A good news is in store for all the budding short film producers and directors as the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) announces due share of the former in its ten day long festival. The credit goes to Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG) which is the nodal agency of organizing the event this time around. The ESG has tied up with Indian Documentary Film Producers’ Association (IDPA), who will help in guiding the event.

The event will take place in Panaji, from November 22 to December 2, 2008 . Although Goa is hosting the event since 2004 this time it promises to give a fair platform to the ‘Short Films’ category as well. The four categories will be the sole responsibility of the ESG which were previously decided by the the Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF). These are Indian Premiers, Foreign Retrospective, Country Focus and Short Films.

The festival will not only provide a platform for the producers and directors but will also be a lucrative option for the investors. As pointed out by the ESG’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Manoj Srivastava, “This is a first ever such platform in India in the past 40 years. The corner will be a sort of hub for the filmmakers to showcase their films, buyers to purchase and funding agencies to look out for the producer.” He further adds that 'The short-film corner' will be a platform, for short film and documentary producers in its entirety.

This initiative in turn will give an impetus to the receding movement of short film movie making. Reportedly India produces 800 to 1,000 short films annually, the proposed platform would give encouragement to this section.

There is a provision of two competition sections for short films and documentaries and in all, 20 films will be screened in the International competition section and 10 films on environmental issues. Cash reward of USD 26,000 awaits the winner.

This is the first time around that the ESG has broadened its perspective and provided a provision for development of a versatile wing of the cinema by offering not just an opportunity to showcase its creativity but also to substantiate it with financial footing.