NEW DELHI: Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni, now on a visit to Poland, is expected to sign an Audio visual Co-production Agreement with the Polish Minister of Culture and National Heritage B. Zdrojewski to provide a legal framework for promoting production of films for Cinema and Television.
As part of the initiative, India has signed co-production agreements with Italy, UK, Northern Ireland, Federal Republic of Germany, Brazil, France and New Zealand.
One of the key highlights of the Minister’s three-day visit from 3 to 5 July visit is expected to be discussions regarding preservation of film Heritage at the National Film Archives of Poland. It is expected that the initiatives taken by the Government for promoting film preservation and film restoration through the National Film Heritage Mission will be shared with the Polish Government.
The Minister is also expected to highlight the potential of the Indian film Industry in the context of promoting India as a ‘Filming Destination‘. The Polish authorities would be detailed about the initiative of the Ministry to establish a Films Commission to promote single window clearance for necessary permissions to foreign production companies and film makers. It is expected that this idea will also facilitate film tourism in the country. This would not only result in increased visitor influx and therefore greater earnings, but also generate increased employment opportunities for the indigenous film sector.
The visit is expected to highlight the initiatives taken by the Government for Centenary Celebrations of Indian Cinema and the enhanced participation of Poland during the International Film Festival at Goa later this year.
During the visit, the Minister is expected to have detailed discussions with her Polish counterparts in the Broadcasting and Films sector. On the agenda is also the meeting with the officials of the Polish National Television, TVP. It is expected that experience of Doordarshan as a public service broadcaster with nearly 1500 transmitters will be shared in terms of programming, content development, infrastructure roadmap and reach.
The possibility of bringing synergy and promoting cooperation between the activities of the two national broadcasters would also be explored in the areas of training exchange programmes, sharing of technology, content development including software and possibility of promoting DD through its DTH platform in countries such as Poland.
The discussions will include ways to enhance cooperation between the Directorate of Film Festival and Polish Government. The endeavour would be to organise Film Festivals in both countries as per mutually agreed terms and conditions. During the last film festival at Goa, a special package on spot light on Poland was organised.
