Adoor Gopalakrishnan Panel Moots Amendment of Cinema Regulation Act

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Adoor panel has recommended amendment of the Cinema Regulation Act and setting up of a regulatory authority to coordinate various organisations in the film field.

In its report submitted to the government on Wednesday, the five-member panel pointed out that the Act had become outdated and did not support technical changes in the industry. Guidelines should be laid to coordinate the activities of production, distribution, exhibition and other sections of the industry, the panel proposed.

Urgent attention is needed to address the issues between the cinema organisations. Current rules are not sufficient. The panel  suggested introduction of a ‘single-window’ system in this industry also.

Regarding the state film awards, the panel suggested separate awards for best screenplay and best adapted screenplay.

Another key recommendation is the division of  the award for the best sound recordist into three categories - Best Live Sound, Best Final Mixing and Best Sound Designing - on the lines of the national film awards.

Limits Films at IFFK

The panel suggests reducing the number of films in the IFFK to 120. The delegate fee should be increased to ` 500; also in all theatres, 90 per cent of the seats should be reserved.

The authority to handle delegate registration should be handed back to the Federation of Film societies, the panel said.

Films should be selected by an expert committee. All films for this year’s festival should be collected before November 30. The functions committee should be reconstituted by including professionals, the panel proposed.

J C Daniel Award

The panel proposes a hike in the prize money of J C Daniel Award. “The award was instituted on the lines of Dada Saheb Phalke Award. Since 2005, the prize money for Phalke award was `2 lakh while for the J C Daniel it was `1 lakh. Now the prize money of Phalke Award has been increased to `10 lakh, but the prize money of J C Daniel award still remains `1 lakh,’’ the panel said.

Subsidy Scheme

The subsidy for feature films given by KSFDC should be increased to `10 lakh.  Along with that, subsidy should also be given to short films (duration between 20-60 minutes) and documentaries (duration above 20 minutes), the panel said.

Every year, a maximum of 10 films should be given `25 lakh as subsidy by the Chalachithra Academy. A special committee should be constituted during January to select those films.  Apart from that, films which bag national awards for best film, best director, awards in  International Film Festivals (which have ‘A’ grade, according to International Federation of Film Archives) should be given `25 lakh, while films which get state award for best film, best director, awards in the International Film Festivals (which have ‘A’ grade, according to International Federation of Film Archives) should get `15 lakh, the panel moots.

Film Archives

The panel recommends the  introduction of a ‘film archives’ to protect the negatives along with the master copies and the prints of Malayalam films.

 “The draft report for the film archives is being prepared. In July the panel met Union Minister Prakash Javadekar who had granted in-principle permission,’’ the report said.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com