"The state government's endeavour can succeed only with the support of the people of Goa. It is upto the Konkani film makers to wake up to the competition and produce quality content," Rodrigues said while speaking at the closing ceremony of South Asian Film Festival (SAFF) at the Kala Academy in Panaji.
The minister also said film festivals should benefit the stake holders in Goa if the government's initiative needs to succeed.
SAFF organising committee convenor Jitendra Deshprabhu said the Kala Academy authorities are in the process of constructing a new annexe in the complex, one of the main venue of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI).
"The new annexe will house screening auditoriums, studios for lighting, sound and editing. Kala Academy also proposes to give broadband connectivity to filmmakers who wish to shoot their films in Goa," he added.
Deshprabhu said the Kala Academy annexe will serve a good infrastructure for animation and visual effects.
He also said the state government will take steps to make SAFF a permanent feature in Goa. In the last four days, 45 films from eight south Asian countries like India, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal were screened at Kala Academy and the ESG complex.
Besides a Bangladeshi film Unaditya, two Marathi films Sakshi and Mare paryant Faashi made by Goans were premiered at the SAFF.
Rahul Barua, secretary general of South Asia Foundation, which organises the festival, said he wanted to have premiere of Konkani film too.
"But, there was no response", he added.
Despite lacking the hype, glitz and glamour of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), the four day event saw participation of filmmakers from Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Pakistan and good attendance from local population, especially the young.
Pooja Bhatt, Mahesh Bhatt, Madhur Bhandarkar, Randhir Kapoor, Sudhir Mishra and Shyam Benegal attended the festival and interacted with their counterparts from South Asian countries.
The festival concluded with the screening of Pakistani film Khuda Kay Liye and a short film Meri Kahani by 14 year-old Azaan Khan Bhaktiyar, son of Pakistani actor-television producer-director Zeba Bhaktiyar, who acted in Heena directed by Randhir Kapoor.