"We are in the process of finalising the report," said Bankim, chiefproducer, Films Division, and director of the Mumbai International FilmFestival-2000 (MIFF).

The Films Division had approached the I&B ministry six months ago to launchan independent documentary channel along the lines of Discovery Channel andNational Geographic Channel. The ministry wants to look into the commercialaspects of the project.

But how does the Films Division get its programming into place? Four ways,says Bankim. First, the division has a library of 8,000 movies. Second,there are documentaries produced by NGOs which could be used by the channel.Third, the channel can take up documentaries produced by the stategovernment. Fourth, private entrepreneurs make movies which can be weavedinto the proposed channel. "I have made a rough plan on the financialaspects. All that we need is transponder space," said Bankim.

Bankim announced that the sixth edition of the MIFF for documentary, shortand animation films would be held from 3rd to 9th February, 2000. Theestimated budget for the festival would be between Rs 80 lakh to Rs 1 crore.The Films Division will also have a Web presence. It will launch an onlinenewsletter on January 1, 2000, and will have a quarterly edition.

Doordarshan, however, will not be telecasting the festival live. "We did notget a proper response from the public-owned broadcaster," Bankim said.The festival, which received 542 entries from 34 countries, will screen 87movies for the national video section, 44 films for the International Videosection and 69 movies for the International Film section. The films that arein competition will vie for cash awards worth Rs 25,00,000. The inauguralfilm will be The Last Days by James Moll. The executive producer of thisOscar-winning 90-minute documentary is Steven Spielberg and ShoahFoundation.