austraLasia #1754

Fr C.M. Paul appointed to India's Central Film Censorship Board

KOLKATA: 9th February 2007 -- The Indian Government has, for the first time ever, appointed a Catholic priest to its Central Board of Film Certification, effectively the Government Film Censorship Board. Fr C.M. Paul SDB, who now works at Don Bosco Monsadah on the India-Bangladesh border, has been appointed for a two year term along with the Mayor and the Commissioner of Police, Kolkata and other eminent citizens. 'It has been our endeavour to include prominent personalities from various backgrounds....we are indeed fortunate to have an eminent and media-savvy Catholic priest who has been involved in film production and film festivals, on our panel', said Director of the CBFC Abhay K. Srivastava.
    The World Catholic Association for Communication, SIGNIS, has commented on the appointed through its president, Augustine Loorthusamy: 'What an honour! Congratulations. You must have done something right.  This should be our work - ad extra. It will have more impact than only doing things ourselves ad intra....your presence and contribution will definitely make a difference'.
    Fr Paul was the director of the first Mother Teresa International Film Festival held in Kolkata on the occasion of her Beatification in 2003.  He also served two terms as president of the National Catholic Association for Radio, TV and Cinema for India (the then UNDA/OCIC which has now become SIGNIS). Besides directing, producing and promoting films, he was also director of Nitika Catechetical and Media Centre, Kolkata for nine years. He was responsible for promoting three films which won awards consecutively at the Warsaw International Film Festival, Poland, the most recent award-winner being The Cash Book (2005).
    Fr Paul, who holds Masters degrees in both Mass Communications and Religious Education from Fordham, USA, cut his journalistic teeth at The Herald, the Kolkata Catholic Weekly, and three years as director of ANS, the International Salesian Information Agency in Rome, before turning to his film production career. He remains a member of the International Advisory Council for Communications, administered from Salesian Headquarters in Rome.
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