Question : Co-Production Agreement with Portugal

(a) whether India and Portugal have agreed to work out modalities for a co-production agreement in the film sector;

(b) if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether any agreement has been signed in this regard during the recent visit of Portugal delegation and if so, the details thereof;

(d) whether the Union Government has expressed interest in sharing of experiences and best practices in social media to enhance the outreach;

(e) if so, the response of Portugal thereon;

(f) whether the Union Government has taken initiatives to provide single window clearances for foreign film producers in the country through the Film Facilitation Office; and

(g) whether the Union Government has setup National Film Heritage Mission to digitize, restore, preserve the rich filmic heritage of the country and if so, the details thereof?

THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING [COL RAJYAVARDHAN RATHORE (Retd.)]

(a) to (c): The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has forwarded a draft Audio Visual Co-Production Agreement for consideration of Government of Portugal through Ministry of External Affairs. In this regard, no agreement was signed during the recent visit of Portugal delegation.

(d) and (e): A meeting of Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting with the Minister of Culture, Government of Portugal, was held on 10th January, 2017. During the discussion, both the Ministers expressed interest in sharing of experiences and best practices in social media to enhance the outreach.

(f): The Government has set up Film Facilitation Office (FFO) to assist film producers of foreign countries in obtaining requisite shooting permissions, disseminate information on shooting locations and the facilities available with the Indian film industry for production/post production and work closely with State Governments towards setting up similar facilities.

(g): National Film Heritage Mission (NFHM) is a Plan Scheme to restore, digitize and archive films and filmic material through National Film Archive of India. The scheme is to be implemented from 2014-15 to 2020-21 with total outlay of Rs. 597.41 Crore. Some of major objectives of NFHM are as under:
i. To undertake film condition assessment.
ii. Preventive conservation of film reels.
iii. Picture and sound restoration of landmark feature films and short films.
iv. Digitization of feature films and short films.
v. Construction of archival and preservation facilities for material restored under NFHM.
vi. Conducting training workshops and courses in field of conservation, preservation and archiving.