All film buffs welcome to Goa film fest: official

New Delhi, Nov 7 (IANS) Apart from invited delegates and mediapersons, film buffs too are welcome at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), starting in Goa Nov 23, an official clarified Wednesday.

'It is not correct that general public is banned from viewing the films. The entire thing has been misinterpreted and presented wrongly. We are not barring people from seeing the films. We have just further enhanced the system which is in place since 2005,' Neelam Kapoor, director of the Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF), told IANS here.

She was referring to a media report that the general public would not be allowed to see films at the 10-day IFFI.

Since 2005, the common moviegoers wishing to see films at the festival need to register themselves. They are issued passes, which allows them to visit the festival venues.

'However, this year we have further advanced the system and are asking people to book tickets for the movies and events in advance to avoid chaos. We want them to reserve tickets two-three days in advance so that they don't have to stand in queues before the show. The seat numbers will be printed on the ticket,' Kapoor said.

She said most films would be screened at multiplexes and sometimes the number of viewers is more than the seats available, leading to confusion. 'We have come up with this system just to avoid such inconveniences. Last year we registered about 5,000 delegates.'

The same system is practised at international film festivals abroad too, she said.

'We are just following the international standards. When we go abroad for the film festivals, we see people doing the same thing.'

While the report said no tickets will be sold at IFFI this year, Kapoor said: 'All the movie shows are free. Movie buffs will not have to pay any money to book the seats for their favourite films.'

Special arrangements have been made for the screening of popular films.

'There is a bigger crowd for popular films. Therefore this year we are going to showcase such films in big halls. We will organise more than one show for such films.'

Copyright  IANS

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