Films Division of India
Films Division of India (FDI) commonly referred as Films Division was established in 1948 soon after independence of India. It was the first state film production and distribution unit, now under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, primarily to "produce documentaries and news magazines for publicity of Government programmes" and cinematic record of Indian history.[2][3]
| Public | |
| Industry | Electronic media |
| Genre | Electronic |
| Founded | 1948 |
| Founder | Government of India |
| Headquarters | 24, Dr. G. Deshmukh Marg, Ministry of I&B, Mumbai-26 |
Number of locations | Branches and Production centres: Kolkata Bangalore New Delhi Chennai Thiruvananthapuram Hyderabad Vijayawada [1] |
| Parent | Ministry of Information and Broadcasting |
| Website | www.filmsdivision.org |
FDI is divided into four wings, namely, Production, Distribution, International Documentary and Short Film Festival. The Division produces documentaries/news magazines from its headquarters at Mumbai, films on defence and family welfare from New Delhi and featurettes focussing on rural India from the regional centres at Calcutta now (Kolkata) and Bangalore.[4] In 1990, it was started at the annual Mumbai International Film Festival, for documentary, short and animation films at Mumbai. It houses a museum of cinema, the National Museum of Indian Cinema (NIMC), inaugurated on 19 January 2019.
HistoryEdit
Established in 1948, FDI followed the model of state controlled and monopolized production, distribution and exhibition of documentary films, news reels and propaganda films, soon transforming into the biggest producer documentary and short film production in the country.[5] For decades to come, FDI would produce thousands of documentaries and newsreels that would reach as many as 25 million Indians a week. As James Beveridge of the National Film Board of Canada would later observe, FDI “delivered a body of documentaries and newsreels which must constitute the largest peace-time programme of public information films ever seen among the democratic countries.”[6]
WorksEdit
Films Division has produced mainly for the state-owned TV channel, Doordarshan. It produced some classics like Ek Anek Aur Ekta.[7] The films division has produced over 8000 films since inception and about 5000 films are being made available for online purchase and downloads.[8]
Film clubEdit
In 2012 Films Division started a film club at Mumbai which screens films from archives. [9]
NMICEdit
The Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated National Museum of Indian Cinema in Mumbai on 19 January 2019.[10] The “National Museum of Indian Cinema” is a store house of information for the public and it facilitates the film makers, film students and critics to know about the development of cinema in the world.[11]
Selected filmographyEdit
- Through the Eyes of a Painter (1967), by M.F. Hussain
- The House That Ananda Built (1968)
- Mahatma: Life of Gandhi, 1869–1948 (1968)
- Bansuri Guru (2013)
ReferencesEdit
- ^ "Contact us Film Division". Official website. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
- ^ "Now, Indian short films also MIFF-ed". IBN Live. Retrieved 22 January 2012.
- ^ "About us". Official website.
- ^ "Film Division". Ministry if I & B.
- ^ Garga, Bhagwan Das. From Raj to Swaraj: The Non-fiction Film in India. Viking. ISBN 9780520940581.
- ^ Beveridge, James A (July–September 1955). "The Film in India: First Impressions". Indian Documentary. 2 (1): 5.
- ^ "Spellbinding art show". CNNgo. Retrieved 22 January 2012.
- ^ "Museum for Indian cinema to come up in Mumbai by 2013". Indian Express. Retrieved 22 January 2012.
- ^ http://forbesindia.com/blog/life/show-and-tell-the-films-divisions-new-film-club/
- ^ "How's the josh asks prime minister Narendra Modi". Times of India. 21 January 2019. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
- ^ "NMIC". Film Division of India. Retrieved 7 February 2019.