“The Venice Film festival has stood as a symbol of recognition of cinematic excellence at an international platform,” said Prakash Javadekar, Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, in his address at Venice Film Festival 2020, where India is the focus country this year.

“It is with great pleasure that I am announcing that India and Italy have agreed on the rules of procedure for co-production treaty and it is hoped that it will take our joint collaboration to a new level,” said Javadekar during the session ‘Challenges and Opportunities between India and Italy in Film Making’. Stressing that “cinema not only showcases cultural mores but also brings countries closure”, he said that cinema is a soft power that helps forging international ties. Inviting Italian filmmakers to come to India for filming he said, “Filming in India is an experience by itself and I invite everybody to come and shoot and to do pre-production as we have experienced crew members and facilities and very scenic spots. This year we are participating in the Venice Film market to showcase what India has to offer.” This year two feature films and one short film are being screened at the Venice Film Festival. India is also screening a film as market screening in Venice Production Bridge named ‘In the land of Poisoned Woman’ by Manu Bohra.

The minister congratulated and wished luck to Indian films being showcased in Venice and hoped that it will further boost collaborations between the Indian and Italian film industry. 

FULL REPORT