The 43rd International Film Festival of India is currently underway in Goa amidst much fanfare with the screening of Life Of Pi and other careful selections of World films. A particular feature of the IFFI is the Indian Panorama section, which attempts to highlight the variety of regional films.
This year only Sarkunam’s Vaagai Sooda Vaa has been selected by the jury and the director is delighted with the prospect of showing his film and meeting many fellow filmmakers. But the lone entry has disappointed members of the Tamil film industry who feel that many films that have the potential to make it into the list have been overlooked. They have raised the concern that the jury is looking only for Art films and the mainstream films are being ignored entirely.
Compared to our neighbours in Kerala, where nearly 5 Malayalam films have made it into the festival, the Tamil industry has fared quite poorly with just one film being screened at the festival.
