With the budget for the event being reduced from Rs 13 crore to Rs 5 crore, the International Festival to be held in Goa will be a low-key affair this year.

According to Vishnu Wagh, executive member of The Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG), the event management company organising the festival, the event will focus on serious cinema this year and cater to genuine enthusiasts of good filmmaking.

“It has to truly be an international film festival and, therefore, we will showcase films from all over the world instead of making it a Bollywood attraction,” said Wagh.

Nandini Paliwal, CEO, ESG, feels it would be a good idea to invite top directors from around the world. “We have to work out the logistics regarding this,” said Paliwal.

A total expenditure of Rs 34 crore was discussed for the festival at a meeting of the ESG held on Wednesday. Of this, Rs 13.58 crore is to be given to the Goa Infrastructure Development Corporation to set up infrastructure for the festival. The rest of the money would be spent throughout the year to promote cinema in Goa. So the actual budget for the film festival would be reduced to Rs 5 crore, said officials.

This year, the ESG has decided to keep out Indian event managers as they have had unpleasant experiences with them in the past few years, sources said. Instead, the ESG will organise events on its own and concentrate on showcasing films instead, said Vishnu Wagh.