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  • Tanveer Mir

NFDC India Announces Selection for Film Bazaar Co-Production Market 2022.

Mumbai, October 20, 2022: The 16th edition of Film Bazaar announces its official selection of projects for its core segment, the Co-Production Market, to be held between November 20 – 24, 2022 in Goa.


Tanveer Mir

This year’s Film Bazaar offers 20 compelling projects that bring forth a pan-global narrative. An invigorating Co-Production Market lined up with a bunch of powerful projects from 11 countries have been selected to participate in the Market. The line-up is an eclectic mix of stories in Bengali, English, French, Gondi, Hindi, Kashmiri, Malay, Marathi, Nepali, Spanish and Tamil. The selected filmmakers will be pitching their projects to International and Indian producers, distributors, festival programmers, financiers, and sales agents at Open Pitch.


The selected projects for 2022 are –

A LIFE A ROSE | English, Bengali, French | India, France, United Kingdom, Germany

Director - Kaushik Ray

Kaushik Ray is a first time director, with three films in varying stages of development. He is currently a partner in a boutique international law firm based in the City of London, where he specializes in development finance in least developed countries. He previously worked in film finance as a lawyer, working on projects such as Slumdog Millionaire and Andrea Arnold’s Fish Tank. As a budding writer and director, he is heavily influenced by Satyajit Ray, Mike Leigh and also Pedro Almodovar. I identify as a globalist and a feminist, and all my stories explore contemporary social issues such as corruption, hypocrisy, misogyny and inequality, but always told with a dash of humour or poetry. Kaushik's first two short films as director are in pre-production, and his first feature is in development.

Producer - Jean-Baptiste Babin | BackUp Media

BACKUP MEDIA was founded in 2002 to create a bridge between finance and entertainment. BACKUP MEDIA’s different operations serve the production and the distribution of ambitious cinema and TV projects, bringing the team's unique expertise and a tailor-made solution to each new project. The 450+ productions funded by Backup Media have garnered over 120 selections and nominations and won over 40 prestigious prizes in A-list festivals and academies.

Producer - Pooja Chauhan | Taran Tantra Telefilms Pooja Chauhan, a Creative Producer trained at New York Film Academy, a 2022 Berlinale Talent, brings a detail-oriented approach and a hands-on experience on every aspect of film & TV production. Her recent feature film Goldfish directed by Pushan Kripalani starring Kalki Koechlin and Deepti Naval is set to have its world premiere at Busan International Film Festival. Her previous projects have traveled to BFI Flare, BIFF, Talinn Black Night, IFF Rotterdam among many others.


AADIM (Primordial) | Marathi| India Director - Sohil Vaidya

Sohil is a writer and director based in Pune and Los Angeles. He has won the Grand Prix for Best Short Film at Melbourne International Film Festival for his film Murmurs of the Jungle and the prestigious Directors Guild of America's Award for his thesis film Difficult People. Sohil's films have been screened at more than 90 International Film Festivals such as Rotterdam(IFFR), Melbourne(MIFF), Chicago, Raindance, IFFI (Indian Panorama), Palm Springs, Dharamshala (DIFF), Kerala (IDSFFK), Newyork Indian Film Festival, etc. Sohil is a BAFTA Fellow for their newcomer's program in Los Angeles. He graduated from the University of Southern California (USC) Film School with MFA in Film/TV Directing.

Producer - Bijon Imtiyaz | Goopy Bagha Production

Bijon is an internationally award-winning writer, director, and producer. He is known for films such as Kingdom of Clay Subjects. His films have been showcased at Venice, Rotterdam, Busan, Seattle, Shanghai, Melbourne, Singapore, Locarno, Cinequest, Stockholm, and many other international film festivals. Bijon is the first Bangladeshi Film Production/Directing MFA- graduate from the prestigious Film, Television, and Theatre Department of the University of California, Los Angeles.

Producer - Arifur Rahman | Goopy Bagha Production

Arifur Rahman is an independent filmmaker. He completed the graduation program from Busan Asian Film School on Film Producing in 2019. He attended Asian Film Academy in 2017, Locarno Open Doors Lab in 2018, Global Media Makers LA Residency in 2019, La Fabrique Cannes in 2021, and Film Independent Producing Lab in 2021. He has produced international award-winning films such as the Bangladeshi features, Kingdom of Clay Subjects (2016) and co-produced Live from Dhaka (2016). He also produced the Afghan short films Roqaia (2019) and Shabnam (2021) and recently produced the Bangladesh-IndiaFrance-Nepal co-production film The Silent Echo. Arifur Rahman’s produced films have been screened at Venice, Rotterdam, Busan, Seattle, Singapore, Shanghai, Melbourne, Raindance, and many other international film festivals. His Bangladesh-Germany co-production project Paradise was part of 2019's Berlinale co-production market and his BangladeshIndia-France co-production project Solo was part of 2021's La Fabrique, Cannes Film Festival.


ARMS OF A MAN | Marathi | India, United Kingdom

Director - Rohan Kanawade

Rohan Parashuram Kanawade is a self-made filmmaker with a background in interior design. His debut short Ektya Bhinti (2013) won him the ‘Riyad Wadia Award for Emerging Filmmaker’ at South Asia’s largest queer film festival KASHISH MIQFF. His short Khidkee (2017) was a part of the 48th Indian Panorama Section of IFFI, Goa. His lesbian short set in rural India, U Ushacha (2019), won him the coveted ‘Satyajit Ray Short Film Award’ at London Indian Film Festival. This short won ten awards and was screened at 35+

film festivals internationally, with a theatrical release in India in January 2020. It is now streaming on British Film Institute’s BFI Player in the UK. Arms Of A Man is Rohan’s debut Marathi language feature film which was part of Film London Production Finance Market under New Talent Strand, and Marathi Script Writing Camp’ organized by MFSCDC and NFDC in 2021.

Producer - Neeraj Churi | Lotus Visual Productions

Neeraj Churi started his film production journey around 2017 by producing and promoting South Asian LGBTQ+ films, realizing the limited opportunities available to the community to bring their stories to the screen. His first feature, EK Jagah Apni was part of NFDC Goes to Cannes in 2022. He sponsors grants for LGBT+ short films and promotes queer cinema through theatrical/corporate screenings and film festival curation. An alumnus of New York film academy, he also holds degrees in Information science with experience working with top-tier financial institutions in NY and London. His filmography includes Muhafiz and Queer Parivaar (UK) (Both nominated for IRIS Prize 2022); Sheer Qorma - winner of 60+ international awards, including Oscar and BAFTA qualifying festivals; My Mother's Girlfriend - winner Best Short Film Award at IDSFFK 2021; U for Usha - Winner of 10 international awards; Sisak - Winner of 60 international awards.


BADLIDO AAKASH (Changing Sky) | Nepali| Nepal

Director - Machindra Yongya

Machindra ‘Mac’ Yongya is a filmmaker active in UK and Nepal. He completed a Bachelor's degree in Digital Filmmaking from SAE Institute, Oxford in 2016. Ever since graduating, Mac worked independently in partnership with LOQU Films in and around the Oxford and London area. He worked on self-financed projects, most of the time working odd jobs and producing content for the internet. In this manner, he produced alongside directing and writing three shorts, two of which are streamed from LOQU Films' YouTube channel. He also co-directed and photographed many sketches, comedies, and music videos for LOQU Films. Currently, Mac is based in Kathmandu, Nepal, where he is involved in a feature film as 1st Assistant Director/writer. Additionally, he writes feature film screenplays for various independent productions.

Producer - Anup Poudel | Underground Talkies Nepal

Anup Poudel is a producer based in Kathmandu. A graduate of Oscar College of Film Studies in Kathmandu, Anup has graduated in a film-producing course from Busan Asian Film School, South Korea. His short films as a producer have been selected at the festivals like Cannes, Venice, Busan, Winterthur, Locarno, Montreal, Uppsala, Galway and many more. He was also awarded by the then US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton for his short film. He has recently completed three short films and a feature, which are being submitted across various film festivals.


BAND GALLI (The Last Lane) | Hindi, English | India

Director - Gautam Arora

Gautam Arora is a writer/director based out of Mumbai/Delhi. He received a specialization in film direction and screenplay writing at Prasad Academy, Chennai. His first short film, Circus, had a successful festival run spanning one year earning him nominations at the 10th International Children’s Film Festival, Bangladesh; 10th International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala and Tata Institute of Social.

Sciences, Mumbai. Gautam was associated with critically acclaimed films such as Cities of Sleep (2015), Soni (2017) and All That Breathes (2022) which went on to premiere in Cannes, Venice and BFI London. He received a grant from the US consulate Mumbai in association with Seeds of Peace to create a short film titled, I Shall Not Hear Love. The film screened in Dubai and is currently streaming on Zee5. Gautam runs his own production house called Woolwork Films based out of Mumbai/India.


Producer - Shaunak Sen | Kite Rabbit Films

Shaunak Sen is a filmmaker and writer based in New Delhi. His film All That Breathes (2022) was the first film ever to win best documentary prizes at both the Cannes Film Festival (2022) as well the Sundance Film Festival (2022). His previous film Cities of Sleep played at various film festivals and won 5 international awards. Shaunak has received various grants and fellowships including the ProHelvetia residency in Switzerland (2016), the Charles Wallace fellowship as visiting scholar at Cambridge University (2018), the IDFA-amsterdam documentary grant (2020), the Tribeca documentary grant (2020), and the Sundance Film Grant (2020). Shaunak also holds a PhD and his writings have been published in journals like Bioscope and Widescreen.


DEPTH OF DARKNESS | Tamil, Malay | Malaysia

Director - Gogularaajan Rajendran

Gogu is an artist and director based in Kuala Lumpur. After graduating in architecture, he began his filmmaking career as an editor, and later as an assistant director. Through his art he aims to show that even in this bleak world, through the power of innocence, magic can exist. He is committed to telling the story of Indian Malaysians which is rich in horror and humour, using provocative and poetic approaches. Together with fellow young filmmakers, Gogu co-founded Padai Art Movement which aims to find an original collective narrative for Malaysian Cinema.

Producer - Kumanavannan Rajendran | Fourth Frame Studios

Kuma is a law graduate who went on to do a filmmaking diploma. Kaali is his first feature as a producer but has over 10 years of experience working on sets as an assistant director and assistant producer. Besides Malaysia, he has lived in England, Brazil, India, Switzerland and speaks a few languages. He is the brother of the director Gogu and has produced most of his previous works, winning a few awards together.


HONOUR | English, Hindi | Australia, India

Director - Anupam Sharma

Anupam is a filmmaker with a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Films & Theatre from UNSW, specializing in directing with a thesis on Indian Cinema. Widely credited as pioneering Australian film links with India, Anupam and his company TEMPLE, have led a team of film professionals, working on over 320 projects. Anupam is the chair of Australia India Film Council and a respected commentator and frequent speaker on issues related to Australian film industry, diversity, and Indian cinema. He has been nominated as an Australia Day Ambassador for over 10 years and was named one of the fifty most influential film professionals in Australia for his work in films and diversity.

Producer - Cathy Roda | Films and Casting TEMPLE

Cathy grew up in the wilds of far north Queensland, studied zoology and journalism, and worked as a writer/producer in advertising, marketing and video in Australia and the UK. Yet it’s in fiction features that Cathy made her mark, starting with the multi award winning Unfinished Sky, which premiered at Toronto International Film Festival and was the 4th highest grossing Australian film of 2008. She is highly experienced in international co-productions, including Finnish/German/Australian cult sci-fi hit Iron Sky (premiered Berlinale 2012, sold worldwide), and Danish/German/Australian action comedy Ved Verdens Ende (2009). Her recent films include talent accelerator zombie western Bullets for the Dead (2015). She was also executive producer on Cathy Henkel’s feature documentary Rise of the Eco-Warriors (2014). Cathy took a sabbatical in 2015-19 as Senior Manager of Production Investment at Film Victoria, and returned to producing in late 2019 as Cathartic Pictures.


KAL BAISAKHI (The Nor’Westers) | Hindi, Bengali, English |India

Director & Producer - Judhajit Bagchi & Ranadeep Bhattacharyya | Yaannus Atelier LLP

Producer-Writer-Director Duo Judhajit Bagchi & Ranadeep Bhattacharyya are alumni of Presidency College Kolkata. After completing their Masters in Communication from Manipal University, they started their career with Ad-man Prahlad Kakar at Genesis Films. Their passionate commitment to realize their joint creative vision resulted in the establishment of Yaannus Atelier with their internationally acclaimed award winning short film Amen on gender and sexuality. Their style ranges from cinematic and classic to conceptual and experimental. Over the last decade, the duo has won Cannes Dolphin consecutively in 2015 and 2016 for their brand image films and their experimental short film Children of the Soil, with poetry penned by Gulzar Saab, won the 2020 National Award in the Non-Feature Film category.

Producer - Shikha Alhuwalia | Waveband Production LLP

Shikha S Ahluwalia is a Photographer, Film Producer and Financier associated with multiple Film Financing & Sales Companies in India and abroad. Juggling various aspects of Production in the entertainment and media industry for over two decades, being part of National Award Winning Children Film - Dekh Indian Circus starring Nawazuddin and Tanistha Chatterjee. Her current films in production are social drama Dukaan directed by Sidharth Singh & Garima Wahal and Desi Sherlock directed by Kunal Kohli.

Producer - Wasim Khan | Open Air Films

Wasim Khan’s first break came with the National Award-winning film Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! as a line producer. Shanghai was his second film as executive producer, followed by Akshay Kumar’s Boss. Garnering enough experience in all formats of filmmaking, in 2015, he joined as a partner in OpenAir Films.


KEET (Insectum) | Hindi | India

Director - Bhaskar Hazarika

Bhaskar's most recent and his sophomore feature Aamis, had its World Premiere at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival in the International Narrative Competition Section. Prior to Aamis, his debut film Kothanodi, received the ACF Post-production Grant in 2015 and premiered at the 2015 Busan International Film Festival. It was also awarded the 2016 National Film Award for Best Regional Film in Assamese. Currently, Bhaskar is in the post-production stage of his latest short for a feature length anthology by the makers of Tumbbad. He is also the writer and Creative Producer of Metanormal's latest feature Emuthi Puthi, which was released in June, 2022. His new feature in development Keet was earlier presented as an official selection of this year’s HAF Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum In-Development Project Market (March 14-16, 2022).

Producer - Shyam Bora | Metanormal Motion Pictures

Shyam's debut feature as Producer, Aamis (Ravening), premiered at Tribeca Film Festival 2019 in the International Narrative Competition section. His second feature, Emuthi Puthi (A Very Fishy Trip), was released across cinema theatres of Assam in June, 2022 and his latest feature, Second Chance (Film Bazaar Co-Production Market, 2020) is currently at the post-production stage. Shyam's other credits include as Executive Producer of Kothanodi (Busan International Film Festival, 2015) and Associate and Line Producer of Angry Indian Goddesses (Toronto International Film Festival, 2015). He is an alumnus of the Busan Asian Film School’s International Film Business Academy (AFiS), the Buncheon NAFF Fantastic Genre Film School and Film Independent’s Global Media Maker program.


KUCH SAPNE APNE (Dreams Such As Ours) | Hindi, Tamil, English | India, United Kingdom Director - Sridhar Rangayan

Sridhar Rangayan wears many caps – of a filmmaker, writer, activist and festival director. His award winning films The Pink Mirror, Yours Emotionally, Purple Skies, Breaking Free and Evening Shadows are at the forefront of India’s emergent queer cinema movement. He won the National Award for Best Editing for his film Breaking Free, and his film Evening Shadows has won 27 international awards and screened at 80 festivals. He has served as Jury for prestigious film festivals such as Mardi Gras (Australia), Outfest (USA), Berlinale (Germany), Iris Prize (UK), Movies That Matter (Netherlands) and Image+Nation (Montreal). He has figured in the list of ‘Global List of LGBT Influencers’ by BFI Flare; ‘5 Most Influential Gay & Lesbian Indians’ by Pink Pages, India; and ‘21 Heroes Changing LGBTI Asia For The Better’ by Asia LGBT Milestone Awards, Hong Kong.

Producer - Pragyesh Singh | TNV Films Pvt. Ltd.

An Independent Filmmaker focused on writing and Direction and directed films Chhoti Si Guzaarish, Shinaakht, and documentary Heritage of Thrall; and also produced 28 short films and 2 web series. His films have been officially selected in more than 50 film festivals and have won more than 25 awards. Film Shinaakht have been screened at 8 cities in Jagaran Film Festival. He has been awarded with the Rang Bharati Samman by Governor of State of Uttar Pradesh on UP Sthapana Diwas in the year of 2019 and Lokmat Samman in the field of Art in the year of 2018. He started writing lyrics, poems, ghazals in1993, and then he pursued his company secretary-ship from the Institute of company secretaries of India. After his education, he started working in the social sector as CEO and have founded many organizations in the field of Finance, Auditing, Healthcare, and Filmmaking.

Producer - Sridhar Rangayan | Solaris Pictures

Sridhar Rangayan is a partner in Solaris Pictures, which will be the main Producer of the film. Solaris Pictures is an Indian media house that believes in ‘Advotainment’ – advocacy with entertainment. As a film production company it has consistently been making films that engage the audience and initiate dialogues on issues dealing with health and sexuality, human rights, and the LGBT community.

Previous productions include: The Pink Mirror, 68 Pages, Project Bolo, Purple Skies, Breaking Free and Evening Shadows. Together they have won around 45 international awards and screened at more than 250 film festivals. Breaking Free won the National Award for Best Editing Non-Fiction. Evening Shadows has won 27 international awards and screened at 82 international film festivals. Its productions The Pink Mirror, Breaking Free and Evening Shadows has recently streamed on Netflix.


NAIMER RUN| Hindi, English |India, United Kingdom

Director - Shalini Adnani

Shalini Adnani is a UK-based Chilean/Indian writer and director. Her short films Something More Banal (2017) and Somebody's Daughter (2018) have screened at Oscar & Bafta qualifying festivals worldwide, with the latter receiving a Vimeo Staff Pick. Her India-set feature project Kollam took part in Torino Extended Script Lab in 2019 and is in advanced development with Film4. Her short film White Ant, backed by Film4 and Stone Bench, was shot in India in late 2021. She is a Berlinale Talents Alumni and is represented by Liam Francis Quigley at 42 MP.

Producer - Michael Graf | Makadam Films

Before going into producing, Michael has served as acquisitions & development executive for the international sales agent and financier Bankside Films in London. He was actively involved in the acquisition of films like the upcoming On The Fringe (starring and produced by Penelope Cruz), Inside (starring Willem Dafoe) and TIFF 2021 premiere Wolf (starring George MacKay and Lily Rose-Depp), the latter two both selling to Focus Features. He has most recently completed the Canadian- Swiss feature Something You Said Last Night, which premiered at TIFF 2022, helmed by Sundance Special Jury Prize winner Luis De Filippis, sold by Memento International. He has also most recently produced Shalini Adnani's short film White Ant backed by Film4 and Stone Bench (India). Kollam will be the fourth collaboration between Shalini and Michael.


ORANGES SMELL LIKE TURPENTINE |Hindi, English | India

Director - Sasha Singh

Sasha Singh graduated from Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute with a specialization in Direction and Screenplay Writing. She has written and directed several short films which have been screened at various International film festivals including IFFI, IDSSFK and Kolkata International Film Festival. She has worked as an Assistant Director to filmmakers Navdeep Singh and Shonali Bose and has subsequently co-written screenplays with several Indian directors. A film she has co-authored titled Double XL will release theatrically in India, 2022. Oranges Smell Like Turpentine is her first independent feature length screenplay which was selected for NFDC’S Screenwriter’s Lab 2021. Sasha also conducts filmmaking workshops with a collective of independent filmmakers from all over the country, called Tuning Fork Films.

Producers - Arfi Lamba & Katharina Suckle | Bombay Berlin Film Productions

Bombay Berlin Film Productions (BBFP) is an Indo-German film production house based in Mumbai and Berlin, Germany. Their filmography includes the Indian/Marathi production Radius – Trijya, by Akshay Indikar, which had its world premiere at Shanghai International film festival, and won the National Award for Sound Design. It traveled to Tallinn Black Nights, Dhaka and other festivals.

Their maiden Production LOEV (dir. Sudhanshu Saria) was on Netflix in 180 countries for 5 years. The film had its world premiere at the Tallinn Black Nights, traveling further to Guadalajara, Mexico, South By SouthWest in Austin and 40 other festivals. The Road to Mandalay (dir. Midi Z) where they were German Co-Producers, won the Fedora Award at Venice 2016. Their latest short, Muhafiz, by Pradipta Ray, opened at BFI Flare and has been nominated for BAFTA qualifying IRIS Prize film festival.


PUNISHMENT |English| United Kingdom, India

Director - Isher Sahota

After being selected for a coveted place on the BBC’s New Directors scheme, Isher has directed Doctors and Father Brown for BBC Studios, Hollyoaks for Lime Pictures/Channel 4, and McDonald & Dodds for Mammoth Screen/ITV. Isher is currently directing Film 2 of Series 3 of Grace for Tall Story/ITV. His most recent short film, a period comedy called Goodnight Henry, is currently on the international festival circuit and won Best Comedy at Flickers Rhode Island. Backed by the BFI, it stars Joseph Marcell, Sharon Rooney, and Ryan Gage. In early 2021, Isher observed the unique effects of the pandemic on the Indian community of Southall. He diverged from fiction filmmaking to direct a documentary for Vice World News. Following his participation on a BAFTA jury, Isher was invited to become a full voting member in 2021. Isher has just completed his debut feature The Effects of Lying.

Producer - Jon Tarcy

Jon is a producer and actor. He has recently completed his first feature film The Effects of Lying, directed by Isher Sahota, and starring Ace Bhatti, Laila Rouass, Lauren Patel & Mark Williams. Previously he collaborated with Isher producing the TV pilot Life in Black starring Liam Neeson and Jemma Redgrave, which sold to Company Pictures. Jon has also produced several award-winning short films, including most recently a series of short films based on the work of celebrated Hungarian author István Örkény for the Hungarian Film Institute. He is also an associate producer at Raindance Film Festival, having produced a cross-collaboration for them with the British Council in Tunisia, as well as their monthly film club. He also produces a regular live event at Soho House called West End Songs featuring some of the biggest singers in London’s west end. He has recently been selected for the 2022 BAFTA Connect scheme.