Delhi to host first-ever international film festival, focus on feel-good films

New Delhi: Delhi is all set to host its first-ever international film festival in August. Award-winning documentaries will be featured along with Indian and foreign films.

Officials close to the matter said the dates have been finalised and the event will take place from August 18 to 26 at Siri Fort Auditorium. "The preparations are going on. The list of the movies to be screened has not been decided yet but most of them will be feel-good films which will be decided by a selection team which is yet to be constituted."

The department will select a jury for the film festival. The proposal is being prepared and the itinerary of the festivals will be decided in the next one to one-and-a-half months, said the official.

"We want to screen feel-good and non-controversial movies. Our focus will be on Indian classics like Mughal-e-Azam, Sholay, Mother India, etc… We want to organise peaceful, successful, and cheerful festivals without any controversy… There are no plans to screen films such as The Kashmir Files, Pathaan, or anything that may create controversy," added the official.

The tourism department of the Delhi government is expected to hold the film festival before the G20 meetings. Films from member nations are likely to be screened. The annual budget for the city was themed on employment and the government announced a few measures to create employment and one of them was an international film festival.

The AAP government last year launched the ‘Delhi Film Policy-2022’ to promote the city as a hub for movie production and set up a Rs 30 crore fund to support producers and host the film festival. The policy is aimed at promoting artistic, creative, and cultural expression. A statement from the government said the policy is to ease approval processes for movie shooting and develop a system to support local talent by providing a skilled ecosystem.