Visakhapatnam: Andhra Pradesh government should organise international film festivals in the city to attract a huge number of tourists from all over the country and abroad, Vizag Film Society (VFS) founder member Narava Prakasa Rao said. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Government of Goa have been jointly hosted the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) at Panjim in Goa since 1952. Currently, it is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia.
Similarly, the film festivals were being conducted in other states of the country to provide a common platform for the cinemas of the world to showcase the excellence in the art of filmmaking.
Further, such events help in promoting tourism and culture of the states, which is a source of revenue to the respective governments. The state governments of Telangana, Karnataka, and Kerala were continuously holding international film festivals. Moreover, they have been supporting their own film industries in various ways. They had spent crores of rupees to set up infrastructure in 24 crafts of cinema, Prakasa Rao said. He also blamed the AP government for not encouraging the film industry in the state. Film enthusiasts were going to Hyderabad and Pune for studying courses in film acting and direction.
Though Andhra University offers diploma in theatre arts, it has no significance in the film industry. “Post bifurcation of the state, the Telugu film industry remained in Telangana and the movie veterans have not received any perks to shift to the residual AP, the VFS chief said. “The government should allot land for directors and actors to settle here,” the VFS chief demanded.
There is also a strong need to develop the movie infrastructure such as film city, studios, music centres and training institutes. AP Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who handles the Cinematography portfolio, has so far not done any major contribution to the film industry. The VFS was founded in 2003, and it has over 175 members including 10 lifetime members. It has been affiliated with Federation of Film Societies of India (FFSI) and a member of National Film Archive of India. It regularly conducts movie making workshops and seminars for the passionate film enthusiasts.
