IN FOCUS

from Incredible Goa November 2022 Issue

TREND SETTER

By Rajesh Ghadge

Image Credits - Asavari Kulkarni

Swetika Sachan

Swetika dons many hats. She started her career as a revenue officer followed by a collector for four years until she landed in Goa where she i s a t t h e h e l m o f t h e Directorate of Industries, Trade & Commerce and she's involved in the Investment Promotions Board as a CEO while holding additional responsibilities as CEO of ESG. Handling so many posts at the same time really takes a toll on Swetika Sachan, IAS cadre officer but she thrives off it. Our editor Rajesh Ghadge met her to find out more about her new role as the CEO of the Entertainment Society of Goa and the way forward. “ I h a d a l r e a d y b e e n s h o u l d e r i n g h u g e r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s o f t h e I n d u s t r i e s , Tr a d e a n d C o m m e r c e a n d t h e Investment Promotions Board and then I was given this new responsibility of ESG! IFFI is an interesting event in Goa that happens once in a year and I'm really happy to be involved Although it is often stressful, the creative part makes it worth it.. In fact, I have been donning many hats, starting my career as a revenue officer followed by the Collector and it was only when I came to Goa that I was given the responsibility of Industries, Trade and Commerce which was again a new field for me. I am very adaptable to any environment so it is not difficult to get adjusted new roles.” Speaking on the entry of the NFDC into the film festival, she said the ministry was in the process of a merger between the DFF and NFDC and the idea behind this was to bring a l l m e d i a u n d e r o n e organisation. “This way the organisation becomes more efficient and the tasks can be handled better. It was the call of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to bring them under one banner. Now all the officers of the DFF are working under NFDC hence it w i l l p r o v i d e b e t t e r performances. We have the same resources and talent from the DFF in the NFDC so we have not lost any of them.” “The reason behind the merger w a s t o h a v e a m o r e professional and independent body. DFF used to work under the IB as its branch and now they are independent of the NFDC which has its own staffing and it is a much bigger organisation having their expertise in films and media. The idea of having an independent body is that it works professionally with more efficiency,” she added. Speaking at the Film Festival this year she said that the core content will be screenings of the films and the master c l a s s e s . “ T h i s y e a r t h e screening will be of films from 79 countries showcasing more than 80 films. We have also introduced the concept of the

Gala Red Carpet, wherein lots of Hindi and South Indian movies will be premiering at the festival and this has been done to avoid disappointment amongst the audience, who were not so happy in previous years because of this missing section. IFFI will also witness a lot of stars on the red carpet. The ' watch with the stars' concept will be implemented this time in the 53rd IFFI and I am sure this will be really exciting for the audience.” She also spoke about the return of the Film Bazaar. “The film bazaar is returning this year in a physical manner this year which will be a major attraction of the 53rd IFFI. The idea of the Film Bazaar is to

bring the buyers and sellers of films onto a single platform. It is a B2B platform and is meant only for a specific audience where the businesses dealing with film banners, production houses and film enthusiasts will meet each other.I In short, it's a bazaar where they will buy and sell films. The Film B a z a a r h a s a s e p a r a t e registration process and the fees are charged according to their norms. The idea behind charging the fees is to bring only the serious buyers and sellers on the board. This year, w e a l s o h a v e a c o u n t r y pavilion introduced at the IFFI wherein we will be inviting lots of international media to give the festival an A-grade look and this also reduces any criticism.” Speaking on the setting up of the promenade she said that the location of it has been strategically designed to give it a Cannes festival look. “Even though the promenade was slightly delayed, we pushed it to get it done in time,” she said. R e g a r d i n g t h e e n t r y o f national media to cover the o p e n i n g a n d c l o s i n g ceremony of the IFFI, she said, “ yes, there was a bit of confusion last year as to what the local media can do, but this time we have already made it clear what they can and cannot cover. We do not

mind still photography being conducted by the local media but any videography will be restricted to the contracted media house only. Besides that, DD (Door Darshan) will be recording the event live and sharing it with the local media hence anyone who needs any video footage of the event can be procured it from the DD.” DD will be covering the inauguration ceremony of the IFFI but they will not be covering the performance p a r t . “ T h e i d e a b e h i n d b r i n g i n g t h e b r o a d c a s t partner was to reduce the burden on the government exchequer as they used to s p e n d m o n e y f r o m t h e i r pocket to do this event every year so that burden will be reduced by bringing a private broadcaster on-board. Even paying the huge amount celebrities demand to appear will be undertaken by the private broadcasters since they have taken the rights. This time the situation is different in that it is a 'reverse tender' wherein they give us money and take care of the entire event. The reason behind this is that they earn money from the prime-time broadcasting and the government saves money. We are trying our best to give whatever relaxation is possible for the local media but currently all the media is allowed on the red carpet and they can conduct interviews or t a k e b y t e s f r o m celebrities and we have already updated the media about the same to avoid the lastminute confusions.” Due to reconstruction and refurbishment, the Kala Academy is not functioning and there are limited seats in the 4 auditoriums at the Inox. Swetika said that the Kala Academy will be ready by next year only. “I can understand that with the Kala A c a d e m y w e h a d a n advantage of the locations and a wider scope of capacity but now that we have the P o r v o r i m I n o x w i t h a n additional four screens, it will mean movie lovers can enjoy the screenings there as well. Last year there were some hiccups in transportation between venues but that has been sorted out this time. We have deployed a number of buses to ferry the delegates to the Porvorim auditoriums and back and should run smoothly to schedule.” This IFFI will be a grander affair than even the 50th anniversary. “We will do everything that we had done during the 50th IFFI and more. Another attraction that will be added to the IFFI is the Carnival and Shigmotsav which people from outside Goa can come and enjoy. N o r m a l l y , C a r n i v a l a n d Shigmotsav takes place in February and March but it is not possible for everyone to travel and visit the Carnival during that time so by having them during IFFI will showcase this festival to a far wider audience. It won't be done on such a large scale as per February celebrations but it'll be just as enjoyable even if as just glimpse of the same.” she added. ”"Finally, I'd like to appeal to all the delegates and fans visiting the festival to adhere to the Covid norms by taking precautions in crowded p l a c e s . T h e d e l e g a t e d registration has reached the 6000 mark, and by the time festival begins it will cross 8000 so taking care of yourself is in your hands. I like to welcome all to Goa and to IFFI,” she concluded.