elsewhere?

First of all, this is the first film festival which is being held at the beginning of the new century. What makes this festival unique is the fact that not only does our film industry produce the largest number of films, but we also have largest audience. Whenever a film festival is held in India, thousands throng the theatres to see the films.

Besides, we are the oldest film festival in Asia. We have a competitive section dedicated to Asian Films. And we are now taking a lead with a specialised Asian Film Festival. We feel Asian film-makers do not get the opportunity to exhibit their films in international film festivals because of the monopoly of the western film-makers.

What do international delegates look for when they come to New Delhi?

When these delegates come to India, they come here to select Indian and Asian films. We get widest range of films from the Asian region.

We may be the oldest film festival in Asia, but only third rate films are entered in the Indian film festival.

This is an accusation that is repeated by the critics time every year. All the films that are screened here are those which have participated in various international film festivals held in other countries. This charge is made by the cribber's brigade, who are not really that familiar with international cinema. Trends in international cinema change and, if you are not in touch, you might find yourself unfamiliar with international cinema.

Why is it that the Indian festival is not on par with the Berlin or the Cannes Film Festival?

There are about six festivals that are very strong in their marketing. They have a separate marketing section, where a lot of buying and selling of films is done. This is as it should be because if good films are made, they should also be shown to a large audience.

This is where we have a weakness. There is a shortage of exhibition space in our country because of non-availability of theatres. People like to sell their films and some of the film festivals are the best places to do so. This is where we lack. That is why films producers like to exhibit their films at Cannes or Venice. Both these places have the largest film markets.

How do you plan to deal with this problem?

You must have noticed that many more festivals have come up lately in India. Initially, we used to be the only one in the country. Now, almost all the film producing centres have festivals of their own. This how it should be. We now have film festivals in Bombay, Calcutta and Trivandrum. This itself has become a circuit for a different kind of cinema.

There are demands that documentaries and video films should be treated at par.

As technology develops, this difference will reduce. Most documentary film makers have already switched over to newer forms of production. They also feel that most of the programmes made on video are those dealing with news and current affairs. This has nothing to do with the art of cinema or creativity.

I think they should not compete with each other because, in terms of production values, there are still some differences between the two. But both should be included in the documentary section of festivals. While giving prizes, you can give one to something made on film and one to something made on video.

Many film critics feel that Delhi is not an ideal place to hold film festivals because the VIPs corner all the passes.

This is another popular slogan that is repeated every year. As far as I am concerned, Delhi is a good place to hold a film festival. I would like a film festival to be held in every metro. To say that we cater to politicians, bureaucrats and policemen alone is not true.