The Goa Film Finance Scheme will move towards its first round of sanction orders on November 17, with the Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG) proceeding with filmmakers who accepted the existing provisions while revising the proposal for applicants who raised objections.
ESG chairperson Delilah Lobo said sanction orders would be issued to accepted applicants, but the number of filmmakers covered in the first round had not yet been finalised. She said some filmmakers had reservations about the scheme, while others had agreed to its provisions.
The ESG will continue with sanctions for applicants who accepted the existing framework and work on modifications to address concerns raised by the remaining applicants. Lobo did not disclose how many sanction orders would be issued on November 17. She also said a film whose financial assistance had been pending would now be considered under the process.
The development comes after a prolonged and uneven history for the scheme. The Goa Film Finance Scheme was launched in 2016 but discontinued in 2017. It was reopened in 2025 after a gap of nearly a decade, but its implementation was delayed, leaving filmmakers uncertain about when approved financial assistance would be released.
Filmmakers had earlier complained about pending subsidies and the uncertainty surrounding support for their productions. The delays affected the planning and financing of films, particularly for applicants who had expected public assistance to form part of their production budgets. The current process separates applicants who accepted the existing provisions from those seeking changes to the scheme.
The state government has also indicated that the scheme will be revised. Chief minister Pramod Sawant announced proposed assistance of Rs 50 lakh, Rs 30 lakh and Rs 10 lakh for different film categories. The source report did not specify how the categories would be defined or how the revised assistance structure would be administered.
The sanction process therefore represents both an immediate funding decision and an administrative test for a scheme that has already faced interruptions. The ESG’s November 17 orders will establish which accepted applicants move forward in the first round, while revisions for objecting filmmakers are still being worked out.
Separately, the ESG is preparing facilities and activities linked to the 57th International Film Festival of India. Lobo said the society was still in talks with the vendor that supplied an inflatable screen for the previous edition about screenings for non-delegates. The ESG campus is expected to have 24 stalls offering food, beverages and other items.
The festival’s cultural programme will also include an Akash Kandil competition on the theme of the peacock, with cash prizes of Rs 10,000, Rs 8,000 and Rs 5,000. Winners from last year’s Shigmotsav and Carnival parades are being invited to participate in the cultural festivities. The next formal milestone for the finance scheme is the issuance of sanction orders on November 17.
