'Mainstream section' to be scrapped from IFFI

Mumbai, March 15 (IANS) The Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF), which organises the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) every year, has decided to scrap the 'mainstream section' of the festival that showcases popular Indian cinema.

The directorate has decided to scrap this section due to some 'logistical problems'. Instead, eight popular movies will be included in the Indian Panorama Section from next year.

Earlier, the Film Federation of India (FFI) recommended the movies for the mainstream section, out of which the directorate short-listed 16 for screening.

Now FFI will continue to recommend movies, but DFF will select only eight out of them.

'This decision was taken at the instance of the DFF director Neelam Kapoor. We at FFI agreed to abide by it because we understood the problems DFF faces over putting together the mainstream section,' FFI secretary Supran Sen told IANS Saturday.

According to him, the Indian Panorama Section with eight additional movies will get better exposure next year because this is the most popular section among the delegates.