The Films Division of India (FDI), commonly referred as Films Division, was established in 1948 following the independence of India. It was the first state film production and distribution unit, under the
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting,
Government of India, with its main intent being to "produce documentaries and news magazines for publicity of Government programmes" and the cinematic record of Indian history.
FDI was divided into four wings; these are Production, Distribution, International Documentary and Short Film Festival. The Division produces documentaries/news magazines from its headquarters in 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. In 1990, it was started at the annual
Mumbai International Film Festival, for documentary, short and animation films at Mumbai. It housed a museum of cinema, the National Museum of Indian Cinema (
NMIC), inaugurated on 19 January 2019.
In March 2022, it was merged with
National Film Development Corporation.
History
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. 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
James Beveridge (1917–1993) was a Canadian filmmaking, filmmaker, author and educator. Beveridge was a pioneering filmmaker at the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) and became Head of Production at the NFB in the post-war years.
Early years
...
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.”
Works
Films Division had produced mainly for the state-owned TV channel,
Doordarshan
Doordarshan (abbreviated as DD; Hindi: , ) is an Indian public service broadcaster founded by the Government of India, owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and one of Prasar Bharati's two divisions. One of India's largest bro ...
. It produced some classics like
Ek Anek Aur Ekta. The films division had produced over 8000 films since inception and about 5000 films are being made available for onlin