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Producers swarm to Dragonflies Catherine Dussart Productions from France and Michael Henrichs’ Die Gesellschaft from Germany have boarded Nepalese writer and director Abinash Bikram Shah’s Season of Dragonflies (Jhyalincha). The film, selected for the Co-Production Market here, is about a feisty survivor of breast cancer who has a tough decision to make after a devastating earthquake in Nepal. Nepal’s Icefall Productions and Shooney Films are also producing. Henrichs told Screen, “The story resonated with me. It’s a genuinely Nepali story on one hand, and the emotionality of communication and overcoming crisis is a universal theme.” Shah makes his feature directorial debut after writing scripts for Deepak Rauniyar’s Highway and Min Bahadur Bham’s The Black Hen. “I think what attracted both Catherine and Michael was the script, which is based on a very personal story,” Shah said. Udita Jhunjhunwala
Superstar composer AR Rahman will premiere his Vande Mataram Live-in-VR Experience here at Film Bazaar today at 10:00am in the VR Lounge. The film — produced by
Film Bazaar at 10, page 12
PROFILES Meet the talent
Deol mines indie gems
The film-makers behind 2016 Co-production Market and Screenwriters’ Lab selections » Page 8
to-digital releases across both local and international platforms. “We’re not just a distributor — we’re here to partner with independent film-makers to see what works in this space and what can be done,” Deol said. He added that he hopes to structure deals in a way that sees revenue flow to film-makers upfront so they can work on their next films. Although the banner’s strategy is for straight-todigital releases, Deol said he is open to holding back some territories for theatrical. “We will decide release strategy on a project-by-project basis.”
FEATURE A decade of influence
BY LIZ SHACKLETON
Indian actor Abhay Deol has set up a banner to acquire critically acclaimed Indian independent films and work with online platforms to give them a straight-to-digital worldwide release. The new venture, Abhay Deol Presents, has already acquired three titles — Aditya Vikram Sengupta’s Venice 2014 title Labour Of Love; Payal Sethi’s award-winning short Leeches; and Brahmanand S Siingh’s documentary Kaagaz Ki Kashti, about ghazal singer Jagjit Singh. “As an actor I’ve always wanted to balance mainstream and non-mainstream
Abhay Deol
work but realised there needed to be changes in the distribution system for independent films to happen,” said Deol, whose acting credits include Shanghai and Dev D. “Now digital is here, independent film-makers finally have a platform.” Deol is assembling a distribution team to exploit the titles, championing straight-
Sherwin Crasto
Actors Nana Patekar, Mukesh Khanna and Sushant Singh Rajput at the opening ceremony of the 47th International Film Festival of India last night.
Film Bazaar takes virtual leap with AR Rahman premiere BY WENDY MITCHELL
TODAY
Chennai-based YM Movies — was shot in the 4K Stereoscopic format and captures Rahman’s August concert at the United Nations in New York. On Wednesday, Rahman will attend Film Bazaar as part of the Knowledge
Series, to talk about the making of the VR film. Rahman’s talk is one of several Knowledge Session events dedicated to immersive experiences, also including producer Michel Reilhac, Mirjam Vosmeer of the
Amsterdam Creative Industries Network and Avinash Changa of WeMakeVR. Film Bazaar is hosting its first Virtual Reality Lounge where 12 VR projects are being showcased, powered by Samsung GearVR.
How 10 years of Film Bazaar has brought South Asian indie cinema to the world » Page 12
Sengupta preps Jonaki BY UDITA JHUNJHUNWALA
Labour Of Love writer-director Aditya Vikram Sengupta will begin shooting Bengalilanguage feature film Jonaki in December. Sengupta says Jonaki, which translates as ‘firefly,’ is “an abstract film based on the story of my grandmother who was in a coma. I wondered what she was thinking.” Veteran actress Lolita Chatterjee plays the 80-yearold lead. “It’s a very brave step for her in a very difficult film,” said Sengupta, adding: “A festival run and an online release might be the most viable options. A theatrical release plan is unlikely to work for this subject and treatment.” Samir Sarkar of Mumbaibased Magic Hour Films is producing and financing the $220,000 project. Sengupta’s Memories And My Mother, which was at the Co-production Market last year and at Cannes’ Cinefondation Atelier this year, is still raising finance. “We have France’s Catherine Dussart Productions on board and are in advanced talks with a Norwegian co-producer. We are still looking for an Indian co-producer,” Sengupta said.
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Memento powers up Trier’s Thelma
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REVIEW Café Society Woody Allen’s opener in the “high altitudes” of his recent successes » Page 18
BY MELANIE GOODFELLOW
Memento Films International (MFI) has boarded sales on Norwegian director Joachim Trier’s supernatural thriller Thelma about a young woman unaware she possesses frightening powers. After his English-language Louder Than Bombs, which played here in Competition last year, Trier has returned home for the Norwegian-language thriller, which is due to shoot in Oslo this autumn. Thomas Robsahm at Oslo-based Motlys, who is lead producing, said the film will be “Trier’s most visually ambitious project to date, with striking VFX”. Co-producers are Alexandre Mallet-Guy of Memento Films Production in France, Mikkel Jersin at Denmark’s Snowglobe and Mattias Nohrborg at Sweden’s B-Reel. Trier will work with his usual team of co-writer Eskil Vogt, director of photography Jakob Ihre and editor Olivier Bugge Coutté. Paris-based MFI is kicking off sales in Cannes. Casting is underway in Oslo, and the film is expected to be ready for spring 2017. Norwegian distributor SF Norge is planning a Halloween 2017 release. The $4.8m film was also supported by Eurimages, the Norwegian Film Institute, the Danish Film Institute, Copenhagen Film Fund and Media.
FEATURES Buzz titles The hot projects from Japan » Page 26
SCREENINGS What to see at the festival and in the market today » Page 64
Café Society stars Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart and Blake Lively with the film’s director Woody Allen on the red carpet for Cannes’ opening night film, which plays here out of competition
Driver set to saddle up for Gilliam’s Quixote BY GEOFFREY MACNAB
Terry Gilliam’s long-gestating project The Man Who Killed Don Quixote looks set to shoot in the autumn with a hot new star — Adam Driver. Fresh from Star Wars blockbuster The Force Awakens, Driver could bring fresh life to the film that has been in the pipeline for nearly 20 years. The role was origi-
Kino takes Silk Road to US BY LIZ SHACKLETON
US distributor Kino Lorber is launching a theatrical distribution label, Silk Road Cinema, dedicated to award-winning arthouse films from India, Pakistan and the rest of South Asia. Kino Lorber is partnering with New York and Mumbai-based independent director-producer Shrihari Sathe to curate the collection and collaborate on distribution strategy. Silk Road Cinema will release around six titles a year throughout North America, in theatres and
Japan hot titles, page 26
NEWS Homecoming Gaumont boards Valérie Lemercier’s comedy » Page 2
Hubert Boesl
across all other platforms including DVD and VoD, starting with five titles acquired by Sathe and Alan McAlex’s 3 Monkeys. These include Afia Nathaniel’s Dukhtar Geetu Mohandas’s Liar’s Dukhtar, Note AviDice, Sathe’s 1,000 Rupee Note, nash Arun’s Berlinale winner Killa and Aamir Bashir’s Harud. Sathe will be actively seeking new South Asian titles at Cannes with the Kino Lorber team. Kino Lorber’s Wendy Lidell, who will oversee Silk Road’s theatrical releases, will also be in Cannes.
nally intended for Johnny Depp. The part of Quixote, first played by Jean Rochefort when Gilliam mounted an ill-fated production in 1998, will be taken on by Gilliam’s fellow Monty Python member, Michael Palin. The project, recently revived by Gilliam with veteran Portuguese producer Paulo Branco’s Alfama Films, is shaping up to shoot this
autumn. Driver and Palin would replace another high-profile duo who were lined up for the roles: rising star Jack O’Connell and veteran John Hurt. Driver may be in Cannes later this week as he stars in Jim Jarmusch’s Competition film, Paterson.. Full details of Gilliam’s Don Quixote project are expected to be confirmed later in the market.
Coixet plans to open Bookshop Emily Mortimer, Bill Nighy and Patricia Clarkson are to star in writer-director Isabel Coixet drama The Bookshop, which is readying to shoot in August. Set in a small town in 1959 England, The Bookshop charts the story of a woman (Mortimer) who decides, against polite but ruthless local opposition, to open a bookshop — a decision that becomes a political minefield. London-based Celsius Entertainment is cooking up deals
in Cannes on the period project, which has pre-sold to Spain (A Contracorriente), Australia and New Zealand (Transmission), Greece (Odeon), airlines (Jaguar Distribution) and Turkey (Filmarti). Producers are Joan Bas and Jaume Banacolocha from Diagonal and Adolfo Blanco from A Contracorriente. Executive producers are Manuel Monzon, Albert Sagales and Fernando Riera. Andreas Wiseman
Bergman’s Saving Neta goes West BY ANDREAS WISEMAN
WestEnd has boarded world sales rights to Nir Bergman drama Saving Neta. The Israeli feature, in post-production, tells the stories of four women whose lives change after their brief encounter with a man called Neta. The film is written by Eran Bar Gil and Bergman, the film-maker behind Berlinale award-winner Broken Wings, critically acclaimed TV drama In Treatment and Yona. Benny Avni stars alongside Neta Riskin in a cast that also includes Rotem Abuhab, Irit Kaplan and Naama Arlaky. Producers are Tami Leon, Avraham Pirchi and Chilik Michaeli (Big Bad Wolves) and executive producer is Rina Schneur. Crew includes DoP Lutz Reitemeier (Wadjda) and composer Asher Goldschmidt (White White God). God Bergman said: “At some time in our lives we’ve all made a wrong turn which brought about a sudden change. This is Neta’s story. His life suddenly got out of control and he’s searching for the right path again.”
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Genre and rare languages light up Recommends list BY LIZ SHACKLETON
Films in rare languages, mockumentaries and a growing interest in genre film-making are some of the dominant themes in this year’s Film Bazaar Recommends (FBR), which highlights 32 titles that are awaiting a world or international premiere. The line-up includes films such as The Gold-Laden Sheep & The Sacred Mountain filmed in the Pahari language, spoken in the Himalayas, and The Golden Wing (Sonar Baran Pakhi) made in Rajbanshi, which is spoken in the north-east Indian state of Assam. “The north east of India and the
lives of the people in the mountains seems to inspire directors from this region, as well as other parts of India, perhaps because the landscape is so cinematic,” said Film Bazaar Recommends and WIP Lab curator Deepti DCunha. This year’s line-up also includes The Bioscopewala, loosely based on Rabindranath Tagore’s short story Kabuliwala, which is shot partly in the Dari language, spoken in Afghanistan. Produced by Mumbaibased Sunil Doshi, the film stars Danny Denzongpa, Gitanjali Thapa, Tisca Chopra and Adil Hussain. The Bioscopewala and The Gold-Laden
The Bioscopewala
Sheep have also been selected for Film Bazaar’s Work-in-Progress Lab (see below). DCunha also pointed to a rise in genre film-making: “There seems to be a budding interest in the mockumentary as an emerging cinematic form by young directors, while there’s also an exciting attempt at the horror genre, which is fresh for Indian films.” The mockumentary style, popularised this year by Rohit Mittal’s Autohead, has been deployed in Kabir Chowdhry’s Mehsampur, following the mishaps of a director researching a film about a murdered folk-singing duo. Films that verge on the horror genre include Sri Lankan drama A Red Butterfly Dream, Marathi-language Hide And Seek (Lapachhapi) and mystical drama Sexy Durga, shot in Malayalam. Other high-profile titles in the selection include Kanwal Sethi’s Once Again and Rahul Shanklya’s Nimmo (both also in WIP Lab), Idgah, starring Shabana Azmi; Nila Madhab Panda’s Dark Wind, which tackles the issue of farmer suicides; and two titles from Drishyam Films — Amit V Masurkar’s second feature Newton and Atanu Mukherjee’s Unknown Faces (Rukh).
WIP Lab showcases border-breaking Indian talent BY LIZ SHACKLETON
Three of the seven Work-in-Progress Lab (WIP) projects at Film Bazaar are international co-productions, suggesting that Indian film-makers are getting to grips with the complexities of working with Europe. Among the line-up of rough cuts screening at the market are Dipesh Jain’s In The Shadows, a co-production between UK-Indian production house Exstant Motion Pictures, founded by Shuchi Jain, and German producer Lena Vurma’s Dragonfly Films. Starring Manoj Bajpayee and Belgian actress Laura Verlinden (The Brand New Testament), the film is a psychological drama about a man
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who is trapped within the walls of Delhi’s old city and his own mind. The WIP line-up also includes Kanwal Sethi’s Once Again, which also has a German producer — Holm Taddiken of Germany’s Neufilm. The project, which was selected for Coproduction Market in 2014, stars Neeraj Kabi and Shefali Shah in the
In The Shadows
story of a romance between a widow and an ageing star. Also selected for WIP Lab, Gitanjali Rao’s Bombay Rose is a co-production between India’s Cinestaan, Gitanjali Rao Films and France’s Les Films d’Ici. The 2D animated feature, which has backing from France’s Cinemas Du Monde and Doha Film Institute, was selected for Busan’s Asian Project Market and NFDC Screenwriters’ Lab, both in 2015. Meanwhile, Indian projects in WIP Lab include Malayalam-language The Tetrahedron and three projects in Film Bazaar Recommends: The Bioscopewala, Nimmo and The Gold-Laden Sheep & The Sacred Mountain (see above).
FILM BAZAAR RECOMMENDS ) FICTION Bhasmasur Dir Nishil Sheth The Bioscopewala Dir Deb Medhekar The Color Of Loss Or Blue Dir Aakash Bhatia Colours Of Innocence Dir Manas Mukul Pal Dark Wind Dir Nila Madhab Panda The Gold-Laden Sheep & The Sacred Mountain Dir Ridham Janve The Golden Wing Dir Bobby Sarma Baruah Hide And Seek Dir Vishal Furia Idgah Dir Piyush Panjuani Izahaq — Smoke On The Altar Dir Charles Kollannoor Chakkunny Kingdom Of Clay Subjects Dir Imtiaz ‘Bijon’ Ahmed Lathe Joshi Dir Mangesh Joshi Mehsampur Dir Kabir Chowdhry The Narrow Path Dirs Santosh Babusenan, Satish Babusenan Newton Dir Amit V Masurkar Nimmo Dir Rahul Shanklya Once Again Dir Kanwal Sethi Ralang Road Dir Karma Takapa A Red Butterfly Dream Dir Priyantha Kaluarachchi Revelations Dir Vijay Jayapal Sexy Durga Dir Sanal Kumar Sasidharan Taking The Horse To Eat Jalebis Dir Anamika Haksar Unknown Faces Dir Atanu Mukherjee Village Rockstars Dir Rima Das Walking With The Wind Dir Praveen Morchhale Withered Leaf Dir Duminda Sanjeewa
) DOCUMENTARIES Buddhagram Dir Kabir Mehta A Dream Document Dir Rupak Das The Karma Killings Dirs Ram Devineni, Tushar Prakash Limitless Dir Vrinda Samartha Remembering Kurdi Dir Saumyananda Sahi Wayfare To The Night Dir Rinku Kalsy
November 21, 2016 Screen International at Film Bazaar 5
EVENTS MONDAY 21st 09:30 OPEN PITCH AT CO-PRODUCTION MARKET Duration 3.5 hours Location Kulagar, Goa Marriott Resort
Eighteen projects pitch to delegates interested in co-production, sales, distribution and funding. 10:00 AR RAHMAN VR PREMIERE Duration 1 hour Location VR Lounge, Goa Marriott Resort
Premiere of AR Rahman’s Vande Mataram ‘Live-inVR’ Experience.
13:00 LUNCH Location Waterfront, Goa Marriott Duration 2 hours Hosted by Gujarat Tourism
FILM IN INDIA Duration 15mins Location Grand Ballroom, Goa Marriott Resort
A talk about the role and function of the Film Facilitation Office. Speaker Vikramjit Roy, head of Film Facilitation Office, NFDC Moderator Vanita Kohli Khandekar, media specialist and author
6 Screen International at Film Bazaar November 21, 2016
13:45 KNOWLEDGE SERIES PUBLIC FUNDING FOR INDIE FILMS Duration 45mins Location Grand Ballroom, Goa Marriott Resort
Independent film financing including how to find the perfect public funding solution. Speakers Ilann Girard, CEO, Olffi; Thanassis Karathanos, producer, Pallas Films Moderator Miriam Joseph, producer 14:45 KNOWLEDGE SERIES STORYTELLING AND NARRATIVES IN 360° VR
Duration 45mins Location Grand
Ballroom, Goa Marriott Resort Trends in VR storytelling. Speakers Gitanjali Rao, film-maker and animator; Mirjam Vosmeer, co-ordinator of Interaction and Games Lab, Amsterdam Creative Industries Network 15:45 KNOWLEDGE SERIES FILM FESTIVALS AND MARKETS — BUILDING AUDIENCES AND BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES Duration 1 hour Location Grand
Ballroom, Goa Marriott Resort Speakers Raam Reddy, film-maker; Chris Paton, film sales and festival consultant; Paolo Bertolin, festival programmer and critic; Uma da Cunha, festival director and journalist Moderator Deepti DCunha, curator and programmer 16:00 SCREENWRITERS’ LAB PITCH Location Producers’ Lab Tent Duration 2 hours
Pitches from 12 writers, including those of children’s content.
17:00 KNOWLEDGE SERIES TO LOVE OR NOT TO LOVE: REDEFINING ROMANCE ON HINDI CELLULOID Duration 1 hour Location Grand Ballroom, Goa Marriott Resort
A conversation with director Imtiaz Ali. Speakers Imtiaz Ali, film-maker and producer; Nasreen Munni Kabir, documentary filmmaker and author 19:00 COCKTAILS North Central Lawns, Marriott Hosted by Telangana Tourism
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SCREENINGS Edited by Paul Lindsell
» Screening times and venues are correct at the time of going to press but subject to alteration.
paullindsell@gmail.com
MONDAY 21st
circumstances that led to violence, rape and murder in Mumbai.
09:45 EUNUCH (KOTI) (India) 125mins. Dir: Suhas Bhosle. Key cast: Sanjay Kulkarni, Vinita Kale, Divyesh Medge, Adnyesh Mudshingkar. Language: Marathi. The story of a family whose younger son, Sham, is born with feminine tendencies.
Qube 3
16:00 LIGHT AROSE (ALOKO UDAPADI) (Sri Lanka) 128mins. Dir: Chathra Weeraman. Key cast: Uddhika Premarathne, Menaka Peiris, Roshan Ravindra. Language: Sinhala. In 100bc, a dedicated community of monks overcomes formidable obstacles to preserve a unique cultural and spiritual heritage for the whole of mankind and for all time.
Qube 3
10:00 WITHIN (PAROKSH) (India) 12mins. Dir: Ganesh Shetty. Key cast: Amit Sial, Pooja Naik. Language: Tulu. A man’s simple forgetfulness leaves a family in horror. Qube 2
11:00 AND WE CALL THIS LOVE (SATYAVATI) (India) 82mins. Dir: Deepthi Tadanki. Key cast: Sira Ushapp, Shwetha Gupta, Iti Acharya. Language: Hindi. A father’s love for his daughter is put to the test when he mistakenly thinks she is a lesbian. Tradition meets nonconformance. Qube 1
Editorial office Room 170 Goa Marriott Resort & Spa
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16:00 SILENCE, THE COURT IS IN SESSION (KHAMOSH, ADALAT JAARI HAI) (India) 105mins. Dir: Ritesh Menon. Key cast: Nandita Das, Saurabh Shukla, Swanand Kirkire. Language: Hindi. A theatre group stages a mock trial that takes a grim twist when the initially jocular pretendplay turns into a drama about desire, gender discrimination and redundant social customs. Qube 2 Invitation only
11:30 CHHOTA BHEEM HIMALAYAN ADVENTURE (India) 96mins. Dir: Rajiv Chilaka. Key cast: Chhota Bheem, Chutki, Kalia, Dholu and Bholu, Jagu, Raju. Language: Hindi.
Chhota Bheem is going to Manali with his friends after Princess Indumati plans a trip of snow-filled fun. Qube 2
12:00 TRAP (India) 90mins. Dir: B Madhusudhan
Asia editor Liz Shackleton lizshackleton@gmail.com Dailies news editor Wendy Mitchell wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com Reporter Udita Jhunjhunwala uditaj@gmail.com Production editor Mark Mowbray mark.mowbray@screendaily.com
Reddy. Key cast: Madhu, C Devi, Cyril Thomas. Language: English. Veerappan — a notorious forest gang leader and member of the infamous Sandalwood Mafia responsible for the death of thousands of elephants — is set a trap by STF Commander Vijay. Qube 3
14:00 DESERT TEARS (India) 95mins. Dir: Himanshu Gulati. Key cast: Anangsha Biswas, Megha Chakraborty, Anil Mange.
Language: Hindi. The story of how one young woman decides to fight her way out of the predetermined destiny of the women that surround her. Qube 2
THE FORESAKEN (ELI ELI LAMA SABACHTHANI?) (India) 81mins. Dir: Jiju Antony. Key cast: Sanal Aman, Rajshri Deshpande, Yash Bhosle. Languages: Marathi, Hindi, English. A retrogressively narrated tale of a convicted murderer, depicting the social
Photographer Sherwin Crasto sherwin@solarisimages.com Advertising Ingrid Hammond ingridhammond@mac.com Printer Anitha Art Printers, 29-30 Oasis Industrial Estate, Santacruz (East), Mumbai — 55 2665 2970, 2665 2954 printing@anitaprinters.com
Qube 3
THE SACRIFICE (HALAL) (India) 148mins. Dir: Shivaji Lotan Patil. Key cast: Pritam Kagne, Priyadarshan Jadhav, Chinmay Mandalekar. Language: Marathi. It is hard being a woman in a man’s world and harder still if you have been rejected by one after talaq. Qube 1
SILENCE, THE COURT IS IN SESSION (KHAMOSH, ADALAT JAARI HAI) See box, above
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November 21, 2016 Screen International at Film Bazaar 7
PROJECT PROFILES CO-PRODUCTION MARKET
CO-PRODUCTION MARKET
The Biryani Seller (India)
A Foolish Man (Bangladesh)
Directors Rajdeep Paul (pictured left), Sarmistha Maiti
Director Abu Shahed Emon
Language Bengali
Language Bengali
Growing up in Kolkata, co-directors Rajdeep Paul and Sarmistha Maiti have long witnessed the changing demographics of the city and its street-food culture. When researching a culinary documentary a few years ago, they came across a biryani seller who had an avid interest in art and culture. The film-makers decided to make him the subject of their first narrative feature, the story of a roadside biryani seller who embarks on a journey to fulfil his long-held dream of becoming an artist. The project was previously selected for the first Mumbai Mantra CineRise Screenwriting Programme in 2015. “It is a tale of many hues, with soaring dreams, fervent creativity, feverish love, bitter betrayal and economic unrest set against the backdrop of a rapidly changing urban city,” say the directors, both of whom are alumni of Kolkata’s Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute.
In 2013, the directors received a special mention at India’s National Film Awards for feature-length documentary At The Crossroads: Nondon Bagchi Life And Living, about Indian rock musicians of the 1960s and ’70s. Outside their home country, Paul and Maiti have directed documentaries for London-based Native Voice Films and PBS in the US. They are also known for their controversial short film 3 On A Bed, about polyamorous relationships. Mahesh Mathai will produce The Biryani Seller through Mumbai-based Highlight Films, an advertising company he founded in 1987. The company’s feature credits include award-winning drama Bhopal Express, directed by Mathai, which is set against the backdrop of the Bhopal industrial disaster. The film played in the Panorama section of Berlin Film Festival in 2000. Silvia Wong
In development for five years, A Foolish Man (Apodartho) is director Abu Shahed Emon’s second feature following his acclaimed Jalal’s Story, which was Bangladesh’s submission to the best foreign-language film category of the 2016 Academy Awards. On A Foolish Man, Emon will again team up with Bangladeshi director-producer Mostofa Sarwar Farooki, who executive produced Jalal’s Story. The story revolves around a man who is desperate to shake off his foolish reputation by becoming a policeman. “Unfortunately, he never officially gets the job but he takes us on a bizarre journey. Through this film, I want to examine my personal point-of-view about the police force. In this context, it is a very personal story,” says Emon, whose fictional tale is inspired by several real-life incidents. The project, which will shoot mostly in Bangladesh, received
support from Busan’s Asian Cinema Fund in 2011, in the script and project development category. That same year it was also selected for Busan’s Asian Project Market, where it received a prize from Goteborg Film Festival for best pitch. With a completed script but no cast yet attached, the film-makers are seeking co-producers, financiers and a sales agent. Jalal’s Story received its world premiere at Busan in 2014 and won best film and actor prizes at Avanca International Film Festival in Portugal in 2015. Farooki, who runs Bangladeshi production outfit Chabial, has directing credits including Television (2012) and Ant Story (2013). He is currently in post-production on No Bed Of Roses (Doob), starring Irrfan Khan. Emon’s Batayan Productions has produced several award-winning short films, documentaries and fictional TV programmes. Udita Jhunjhunwala
The Biryani Seller
A Foolish Man
Producer Mahesh Mathai Production company Highlight Films Budget $500,000 ($50,000 raised to date) Contact Mahesh Mathai mahesh@highlightfilms.com
Producer Mostofa Sarwar Farooki Production companies Chabial, Batayan Productions Budget $500,000 ($62,000 raised to date) Contact Abu Shahed Emon shahedemon@gmail.com
8 Screen International at Film Bazaar November 21, 2016
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» The Biryani Seller p8 » A Foolish Man p8 » Dastaan-e-Awaargi p9
CO-PRODUCTION MARKET
» Calorie p9 » Ink p10 » Insha’allah p10
CO-PRODUCTION MARKET
Dastaan-e-Awaargi (India)
Calorie (Canada)
Director Ankit Kothari
Director Eisha Marjara
Language Hindi
Languages English, Punjabi
Ankit Kothari has worked in various industry roles, including script supervisor, researcher and assistant director, on three films directed by Dibakar Banerjee: Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!, Love Sex Aur Dhokha and Shanghai. He was also chief assistant director on Rahi Anil Barve’s period thriller Tumbad. He plans to make his directorial debut with comic coming-of-age drama Dastaan-e-Awaargi, which was selected for NFDC Screenwriters’ Lab in 2015. Set in a small town in the north Indian state of Gujarat, the film tells the story of an overweight teenager and is packed with the quirks and colour of small-town life — street food, superstitions and the local culture of wooing women — that are all experienced from the perspective of this teenager on the cusp of manhood. “The idea germinated from my own experiences as a child grow-
ing up in a small town such as this, my world, my evolution in this space have shaped not only myself but this story as well,” says Kothari, who met the film’s producers — Priya Sreedharan, Zulfaquar Haider Torabi and Wasim Khan — when he was working on Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!. Their association continued through Love Sex Aur Dhokha and Shanghai. The trio set up Mumbai-based production outfit Open Air Films in 2013. The company is also producing Arjun Mukherjee’s Three Storeys, a co-production with Excel Entertainment and B4U Movies, scheduled for release next year. “Collaborating with them on my debut feature film has been an obvious extension to the creative chemistry we share,” says Kothari. Following two years of script development for Dastaan-eAwaargi, the team is now looking for co-producers. Udita Jhunjhunwala
» The Gift p11 » Heart & Soul p11 » Spirogyra p11
Revolving around the female members of a fictional family, Calorie explores the wider effect of the reallife bombing of Air India flight 182 in 1985, in which Canadian writerdirector Eisha Marjara’s sister and mother both lost their lives. The story follows two Canadian sisters and their mother who travel to India for the summer. While the mother hopes her children will connect with their Indian roots, she has to face the haunting memories of her mother’s death in the Air India tragedy. “Calorie unravels the ripple effects of a decades-old tragedy in a family drama,” explains producer Joe Balass of Compass Productions. “The event affected generations of Canadians, Americans, Indians and Irish. What makes Calorie distinct yet universal is that it is a unique kind of coming-ofage story.” Marjara also touched on the tragedy in her 1999 docudrama
Desperately Seeking Helen, which addressed the subject of identity and the relationships between mothers and daughters. It won a Silver Pardino at Locarno Film Festival in 1999. Balass’s Montreal-based Compass Productions has produced documentaries including Nana, George And Me (1997), The Devil In The Holy Water (2002), JOY! Portrait Of A Nun (2012) and The Length Of The Alphabet (2013). Calorie will be Compass’s first production in India. Balass and Marjara previously collaborated on under-production narrative feature Venus, about a man transitioning to become a woman who discovers he has a teenage son. Marjara plans to assemble a mix of Indian, Canadian and international actors for Calorie, which will be shot in India and Canada. The project is at the script packaging and development stage. Udita Jhunjhunwala
Dastaan-e-Awaargi
Calorie
Producers Priya Sreedharan, Zulfaquar Haider Torabi, Wasim Khan Production company Open Air Films Budget $449,000 ($100,000 raised to date) Contact Priya Sreedharan priya@opneairfilms.com
Producer Joe Balass Production company Compass Productions Budget $1.43m ($443,000 raised to date) Contact Joe Balass joe@compassproductions.ca
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November 21, 2016 Screen International at Film Bazaar 9
PROFILES CO-PRODUCTION MARKET
CO-PRODUCTION MARKET
CO-PRODUCTION MARKET
Ink (India)
Insha’allah (India)
Director Pratim D Gupta
Director Geetu Mohandas
Languages Hindi, Bengali
Languages Malayalam, Hindi
Pratim D Gupta’s Hindi and Bengali-language feature Ink is an investigative thriller based on a true story. It follows a struggling weather reporter at an Englishlanguage newspaper who is tipped-off about a story that could change his life. This is juxtaposed with the story of a Bollywood superstar actress trying to erase traces of her secretive past. “When these worlds collide, it’s also a collision of the two Indias — the inequalities of the economic classes becoming even more polarised and impacting the moral decisions they take,” says Gupta, who has worked as a journalist. Benefitting from his newsroom experience, he says the project combines “the daily workings of an Indian newsroom, the trappings of Bollywood stardom and the sordid yet amusing world of south Indian porn”. The project, which was selected for the 2013 edition of the Mumbai Mantra-Sundance Institute Screen-
writers’ Lab, is in pre-production and lined up to start shooting from mid-2017. It will be Gupta’s second collaboration with producer Firdausul Hasan following Bengali feature The Drifters (Shaheb Bibi Golaam), which premiered at New York Indian Film Festival in May and received a theatrical release in India earlier this year. Gupta’s first feature script, Vanish, was selected for the NFDC Screenwriters’ Lab in 2009. Afterglow (Paanch Adhyay), his debut as writer-director, premiered at New York’s South Asian International Film Festival in 2012 and screened at Mumbai Film Festival. He also directed a short film for omnibus project X: Past Is Present. Hasan’s production outfit Friends Communication has backed Bengali features such as Rupkatha Noy and Natoker Moto. Ink marks the company’s first foray into Hindi-language film-making. Udita Jhunjhunwala
Actress-turned-director Geetu Mohandas’s first Hindi-language feature, Liar’s Dice, premiered at Sundance in 2014, won two Indian National Film Awards and was India’s official submission to the best foreign-language film category of the 2015 Academy Awards. Insha’allah, her second film as writer-director, tells the story of a 13-year-old boy called Mullakoya and his journey from the island of Lakshadweep to Mumbai in search of his brother Akbar. “The story follows what happens to Mullakoya after he ends up in Mumbai,” says Mohandas. “It is a realistic film with elements of magical realism. “It’s very different from Liar’s Dice, which was borderline mundane, because I wanted you to feel the angst of the woman. I wanted the journey to be the film. But Insha’allah is very fast paced. It has adventure and spectacle besides being in a different language and a different terrain from Liar’s Dice.”
Mohandas is reuniting with Liar’s Dice producer Jar Pictures on Insha’allah, which will shoot in Lakshadweep and Mumbai next year. It is in pre-production, with casting under discussion. The filmmakers are at Film Bazaar seeking a sales company. Founded in 2011, Jar Pictures has produced independent and commercial Indian films, including Hindi-language titles Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana, directed by Sameer Sharma; Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari’s The New Classmate; and Avinash Arun’s Marathi-language Killa, which won the Crystal Bear for best film in Berlin’s Generation Kplus section. Jar Pictures is also associated with Collective Phase One — of which Mohandas is a member — producer of Kamal KM’s Hindi-language feature I.D., which premiered at Busan in 2012, and Rajeev Ravi’s Malayalam-language Njan Steve Lopez. Udita Jhunjhunwala
Ink
Insha’allah
Producer Firdausul Hasan Production company Friends Communication Budget: $750,000 ($300,000 raised to date) Contact Teriyaki Donut Films teriyakidonutfilms@gmail.com
Producers Ajay G Rai, Alan McAlex Production company Jar Pictures Budget $822,000 ($300,000 raised to date) Contact Alan McAlex alan@jarpictures.com
10 Screen International at Film Bazaar November 21, 2016
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SCREENWRITERS’ LAB PROFILES
SCREENWRITERS’ LAB
SCREENWRITERS’ LAB
SCREENWRITERS’ LAB
The Gift (India)
Heart & Soul (India)
Spirogyra (India)
Writer-director Tamal Sen
Writer-director Hariharasudhan K
Writer-director Abhilash Vijayan
Languages Hindi, Bengali
Language Tamil
Language Malayalam
A poor caretaker brings an old fridge back to his remote village, hoping it will help him secure a fine groom for his daughter, in tragicomic drama The Gift. But the fridge sets off feelings of ambition and greed, bringing out the worst in everyone and shattering the harmony of the once-peaceful village, which has not yet had electricity. “I want to explore the themes of personal greed and consumerism in a darkly humorous context,” says writer-director Tamal Sen of his first feature, which is set in the early 1990s. “The madness that ensues mirrors the unpredictability of life itself, and the irony of the protagonist’s situation only comes across in the final moments, with his solution to turn everything back to normal.” Sen, who has spent the past six years working in advertising, studied at Kolkata’s Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute. His graduation short film, Still Voices, won awards in the US at Columbus International Film + Video Festival and Los Angeles Reel Film Festival, both in 2010. His producer Avishek Ghosh is the executive producer of Hectic Content, a Mumbai-based production house established in 2013. Silvia Wong
Family drama Heart & Soul examines the challenges faced by a middle-class Chennai family when the oldest son develops schizophrenia. To make matters worse, the younger son — who has taken over responsibility for the family — falls prey to the same condition. “It is inspired by my personal life but fictionalised in the right way, with most of the situations finding their roots in real life,” says writer-director Hariharasudhan K, whose brother has battled schizophrenia for almost nine years. “The problems, both personally and socially, are not the usual ones that every family would have gone through.” The film-maker worked as an engineer at a software company for two years before deciding to pursue film-making. He began his new career by attending Cinema Pattarai, the film school established by renowned Tamil director Balu Mahendra in Chennai. He is a second-year directing and screenwriting student at Kolkata’s Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute, and is seeking a producer for this first feature-length script. Silvia Wong
Spirogyra, named after the algae used as a recurring image in the story, is about a fugitive hunted by the police for a serious crime. While on the run, the man is thrown into different time periods from his past, where he is involved in situations similar to the felony. “Spirogyra is about the man’s relationship with his past, as he revisits different shades of the emotional state at different points of time in his life — when he’s a schoolboy, a teenager, a young adult and now middle-aged,” says writerdirector Abhilash Vijayan of his Kerala-set debut feature. Vijayan recently graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune. His short film The Dual (2012) won four international and 25 Indian awards, including best short film at Ladakh, the Kodak Vision Prize for best visual performance at the International Student Film Festival Pisek in the Czech Republic, and a Special Jury Mention at CineMAiubit International Short Film Festival in Romania. His documentary That Elephant From The Bridge, about an Indian travelling circus arriving in a new town, premiered at Dok Leipzig in 2013. Silvia Wong
The Gift
Heart & Soul
Spirogyra
Producer Avishek Ghosh Contact Tamal Sen tamalsen@gmail.com
Contact Hariharasudhan K harankmsec@gmail.com
Contact Abhilash Vijayan abhilashwrites@gmail.com
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November 21, 2016 Screen International at Film Bazaar 11
IN FOCUS FILM BAZAAR
Lipstick Under My Burkha
Indie heroes
Film Bazaar has made South Asian independent cinema accessible to the rest of the world by curating the vast range of film-making styles and languages on offer. Liz Shackleton reports
I
n 2007, when India’s National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) launched Film Bazaar, Indian independent film-making was in a very different space. Few indie films made it to international film festivals, and for most people, Indian cinema was synonymous with the mainstream Hindi-language films being produced in Mumbai. Fast-forward 10 years and hardly a festival goes by without an Indian indie making it into the official selection or winning awards. And not all of these films are made in Hindi — festival programmers are now just as likely to consider works in Tamil, Punjabi, Marathi, or one of India’s other 150 languages, as well as titles from other South Asian nations such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal.
Several of the South Asian films making waves on this year’s autumn festival circuit — such as Konkona Sen Sharma’s A Death In The Gunj, Haobam Paban Kumar’s Lady Of The Lake, Alankrita Shrivastava’s Lipstick Under My Burkha and White Sun from Nepal’s Deepak Rauniyar — started their journey either at Film Bazaar or through the NFDC’s year-round development initiatives. A Death In The Gunj, which premiered at Toronto, went through m e n to r i n g a t N F D C ’s National Script Lab, while Lipstick Under My Burkha, which premiered at Tokyo, attended Film Bazaar three times at A Death In The Gunj
12 Screen International at Film Bazaar November 21, 2016
various stages of development and production. Meanwhile, Shubhashish Bhutiani, director of Venice title Hotel Salvation, met his executive producer at Film Bazaar last year, although he was pitching another project at the time. “Before we launched Film Bazaar, South Asian independent cinema was not so well recognised globally,” says Film Bazaar director Raja Chhinal. “But over the years we’ve seen a steady stream of films such as The Lunchbox,
‘Film Bazaar has had a huge impact on indie cinema’ Raja Chhinal, Film Bazaar
Titli and Qissa that all came out of the Bazaar. It’s had a huge impact on independent cinema as far as globalisation and pushing the boundaries is concerned.” The brainchild of NFDC managing director Nina Lath Gupta, who was inspired by a visit to Rotterdam’s CineMart, Film Bazaar draws international festival programmers, sales executives, distributors and producers — attendees this year
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‘There is content for every kind of buyer and festival’
KNOWLEDGE FACTORY
Deepti DCunha, Film Bazaar
include Focus Features, The Weinstein Company and festivals such as Venice, Sydney and Cannes. Over the years, attendees have realised that, in addition to having a relaxed setting at the Goa Marriott Resort, Film Bazaar takes the pain out of understanding a complex market in which films are made in scores of different genres, styles and languages. Navigating this relatively new and vibrant filmmaking scene can be bewildering without some local guidance. Selecting success For the past decade, Film Bazaar has played this curatorial role by picking projects across three different stages of the film-making process: Screenwriters’ Lab (SWL) for scripts in development; Co-production Market (CPM) for projects that are seeking finance; and Work-inProgress Lab (WIP) for films at the rough-cut stage. Projects selected for this year’s CPM include new titles from directors such as Haobam Paban Kumar, Geetu Mohandas and Bangladesh’s Abu Shahed Emon, while projects in WIP Lab include Gitanjali Rao’s animated feature Bombay Rose and Dipesh Jain’s UK-India-Germany co-production In The Shadows, starring Manoj Bajpayee and Laura Verlinden. Film Bazaar will also present 202 films in the Viewing Room, a video library focusing on titles that seek finishing funds, festivals and distribution. Among these, 32 films in 14 languages have been selected for the Film Bazaar Recommends section, including Newton — Amit Masurkar’s second film following Sulemani Keeda — a timely drama about the electoral process and democracy. “What we’re seeing is that filmmakers who came to previous editions of Film Bazaar with their debut films are returning with
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Newton
their second features and are eagerly looking to network with the experience they have gained,” says Deepti DCunha, who curates both the WIP Lab and Viewing Room sections. “There is content for every kind of buyer and festival,” she continues. “This is a definite sign that Film Bazaar has achieved the vision it began with 10 years ago to provide much-needed infrastructure and a platform for independent talent from all over India, as well as South Asia.” Film Bazaar co-director Manas Malhotra adds that the event has seen a big increase in submissions this year across all sections. Viewing Room has been expanded from 150 to more than 200 titles, while Industry Screenings, which take place in temporary screening halls at the Marriott, has grown from 36 to 50 this year. “Both the Work-in-Progress Lab and Film Bazaar Recommends have had high rates of success as far as festivals and releases are concerned, so more filmmakers are realising this is a good platform for them,” Malhotra says. Rolling schedule In addition to Film Bazaar, NFDC continues to run a year-round programme of distribution and training activities, and from late last year has also been housing India’s first film commission, the Film Facilitation Office (FFO), in Delhi. Officers appointed to handle filming activities in several Indian states will attend Film Bazaar for a one-day workshop conducted with
In addition to presenting and mentoring projects, Film Bazaar plays an educational role, both through the Producers’ Lab — which is designed to fill a longacknowledged gap in India for creative producers — and seminar and masterclass programme the Knowledge Series. As part of the 10th anniversary celebrations, Film Bazaar is also hosting a virtual reality (VR) sidebar and lounge, featuring sessions with producer Michel Reilhac, WeMakeVR founder Avinash Changa and Mirjam Vosmeer of Amsterdam Creative Industries Network. “We want to look at whether VR will redefine film-making in the long term,” explains Film Bazaar co-director Manas Malhotra. “Michel will be busting a few myths around whether VR will change the way we tell stories, while Mirjam will present research about what kind of storytelling works in VR and what doesn’t.” In the Knowledge Series, Indian director Imtiaz Ali, whose credits include mainstream Hindi titles Rockstar and Highway, will be in conversation with producer Nasreen Munni Kabir, while Hong Kong-based producer Philip Lee, who executive produced The Revenant, will give a masterclass. Sessions will also be held on alternative distribution models, VoD, short film-making and regional cinema, while YouTube and Facebook will give presentations about their tools for film-makers and building communities online. Knowledge Series will also host an Open Pitch for the Co-production Market projects and an Investor Pitch for the projects in Film Bazaar Recommends.
international producers who have an interest in filming in India. On the distribution front, NFDC has released several films that it has either produced or co-produced over the past year, including Gurvinder Singh’s The Fourth Direction in August and Ruchika Oberoi’s Island City in September. “We’ve established a distribution system where each NFDC-produced film travels through film festivals, Indian theatrical release and syndication across pay-TV, digital and other ancillary platforms,” explains NFDC head of distribution and syndication, Awadhesh Kumar. NFDC has also been licensing its library of classics to broadcasters such as Zee Entertainment and Times Television Network, while talks are underway with digital and direct-to-home players such as Amazon, Netflix and Tata Sky. Back at Film Bazaar, the recent entry of both Amazon and Netflix into the Indian market, along with their acquisitions of indie films, is likely to be a hot topic of conversation in Goa. “Most debut independent films are financed by friends and family, but with Netflix and Amazon buying up film content in the past year, many film-makers who were unable to start off their second projects now see a ray of hope and some finances as well,” says DCunha. It’s a far cry from 10 years ago when Indian indies found it difficult to get even their first projects off the ground and then struggled to Producer Philip Lee will hold s be seen. n a masterclass at Film Bazaar
SPOTLIGHT CHILDREN’S SCREENWRITERS’ LAB
(From left) Sneha Nair, Mrudhula Sridharan, Priya Ramasubban, Nitin Zihani Choudhary, Mayur Kulkarni and Kaushal Oza attend Cinekid
India’s youth movement NFDC’s Children’s Screenwriters’ Lab has teamed with Cinekid in Amsterdam to explore a fast-emerging sector in Indian film-making. Silvia Wong reports
N
FDC’s Children’s Screenwriters’ Lab is this year collaborating with Amsterdam’s Cinekid, the world’s largest media festival celebrating children’s content in all forms. Facilitated by the Dutch Culture Centre for International Cooperation, a team of six Indian writers visited Cinekid in October, attending a week-long script session and taking part in industry programmes to gain international exposure. The Children’s Screenwriters’ Lab was launched last year with six projects. Two of the selected scripts, Lottery Ticket and Adventures Of Kaka And Kiki, took part in The Financing Forum for Kids Content in Malmo, Sweden, while animated feature Man From Kabul (Kabuliwala) returns to Film Bazaar this year for the Co-production Market. As India gains confidence in children’s content, NFDC’s head of training and development Urmi Juvekar believes digital platforms will help to grow this relatively new sector. “Digital content is far more accessible to children and young viewers,” Juvekar says. “The presence of digital players in India will open up new avenues for film-makers to explore not just fiction features, but also documentaries, interactive media and virtual reality. In this favourable scenario, I hope Indian film-makers will s take children’s content seriously.” n
SELECTED PROJECTS A Girl And An Autorickshaw Writer Mayur Kulkarni Language Marathi Following her family’s move from Mumbai to a small town, a sevenyear-old girl becomes fascinated by an autorickshaw that carries children to school, but her father thinks differently. “Her passion for the rickshaw takes us to the children’s world and helps us understand their emotions and behaviour,” says writerdirector Mayur Kulkarni, who runs his own graphic design studio and has worked in Marathi films as a costume designer. He previously attended NFDC’s Marathi Voices Script Camp. Contact Mayur Kulkarni atozmayur@gmail.com
Chuskit Writer Priya Ramasubban Language Ladakhi Young paraplegic girl Chuskit must convince her family to fulfil her dream of going to school. “The raw beauty of Ladakh, the powerful protagonist, the conflict between acceptance of fate and challenging one’s circumstances provide a universal appeal,” says Priya Ramasubban of her first narrative feature. She is a veteran writer-
14 Screen International at Film Bazaar November 21, 2016
director-producer, having worked for National Geographic, Discovery, The History Channel and other international broadcasters. Contact Priya Ramasubban priya@kaavyacreative.com
Krikus Writer Nitin Zihani Choudhary Language Hindi Set in the 17th century, Krikus is about a girl who takes a fantastical journey to save her village. With this project, writer-director Nitin Zihani Choudhary strives to “create original Indian fantasy and combine Indian mythology with abstraction and surrealism”. He worked as a production designer on Ship Of Theseus and upcoming horror film Tumbad. He is also a visual artist of children’s books, animation and VFX. Contact Nitin Zihani Choudhary zihanikrikus@gmail.com
Little Thomas Writer Kaushal Oza Languages Hindi, English Thomas believes he will get a little brother if his parents kiss. “It’s a heart-warming family comedy about a boy who attempts to bring together his quarrelling parents,” says Kaushal Oza of his debut feature. He has previously won two National Film Awards, including best debut director
of a short film for Vaishnav Jan Toh in 2010, while Afterglow took best short film on family values in 2013. Contact Kaushal Oza rebel4akosh@gmail.com
Malli Writer Mrudhula Sridharan Language Tamil Malli is a deaf and mute girl who is dragged into a journey across the Indian subcontinent, meeting unusual people in unexpected situations, with only a puppy by her side. “Through Malli’s observant eyes, we view the harsh realities of lost children in India,” says writer-director Mrudhula Sridharan of her debut screenplay. Contact Mrudhula Sridharan mrudhula.s@gmail.com
Seed Writer Sneha Nair Languages Hindi, Marathi
Seed is about a boy who unknowingly sows a money plant that becomes an obsession for his village. “It takes old fables like Jack And The Beanstalk and The Goose That Laid The Golden Eggs and sets them in a modern-day village to see how an act of magic unsettles a realistic setting,” says writer-director Sneha Nair, a former journalist, of her first feature-length script. Contact Sneha Nair nsneha2610@gmail.com
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HAOBAM PABAN KUMAR INTERVIEW
The turning tide Imphal-based director Haobam Paban Kumar tells Liz Shackleton about his award-winning narrative debut Lady Of The Lake and the state of film-making in north-east India
Lady Of The Lake
T
he cinema of north-east India may not have the highest international profile, but a growing number of films from states such as Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh are making their mark at film festivals in India and beyond. Most recently, Haobam Paban Kumar’s Lady Of The Lake received its world premiere in the New Currents competition at October’s Busan International Film Festival, and scooped the Golden Gateway Award in the India Gold competition at Mumbai Film Festival. Also produced by Kumar through his Imphal-based Oli Pictures, the Manipurilanguage film is travelling the festival circuit after being selected for the Workin-Progress Lab at Film Bazaar 2015. Set on Manipur’s Loktak Lake, the story follows the real-life plight of the local fishermen, who are being driven by local authorities from their homes on the floating biomass that covers the lake. One of the fishermen, who is suffering almost catatonic depression at the prospect of losing his home, finds a gun, which he believes could be the answer to all his problems. However, nightly visits from a mysterious woman convince him to reconsider his plans.
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‘There are many stories to tell about Manipur and as filmmakers we’ve always wanted to bring them to the outside world’ Haobam Paban Kumar
All the actors in the film are real-life fishermen, who Kumar first worked with on award-winning documentary Floating Life (Phum Shang). “I’ve always wanted to work with non-professional actors, but thought I should get to know them better by shooting a documentary before the feature,” he explains. “This also made them more comfortable with the camera.” While the documentary focuses on the fishermen and their clashes with police, the narrative feature brings in supernatural elements and the story of the gun. “When I started thinking about making fiction films, there were guns everywhere in Manipur,” Kumar remembers. “It’s changed a bit now the government is putting more emphasis on development, but everyone still forgets that guns instil further anxiety and mistrust among us. We need to look back on our cultural values, and if we can revive those values, perhaps we can propagate a society based on tolerance and trust.” Kumar’s previous films have also examined aspects of life in Manipur, a state that has been rocked by clashes between insurgents and the government since Indian Independence in 1947.
A graduate of Kolkata’s Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute, in 2006 he made his first documentary, AFSPA, 1958, about the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act. It won awards at festivals in Mumbai, Kerala, Egypt’s Ismailia and Pakistan’s Kara. More recent credits include Mr. India (2009), about an HIV-positive body builder, and Ruptured Spring (2012), about child soldiers. Three of his films — AFSPA, 1958, Mr. India and Floating Life — have won National Film Awards in India, while Floating Life also scooped the best documentary prize at Kolkata International Film Festival in 2015. Kumar says all of his films, including Lady Of The Lake, have been made with the help of friends and former filmschool classmates, who have offered their time, skills and resources. Floating Life also secured funding from the films division of India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, despite its sensitive subject matter. “I see myself as a storyteller, rather than an activist, which probably helps when it comes to funding,” he says. “There are many stories to tell about Manipur and as film-makers we’ve always wanted to bring them to the outside world.”
Shrinking screen count Thanks to the emergence of digital technology, Manipur has seen a big increase in film production in recent years, although many films simply attempt to fill the gap left by Bollywood, which has been banned in the state since 2000. Kumar laments the lack of cinemas in Imphal — “we only have one now, compared to a dozen in 2000” — but is encouraged by the recent opening of the Manipur State Film and Television Institute, headed by his former film-school mentor Nilotpal Majumdar. “He will make a huge difference. He was instrumental in raising the standards of documentary film-making in India.” In his second narrative feature, Joseph’s Son, which has been selected for the Co-production Market of this year’s Film Bazaar, Kumar aims to explore one of the biggest issues affecting Manipur — the concept of ethnic identity in a state that is home to around 30 different tribes and languages. “This is something new for Indian cinema — we don’t usually discuss ethnic divides because, largely in this country, we have issues s that are religion-based,” Kumar says. n
Screen International at Film Bazaar November 21, 2016 15