Rathore inaugurates India Pavilion at Cannes film fest

Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore on Thursday inaugurated the India Pavilion at the 68th Cannes International Film Festival here. He stressed the importance of movies in government campaigns like 'Make In India' and 'Skill India'.

"The new government at the Centre is certainly more decisive and focused and is constantly working towards taking India to higher levels of growth, which is inclusive.

The government is channelising that objective through campaigns like 'Make in India' and 'Skill India', and realises that the film industry is an important part of these campaigns given its tremendous potential towards job creation," Rathore said, according to a statement issued by Ficci.

"India has already signed co-production agreements with a slew of countries, and in the last one year five co-productions have been undertaken with France alone. We need to take these partnerships to the next level now," Rathore added.

Pointing to the Indian government's rigorous work towards providing a seamless work environment for the film industry by establishing a single-window clearance mechanism, he also announced plans of a center of excellence for gaming and visual effects.

The session also saw unveiling of the 46th IFFI, 2015 regulations and 'India Film Guide' by Rathore. The India Film Guide is a comprehensive booklet with information on policy initiatives by the government pertaining to film sector, the listing of Indian companies at Cannes Film Market, Indian films at Cannes and contacts of important people in the business of filmmaking.

Filmmaker Bobby Bedi, who delivered the welcome address, said: "India's presence at Cannes has increased tremendously over the past decade and we have seen an increase in representation in terms of quantity and an improvement in the quality of content as well".

Mohan Kumar, ambassador of India to France, said the ambition should be to get Indian films in the most important category of films at Cannes. He added over the next two to three years, he will strive to work on that.

The Cannes film gala began on May 13 and it will conclude on May 24.

Gurvinder Singh's Punjabi film "Chauthi Koot" and Neeraj Ghaywan's debut feature "Masaan" are among the Indian films that have been chosen to be screened in the official UnCertain Regard section of the jamboree, the red carpet of which is being graced by Indian ambassadors of L'Oreal Paris -- Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Sonam Kapoor and Katrina Kaif.