Buoyed by the critical acclaim of Irrfan Khan-starrer jointly-produced feature film "The Lunchbox", France has established a framework to help more collaborations with India in cinema and may consider fiscal incentives.
French officials said they want more collaborations and have put in place a series of measures not only to help Indian filmmakers shoot in their country but also to increase collaboration.
"We have now tried to establish a framework in which Indians would be happy to come to France to shoot. We want collaborations between Indian and French filmmakers," France's Ambassador to India Francois Richier said today on the sidelines of an event.
He went on to add that first of all, his country is trying to facilitate speeding up of issuing visas.
"We are also trying to give some kind of fiscal exemption. It means that when they invest money, it's like a tax exemption. We also softened the restrictions which existed regarding employment of foreigners involved in shooting films,"he said.
Pointing out that his country has been recieving a number of requests over the years from Indian filmmakers to shoot in France, the Ambassador said his government has tried to make their rules more flexible.
"We have tried to make our rules more flexible so that filmakers who want to shoot in France can bring employees like technicians and others. All this, I think makes a good package, he said.
He said both the countries have signed an agreement in 2010 allowing the co-production. After that, the first film coming out in three years is "quite remarkable", he added.
"We want to pull French and Indian forces into cinema and do joint collaborations and "The Lunchbox" is a good example for that", he added.
Asked about the response to the film in France, the Ambassador said the movie will be released in France soon.
"It was very well recieved when it was screened at Cannes film festival. My sentiment after seeing it is that it will go very well with the French spirit", he added.
