India’s beachside film festival staged under heavy guard
From Pratap Chakravarty

PANAJI—Troops and naval vessels will guard the coast of Goa as movie fans lounge on its beaches for India’s international film festival which kicks off amid high security Thursday.
Indian authorities have sounded an alert ahead of the 11-day festival which is being staged at the Arabian Sea resort, featuring 107 movies from 40 countries and expected to draw a stellar guest list.
Superstar couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are expected to attend the event, as are several Bollywood luminaries. The security measures, involving naval patrols and the deployment of extra soldiers, were triggered by concerns among officials and the media of a possible terrorist attack by Islamic militants.
“A section (of the media) is speaking about possibilities of a Bali-like terrorist attack during the festival,” said Goa’s Art and Culture Minister Digambar Kamat, referring to the 2002 bombings on the Indonesian resort island that killed 202 people.
“The central government has asked us not to take any chances and it has also offered us additional forces for the film festival,” Kamat told reporters in the state capital Panaji. With Goa posting its highest tourist levels in recent years and 400,000 holidaymakers expected between October this year and January 2007, officials say the extra security is merely a precaution.
“We want to make Goa safe for delegates and tourists and hence we are putting in place massive anti-terrorism measures at the festival venue and elsewhere in our state,” said Goa police chief B.S. Brar.
Security forces are on standby in case of any attack, said Goa Chief Secretary J.P. Singh.
“We have to be extra careful, watchful, and go out of our way to keep the international event safe from any threat,” he said.
The festival, featuring Penelope Cruz’s “Volver” and Brad Pitt’s award-winning “Babel”, will screen movies throughout the state as well as on the beaches and in seaside hotels.
“There’ll be screenings on our beaches and mobile cinema vans will go around rural Goa, screening films so the spirit of the festival reaches folks in the interior,” said festival chief organiser Nandini Paliwal.
Goa Chief Minister Pratapsin Rane said the open-air beach screenings were an attempt to compete with better-known festivals such as the glitzy, invitation-only Cannes event and the prestigious London and Berlin festivals.
“We feel peripheral activities such as food courts, street bands, concerts and theatre as well as beach and village screenings will help bring the festival closer to the people rather than being a far-off ‘official’ event,” Rane said.
British director Richard Attenborough’s “Gandhi” will be screened to mark the centenary celebrations of the start of Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violent struggle against British rule which finally ended in 1947. Thirty six international film festivals have been held in India since 1952, and despite becoming an annual event in 1975, analysts say organisers need to attract more global top-grossing flicks in order to raise its profile.