Kathmandu, October 26
Information and Communications Minister Bikram Timilsina has urged the Film Development Board to become an institution shared by all filmmakers and to do concrete work for the development of the film sector.
Speaking at the ministry today as he handed the letter of appointment to the board’s newly appointed chair, Manish Pandit, he said filmmakers have complained that the board has not been common to all, and that they have high expectations of the current government.
“Films are not made by the government, and the government does not play an especially large role in making films either,” Minister Timilsina said. “The government’s job is to provide the right environment, the right policy and encouragement. The board must work concretely for the development of the film sector, standing between the government and filmmakers.”
He stressed that the board should be moved away from the perception that it exists only for one particular class or one narrow circle of people, and made into a board for all filmmakers.
“When that sense of ownership is established, work becomes easier, and the support you receive from the film sector itself also grows,” he said.
Calling the film sector a matter of both opportunity and challenge, Minister Timilsina asked the board to work, in the first phase, by steering clear of pitfalls, protecting the institution and maintaining accountability within it, so that the questions raised today are not raised again in future, and to maintain discipline.
Minister Timilsina said that along with budget and financial support, the film sector needs policy reform and the removal of even small weaknesses in implementation.
“Money is not everything. The government must work on policy and the environment,” he said. “The government expects concrete work from the board that will contribute to the development of the film sector.”
He said the real test for the newly appointed chair, Pandit, has now begun, and wished him a tenure that becomes exemplary in the board’s history. In his view, if the board can find the path it failed to take in the past and move forward through wide consultation and dialogue, the film sector can achieve effective results.
On the occasion, ministry Joint Secretary Rabi Lal Sharma, a member of the committee that recommended the board’s chair, briefed attendees on the selection process. He said 12 people applied for the chair, and after several stages, including presentations and interviews, the three best names were recommended to the ministry.
Pandit was nominated as chair from among those three by a decision of the Government of Nepal’s Council of Ministers on October 16.
-RSS
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