Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Dr L. Murugan today participated in a round table conference, at India Pavilion in Cannes Film Festival. Speaking on the occasion Dr Murugan informed that India produces highest number of movies every year, in more than 20 languages. He also highlighted the importance of India as a market of over a billion movie watchers. Speaking on the achievements of the Government he said that since Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi led government has come to the power 2014, various initiatives have been taken for the benefit of film industry.

Particularly mentioning the encouragement given to startups by the Government, he said that the Government has brought talented Indian startups from the field of film making to Cannes for helping them pitch to an international audience.

Dr Murugan also spoke about various incentives being put in place by Government for co-production of movies involving foreign filmmakers, and also highlighted the incentives being given for shooting of foreign films in India. It is with a tradition of storytelling and a legacy of epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata, that India is now aiming to become. “Initiatives like Film Facilitation Office are seamlessly enabling the procedure to obtain various permissions under a single window”, he further added.

Dr Murugan further informed the audience that language is no longer a barrier and regional movies from India are now getting global attention.

The Minister invited all the participants to “come Shoot in India” and participate in various film festivals in India.

Along with Dr L. Murugan, the round table was attended by the following:

1.            Selvaggia Velo, Director, River to River Film Festival, Florance, Italy

2.            Colin Burrows, Film producer and Director, Special Treats Productions, U.K.

3.            Mikael Svensoon, Film Commissioner, Southern Sweden Film Commission

4.            Ammy Jansson, Project Manager, Thematic Communication Unit, Department of Sweden

              Communication

5.            Mary Liza Diño, Film Commissioner, Philippines

6.            Ms. Judy Gladstone, Executive and Artistic Founder, Ageless International Film Festival, USA

7.            Stephane Ottenbruch, Director, Indo German films

8.            Carey Sawhney, Director, London Indian Film Festival

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Saurabh Singh