India, Portugal to work out co-production agreement for films

New Delhi, Jan 10: India and Portugal on Tuesday agreed to work out modalities for a co-production agreement in the film sector in a time bound manner.The discussions took place during a meeting between Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore and Portuguese Minister of Culture, Luis Filipe Castro Mendes here."A possibility of an MoU between the Public Broadcasters of both the countries to share best practices and seek cooperation in technical and content related matters was also discussed," an official statement said. During the meeting with the Portuguese minister, Rathore also apprised him on the initiatives taken by I&B Ministry to provide single window clearances for foreign film producers in India through the film facilitation office. He also highlighted the prestigious National Film Heritage Mission of the government to digitise, restore, preserve the rich filmic heritage of the country.The Minister also apprised Mendes about the Indian Institute of Mass Communication and the Film and Television Institute of India as the premier educational institutes in the field of journalism and film production respectively in the country. Possibility of student exchange programmes between educational institutions of both the countries were also discussed.