Golden Peacock prize money hiked four-fold

Sat, May 10 12:50 AM

To make the annual International Film Festival of India (IFFI) at Goa a true global cinemascope, India will announce at the 61st edition of the Cannes film festival its decision of a four-fold increase in the prize money for the Golden Peacock award and introduction of an international critics' award. Information and Broadcasting Minister P.

R. Dasmunsi earlier this week approved a proposal to increase the prize money for the Golden Peacock - given to best film at IFFI - from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 40 lakh.

The award for the runner-up movie - Silver Peacock - would be Rs 15 lakh, hiked from the existing Rs 5 lakh. The decision to increase the prize money is not only to attract the world's best films but also to create a niche for IFFI on the global film festival calendar, a ministry official said.

I and amp;B Secretary Asha Swarup, who is heading a delegation from the Indian film industry, will make a formal announcement about it at Cannes on May 14. To give an insight into Indian cinema at Cannes, the Dev Anand-starrer Guide, based on a novel by R.

K. Narayan, will be shown in the classic movie section.

India will also showcase its emerging film talent at the India pavilion even though no big stars are accompanying Swarup. There is also something in the offing for international film critics.

If they come to Goa, they would be part of a separate jury to select the best critically acclaimed movie of the festival.

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