TALKING POINTS FOR HON’BLE MINISTER FOR INFORMATION & BROADCASTING ON THE 1ST BRICS FILM FESTIVAL

takes pride in announcing the first ever BRICS Film Festival starting from 2nd September to 6th September, 2016 at Siri Fort Auditorium Complex, New Delhi as a part of the special events planned in run-up to the BRICS summit being held in India.

 As we all know, India is preparing to host the 8th BRICS Summit, during its Chairmanship which is scheduled to take place on 15-16 October 2016 in Goa. The theme of India’s BRICS Chairmanship is Building Responsive, Inclusive and Collective Solutions.

 During India’s BRICS Chairmanship, we have adopted five-pronged approach:

 (i) Institution building to further deepen, sustain and institutionalize BRICS cooperation;

 (ii) Implementation of the decisions from previous Summits;

 (iii) Integrating the existing cooperation mechanisms;

 (iv) Innovation, i.e., new cooperation mechanisms; and

 (v) Continuity, i.e., continuation of mutually agreed existing BRICS cooperation mechanisms.

The focus during India’s BRICS Chairmanship will be on enhanced people-to-people (P2P) contacts of BRICS member states, especially youth. In this context, India has planned activities like U-17 Football Tournament, Youth Summit, Young Diplomats’ Forum and the BRICS Film Festival.

 BRICS Film Festival is an initiative announced by Honorable PM in the last BRICS summit, held in .

 The festival will be a platform for people of the film industry of member countries to provide them an opportunity to explore areas of cooperation which can be leveraged through this economic grouping.

 In addition to this, the festival will be an opportunity for cultural exchange through cinema, Culture and Cuisine. Ministry of I&B and DFF are also working on taking this film festival beyond just being a film based program, where in the delegates attending festival will be having glimpses of the culture and traditional cuisine of the member countries.

 The main focus of the BRICS Film Festival is to celebrate the excellence of cinema by rewarding film makers, actors, producers and directors.

 A package of the student films from the member nations shall be screened to showcase the work of young film makers.

 Festival has a competition section in which 20 films will be screened. Each country has nominated 4 films which will showcase the creativity of the film makers of the member countries. The movies focus on a variety of issues and themes ranging from discrimination, love, history and relevant social challenges being faced by BRICS countries.

 The films will be judged by aeminent jury with one member from each country. Following are the distinguished Jury members:

‐ : Francis Vogner do Reis (MEMBER) Francis Vogner do Reis is a journalist, producer and curator of film shows. He is also a professor of theory, history and film criticism.

‐ Russia:Kirill Razlogov (MEMBER) KirillRazlogov is an Academic Secretary of the National Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences of Russia.

‐ : Hou Keming(MEMBER) Mr. Hou Keming is the professor of the direction department of Beijing Film Academy. He also serves as the council member of China Film Association, the member of National Board of Film Censorship and other positions in many social organizations.

‐ : Xoliswa Sithole(MEMBER) Ms. Xoliswa Sithole is a member of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) and has produced award winning films worldwide. ‐ India: T S Nagabharana(CHAIRPERSON) The Chairperson of the International Jury is Shri TS Nagabharana from India. He is a film Director, Writer and Actor from Karnataka, regarded as one of the pioneers of the Parallel Cinema. He has won 9 National awards and fourteen State awards.

 Jury will judge 20 films in the competition section and give their recommendation in the following categories –Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor (Male), Best Actor (Female) and a Special Jury Award. Winners of the award shall be presented BRICS gold medal and a Certificate of Excellence.

 The festival will open with a gala Opening Ceremony showcasing the cultures of member States and will be attended by the eminent film personalities and official delegation from the member States.

 This will be followed by world premiere ofthe Malayalam film titled ‘Veeram’directed by the internationally acclaimed and multiple National award winner Shri Jayaraj R Nair. The film starring Kunal Kapoor is an adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth set in the 13th Century Kerala.

 The festival will close on September 6th, 2016 with a Closing Ceremony focused on the journey of Indian Cinema and a Gala Cultural performance from China, who will be the host for next edition of this Film Festival. The Closing film will be the Indian Premier of the Chinese film ‘Skiptrace’, starring Jackie Chan.

 It is a pleasure for me to now unveil the signature film and also give you a visual glimpse of the competition films of the festival.