Jaishankar inaugurates Indian pavilion at Berlin International Film Festival

Berlin: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday inaugurated the Indian pavilion at the Berlin International Film Festival for which three feature films and one documentary from the country have been selected.

The Information and Broadcasting ministry in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is participating in the 70th edition of the festival.

“If film-makers from across the world especially from Germany could come to India for their films, we have established a single window for film shooting. We intend to offer incentives for shooting in India,” Jaishankar said after inaugurating the pavilion.

This year in Berlin, three Indian feature films, Pushpendra Singh’s “Laila Aur Satt Geet”, Prateek Vats’ “Eeb Allay Ooo!”, Akhsay Indikar’s “Sthalpuran” as well as one short documentary film — Ekta Mittal’s “Gumnaam Din” — have been selected.

The Indian delegation, through various interactions, will seek to promote the ease of shooting films in India through the Film Facilitation Office (FFO) that facilitates Single Window Clearance for filmmakers and provides the platform for ‘Cinematic Tourism’ in India, the I&B ministry had said in a statement.

The Indian delegation has meetings scheduled with officials from countries including Israel, South Africa, New Zealand, Spain, Brazil, Portugal, France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, the United States of America and Rwanda.

It will also meet officials from Locarno Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, Venice International Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival, Raindance Film Festival, Edinburgh International Film Festival, Annecy International Animation Festival among others.