The Assam government will soon formulate a new film policy to provide all possible support to filmmakers and artists of the region and help the industry grow. This was announced by Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal at the opening of the 2nd Guwahati International Film Festival on Thursday.
The CM said the new film policy will help attract filmmakers from various countries to shoot their films in the state. “Assam is full of scenic beauty, from beautiful landscape to scenic water bodies, we have it all. The success of films like Village Rockstars shows that the land is apt for filmmaking. With the new film policy, we will see various filmmakers coming to the region to shoot films. This will in turn boost the local industry,” he said in his speech at the inaugural function of GIFF-2018.
Sonowal said as a child he couldn’t watch good films as it was not easily available then. “I feel the students should participate in the Guwahati International Film Festival as this is a golden opportunity for all of you to watch more than 100 beautiful movies from across 50 counties,” he said, while adding that the state government is committed to help the film industry.
Speaking about the film policy, Pabitra Margherita, chairman of Jyoti Chitraban, said the film policy draft is already ready and awaiting approval from the government. “We have already shared a draft of the new state film policy. We hope that the government will officially adopt the same very soon. Already, the current government has been giving priority to the revival of the film industry. Under chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal, the Assam government has lined up various initiatives to help local filmmakers and film industry. GIFF is one such initiative to bring the best of world cinema to Guwahati while also helping create a film culture,” he said.
Margherita added that students are actively involved in the festival during which they will be introduced to various cultures of the world through the films that will be showcased at the GIFF over the next six days.
