PANAJI
After a gap of three years, the State government is set to revive the Goa State Film Festival. The four-day event is scheduled to be held from August 14 to 17.
Speaking at a press conference in Panaji on Monday, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, who is also the Chairperson of the Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG), said the festival will accept entries from June 17 to July 7 at the ESG office. Feature and non-feature films in Konkani and Marathi will be eligible.
“The best film will be awarded Rs 5 lakh, followed by prizes for second and third place. In all, awards will be given across 21 categories,” he said.
As the festival was not organised in the last three years, the Chief Minister said awards in all 21 categories will be presented retrospectively for those years. The total budget for the event is estimated at around Rs 4.5 crore.
On the film finance front, ESG Vice Chairperson Delilah Lobo said 30 applications were received under the Film Finance Scheme between 2016 and 2023.
To give others a chance, ESG has reopened the application window for one week, starting from June 18.
“Filmmakers who have not applied earlier now have another opportunity. Once documents are submitted, the evaluation and finance committees will meet to finalize approvals,” Lobo said.
