Thaindian News

Panaji, Dec 2 (IANS) Films Division of India director general Bankim Friday did a flip flop on having dedicated television channel for documentary and short films.

After being gung ho about lobbying for a separate channel with the ministry for information and broadcasting, Bankim during an interaction with reporters on the sidelines of the 42nd International Film Festival of India (IFFI), later said that a television channel was a “monster which needed to be constantly fed”.

Earlier Bankim had said: “India can take the lead and have its own documentary and short film channel. We watch the National Geographic, Discovery channel, but their problems and solutions are different and our problems and solutions are different.”

“Our problems can’t feature on these channels. The FDI can run this channel. We have the best technicians in the country,” he said, adding that FDI needed to reorient itself to this new challenge and that a proposal had been submitted by the FDI to the MoIB vis a vis setting up of a dedicated channel.

However, when asked why the MoIB was dragging its feet over a dedicated short film and documentary channel, Bankim shrugged off his earlier optimism.

“We have to first see whether we can do it properly. A channel is like a monster which needs to be fed constantly. And we have to make sure that we do not just feed it anything,” he said.

Incidentally, the Indian Documentary Producers Association (IDPA) is also in talks with the MoIB for starting a dedicated channel for short films and docus. President of the IDPA, renowned filmmaker Mike Pandey speaking to media here Tuesday, said that the last week decision of the MoIB to have a documentary slot on DD Nation during prime time would be a shot in the arm for the docu and short film industry in India.