How to make the attendance at the festivals high? The most obvious is of course, by selecting good films. Proper scheduling of shows, good marketing, discussion forum for highlighting the issues dealt with by the films and encouraging the youth to attend the shows are some of the suggestions. Corporate sponsorship is welcome but then it should not translate into interference in the choice of films or issues highlighted. We must shatter the myth that film festivals are only for kurta-pyjama clad intellectual types and encourage the mass audience by packaging the shows in convenient slots. Apart from government sponsored festivals, several festivals are conducted by organizations like diplomatic missions, film circles and film appreciation clubs. Such festivals should get more visibility in the media.

There is no point in lamenting falling standards unless we come up with an alternative. There is a proverb in Tamil which says that as the water rises, the lotus also rises. Similarly, only when the quality of films offered improves, can the audience become educated about the medium. This in turn would result in better cinema. Film festivals perform the important role of educating the audience.

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