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The 25th anniversary edition of the New York Indian Film Festival — one of the nation’s leading showcases of independent Indian cinema — unspools at New York’s Angelika through Sunday, June 22.

Officially opening Friday, June 20 with Raam Reddy’s 2024 Berlinale selection “The Fable,” the festival includes Anurag Kashyap’s intense Hindi-language thriller “Kennedy” as the Centerpiece on June 21. Kashyap will also host a master class on the challenges facing Bollywood and the future of independent cinema in India.

There’s also a tribute to late, great Indian filmmaker Shyam Benegal, with a 4K restoration of his 1976 landmark “Manthan,” about India’s White Revolution and revived by the Film Heritage Foundation.

As part of a program of films honoring master storytellers, the New York Indian Film Festival will also screen Dev Benegal’s 2024 short for The Metropolitan Museum of Art, “An Arrested Moment.” The film explores Oscar-winning director James Ivory’s...

The New York Indian Film Festival (Nyiff) is rolling out the red carpet for its silver jubilee with a program that bridges cinematic generations, connecting Oscar-winner James Ivory’s enduring fascination with India to contemporary star power led by Manoj Bajpayee in the festival’s opening night selection.

Set to run June 20-22 at Manhattan’s Village East by Angelika, Nyiff’s milestone 25th edition will spotlight “An Arrested Moment,” a short documentary from The Metropolitan Museum of Art directed by Dev Benegal that explores Ivory’s long-standing relationship with Indian art and culture.

The festival kicks off with the East Coast premiere of “The Fable,” starring acclaimed actor Manoj Bajpayee alongside Priyanka Bose and Deepak Dobriyal. Directed by Raam Reddy, whose debut “Thithi” captured the Golden Leopard at Locarno, the film debuted at the 2024 Berlinale.

This year’s lineup reflects both reverence for cinema’s past and excitement for its future.

Subhash K Jha, in this installment of Thus day that Year, revisits Aparna Sen’s The Japanese Wife as it touches 15 years since release.

This story of a long-distance ‘marriage’ between a Bengali bhadra-lok from rural Bengal, Snehamoy (Rahul Bose), and his Japanese pen-pal Miyage (Chigusa Takaku), suffers from an incurable disease known as Inherent Silliness. Based on a true story by Kunal Basu, this is the ultimate non-romance between two people who thoroughly deserve each other.

They’re both so annoying and outdated in their naivete, you see! The couple married to each other for over 15 years never meets and barely speaks to each other on the phone a few times. When Miyage falls ill in Japan, Snehamoy goes to the doctor in Kolkata with her medical reports. The doctor’s expression when he hears why the patient can’t come personally to be examined is exactly the way...

A documentary on revered filmmaker James Ivory is part of an eclectic slate from Min(d) Studio, New York, it was revealed on the sidelines of Singapore’s Asia TV Forum and Market.

The boutique studio, the brainchild of Dev Benegal (New York City), Maya Patel (London and Hong Kong), Neeraj Jain (Los Angeles), came together during the pandemic with a shared vision to tell stories about people and cultures that are often unheard and unseen. Benegal is the celebrated director of “English, August,” “Split Wide Open” and “Road, Movie.”

The slate kicks off with “Ink & Ivory,” a film on director James Ivory (one half of the famed Merchant-Ivory partnership and adapted screenplay Oscar winner for “Call Me By Your Name”) and his vision for an exhibition of works selected by him at The Metropolitan Museum, New York, scheduled for summer 2024.

Feature “Further to Fly,” from a short story by Meera Nair,...

The projects will be pitched at South Asia’s largest film market.

India’s Film Bazaar market has revealed the 20 projects selected for this year’s Co-Production Market.

The invited titles originate from 11 countries and will be pitched to producers, distributors, festival programmers, financiers and sales agents at Goa’s Marriott Resort from November 20-24.

The line-up includes projects from India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the US, UK, Singapore, Germany, France, Poland, Luxembourg and Israel.

Scroll down for full list of projects

Titles include The Distant Near, directed by UK-based Polish director Rafael Kapelinski who won a Crystal Bear at the...

India’s Film Bazaar, South Asia’s largest film market, has selected a range of projects from around the world for its annual co-production market.

The 20 selected projects are from 11 countries, most are already structured as co-productions, and they are all South Asian-themed. From Israel, the Hebrew-language “Raju” by Dror Sabo (“Dead End”), will be produced by Lee Yardeni for My TV Productions (“Nevelot”). Rafael Kapelinski, director of Berlinale winner “Butterfly Kisses,” is at the market with English, German and Hindi-language Germany-India-France-Poland-u.K. co-production “The Distant Near,” produced by Katharina Suckale for Bombay Berlin Film Production (“Loev”).

Hindi-language Germany-Luxembourg-France co-production “Kohinoor,” by Udita Bhargava (Berlinale selection “Dust”), will be produced by Martin Lehwald for Schiwago Film (Berlinale winner “Styx”). Fresh off Busan’s Asian Project Market, feature debutant Aakash Chhabra’s Hindi-language “I’ll Smile in September” will be produced by Sanjay Gulati for India’s Crawling Angel Films and...

Drama will explore gay relationships as well as connections between Israel and Germany.

Berlin-based Films Boutique is to handle international sales on the Israeli-born film editor Ofir Raul Graizer’s directorial debut The Cakemaker to be produced by Mathias Schwerbrock’s Film Base Berlin with Israel’s Laila Films.

Schwerbrock told ScreenDaily that the film is planned to go into production this November/December with four days shooting in Berlin and up to two weeks in Jerusalem.

Graizer’s screenplay centres on a young Berliner – a cakemaker by profession – who travels to Israel after the sudden death of his architect lover to learn more about his family background where he begins a relationship with the man’s widow.

“It is an intimate portrait of gay relationships, but also shows the possibility of developing a second relationship,” Schwerbrock explained. “The film also addresses the relationship between Israel and Germany.”

Graizer, who participated in the Nipkow Programm residency in Berlin...

Drama will explore gay relationships as well as connections between Israel and Germany.

Berlin-based Films Boutique is to handle international sales on the Israeli-born film editor Ofir Raul Graizer’s directorial debut The Cakemaker to be produced by Mathias Schwerbrock’s Film Base Berlin with Israel’s Laila Films.

Schwerbrock told ScreenDaily that the film is planned to go into production this November/December with four days shooting in Berlin and up to two weeks in Jerusalem.

Graizer’s screenplay centres on a young Berliner – a cakemaker by profession – who travels to Israel after the sudden death of his architect lover to learn more about his family background where he begins a relationship with the man’s widow.

“It is an intimate portrait of gay relationships, but also shows the possibility of developing a second relationship,” Schwerbrock explained. “The film also addresses the relationship between Israel and Germany.”

Graizer, who participated in the Nipkow Programm residency in Berlin...

What is it about Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani's Excel Entertainment that puts off Saif Ali Khan and his begum Kareena Kapoor Khan?

Saif has not done a film with Excel since Dil Chahta Hai in 2001. In 2008, Farhan offered Saif a film called Voice From The Sky. However, they disagreed in the remuneration and the film never got made.

Now, after 7 years, Excel offered Saif Ali Khan another film, Reema Kagti's Mr. Chaloo. Saif seemed very excited, as he often seems about many assignments. Then, he lost interest because they didn't agree on price. This loss of interest, says a producer who has been a victim, is also typical of Saif.

One hopes for the talented Reema Kagti's sake that a replacement hero is found very soon.

Kareena Kapoor, too had a fair share of almost-done-it projects with Farhan and Ritesh. Except for a cameo in Zoya Akhtar's Luck By Chance,...

Many years ago director Dev Benegal made Split Wide Open with Rahul Bose, a film about water scarcity in Mumbai. When Shekhar Kapoor announced Paani for the first time 10 years ago, Dev Benegal cried foul regarding his film's subject being suspiciously similar to what Shekhar proposed. Now when Shekhar Kapur has begun prepping for Paani with Sushant Singh Rajput, another filmmaker has crept up from behind with a film that sounds like a precursor to Paani. National award winning director Nila Madhab Panda's Kaun Kitne Paani Mein, funded by One Drop, a Canadian no-profit organization devoted to providing drinking water the world over, seems to share uncanny resemblances to Shekhar's Paani. While Kaun Kitne Paani Mein is set in two parts of a village in Odissa named Upri and Bairi where water is a constant source of friction, Shekhar Kapur's Paani will unfold in a futuristic city divided...

Qissa director Anup Singh’s upcoming project Mantra – The Song of Scorpions and Dev Benegal’s next project Dead, End or: How I Learnt to Stop Living and Love Being Officially Dead are part of the ongoing No Borders International Co-production market organized as part of Ifp’s Independent Film Week in New York from September 14-18.

The premier American market has selected 38 projects from all over the world.

Mantra – The Song of Scorpions is written and directed by Anup Singh and produced by Saskia Vischer. The film revolves around twenty-three year old Nooran, who is a singer, a scorpion healer and a medicine woman. Living a free-spirited, independent life, Nooran suffers a calculated, violent attack that sets her on a mystical journey to avenge her and find the song that will heal her.

The project is also selected for the upcoming Asian Project Market in Busan.

Dead, End or:...

After Lakshya, Amitabh Bachchan will be teaming up with Farhan Akhtar once again for their next but this time around, unlike their previous venture, Farhan will be seen sharing screen space with the legendary star. The film in question has been titled Do and the film will also have Aditi Rao Hydari playing the female lead.

Prior to this, it was Kareena Kapoor who was approached for the role. In fact, then, Farhan Akhtar was supposedly doing yet another film with Kareena which was Dev Benegal's Bombay Samurai. However, it seems that the deal did not work out and later, Aditi's name was announced as the leading lady. While Aditi Rao Hydari has worked with Abhishek Bachchan previously in Delhi 6, this will be the first time that she will be sharing screen space with Amitabh Bachchan and Farhan Akhtar.

Do is said to be an intense emotional drama which...

Ifp announced its 2014 slate of 133 new films in development and works in progress selected for its esteemed Project Forum at Independent Film Week. This one-of-a-kind event brings the international film and media community to New York City to advance new projects by nurturing the work of both emerging and established independent artists and filmmakers. Through the Project Forum, creatives connect with financiers, executives, influencers and decision-makers in film, television, new media and cross-platform storytelling that can help them complete their latest works and connect with audiences. Under the curatorial leadership of Deputy Director/Head of Programming Amy Dotson & Senior Director of Programming Milton Tabbot, this one-of-a-kind event takes place September 14-18, 2014 at Lincoln Center supporting bold new content from a wide variety of domestic and international artists.

“As we set to embark on our 36th Independent Film Week, we are impressed by the outstanding slate of both U.S. and international projects selected for this year’s Project Forum,” said Joana Vicente, Executive Director of Ifp. “We know that the industry will be as excited as we are with the accomplished storytellers and their diverse and boundary pushing films.”

Featured works at the 2014 Independent Film Week include filmmakers and content creators from a variety of backgrounds and experiences. From documentarians Tony Gerber ("Full Battle Rattle"), Pamela Yates ("Granito: How To Nail A Dictator"), and Penny Lane ("Our Nixon") to Michelangelo Frammartino ("Quattro Volte") and Alexis Dos Santos ("Unmade Beds"), as well as new work from critically acclaimed artists and directors Aurora Guerrero ("Mosquita y Mari"), Barry Jenkins ("Medicine for Melancholy"), Travis Matthews ("Interior. Leather. Bar") and Yen Tan ("Pit Stop").

Independent Film Week brings the international film and media community to New York City to advance new documentary and narrative works-in-progress and support the future of storytelling. The program nurtures the work of both emerging and established independent artists and filmmakers through the facilitation of over 3,500+ custom, one-to-one meetings with the financiers, executives, influencers and decision-makers in film, television, new media and cross-platform storytelling that can help them complete their latest works and connect with audiences. In recent years, it has also played a vital role in launching the first films of many of today’s rising stars on the independent scene including Rama Burshtein ("Fill The Void"), Derek Cianfrance ("Blue Valentine"), Marshall Curry ("If A Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth LIberation Front"), Laura Poitras ("The Oath"), Denis Villeneuve ("Incendies") and Benh Zeitlin ("Beasts of the Southern Wild").

For the full 2014 Project Forum slate visit Here

New For 2014

Evenly split between documentary and narrative features, selected projects hail from throughout the U.S., Europe and Canada, as well Africa, Asia, South America, and the Middle East. New this year, Ifp will be including web series in it programming, as well as spotlighting Latin & Central American artists and content with 15 projects featured across all programs in the Forum.

In a joint effort to recognize the importance of career and creative sustainability, Ifp and Durga Entertainment have partnered on a new $20,000 filmmaker grant for an alumnus of Ifp. The grant is intended for active, working filmmakers who are also balancing a filmmaking career with parenting. The grant provides a $20,000 unrestricted prize to encourage the recipient to continue on her or his career path of making quality independent films. American directors or screenwriters working in narrative film who have participated in the Ifp Filmmaker Labs or Ifp Independent Film Week's Emerging Storytellers or No-Borders International Co-Production market are encouraged to apply by the deadline of August 8, 2014.

Narrative Feature Highlights

Narrative features and webseries in Rbc’s Emerging Storytellers and No Borders International Co-Production Market sections highlight new work from top emerging and established creative visionaries on the U.S. and international independent scene.

This year’s slate includes new feature scripts featuring directors Dev Benegal ("Road, Movie"), Alexis Dos Santos ("Unmade Beds"), Jason Cortlund and Julia Halperin ("Now, Forager"), Michelangelo Frammartino ("Le Quattro Volte"),Terry George ("Hotel Rwanda"), Rashaad Ernesto Green ("Gun Hill Road"), Aurora Guerrero ("Mosquita Y Mari"), Barry Jenkins ("Medicine for Melancholy"),Alison Klayman ("Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry"), Travis Mathews ("Interior. Leather Bar"), Stacie Passon ("Concussion"), Yen Tan ("Pit Stop"), as well as up-an-coming actor/directors Karrie Crouse ("Land Ho!") and Peter Vack ("Fort Tilden""I Believe in Unicorns").

Producers and executive producers of note attached to participating projects include Jennifer Dubin and Cora Olson ("Good Dick"), Jonathan Duffy and Kelly Williams ("Hellion"),Laura Heberton ("Gayby"), Dan Janvey ("Beasts of the Southern Wild"), Kishori Rajan ("Gimme the Loot"), Adele Romanski ("The Myth of the American Sleepover"), Kim Sherman ("A Teacher"), Susan Stover ("High Art"), and Alicia Van Couvering ("Tiny Furniture").

Web Storytellers Highlights

For the first time this year, Ifp presents a dedicated spotlight within the Rbc’s Emerging Storytellers program for creators developing episodic content for digital platforms. The inaugural slate for the Web Storytellers spotlight includes new works from filmmakers Desiree Akhavan ("Appropriate Behavior", HBO’s Girls), Calvin Reeder ("The Rambler"), and Gregory Bayne ("Person of Interest"), as well as producers Elisabeth Holm ("Obvious Child"), Susan Leber ( "Down to the Bone"), and Amanda Warman ("The Outs,"Whatever This Is"). Two of the series participating are currently in post-production, and will be making their online debut in the coming months – Rachel Morgan’s Middle Americans, starring Scott Thompson, Carlen Altman, and Alex Rennie, and Daniel Zimbler and Elisabeth Gray’s Understudies, starring Richard Kind and David Rasche. [p Spotlight On Documentaries Highlights

The documentary selection includes new work from seasoned non-fiction directors such as Emmy winners Robert Bahar andAlmudena Carracedo ("Made in La"), Pamela Yates ("Granito: How to Nail a Dictator"),Ramona Diaz ("Imelda," "Don’t Stop Believin’") Gini Reticker ("Pray the Devil Back to Hell") Tony Gerber ("Full Battle Rattle"); from producers such as Court 13’s Benh Zeitlin and Dan Janvey ("Beasts of the Southern Wild"), Liran Atzmor ("The Law in These Parts"), Tim Williams ("Once In A Lifetime") and Hilla Medalia ("Web Junkie"), and follow-up second features from recent doc world “breakouts”Steve Hoover ("Blood Brother") Penny Lane ("Our Nixon"), Michael Collins ("Give Up Tomorrow"), and Michael Nichols and Christopher Walker ("Flex is Kings").

Exciting new work from debut documentary directors previously known for fiction films include Alex Sichel ("All over Me") with her personal doc The Movie about Anna, Lisa Cortés (producer, "Precious") with "Mothership: The Untold Story of Women and Hip Hop," and Daniel Patrick Carbone ("Hide Your Smiling Faces") with Phantom Cowboys.

Sponsors

Independent Film Week’s Premier sponsors are Royal Bank of Canada (Rbc) and HBO. Gold sponsors are A&E IndieFilms and SAGIndie. Silver sponsors are Durga Entertainment, Eastman Kodak Company, National Film & Video Foundation of South Africa and Telefilm Canada. Official Independent Film Week Partner is Film Society of Lincoln Center. Independent Film Week is supported, in part, by funds provided by the Ford Foundation, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council for the Arts and Time Warner Foundation.

About Ifp

The Independent Filmmaker Project (Ifp) champions the future of storytelling by connecting artists with essential resources at all stages of development and distribution. The organization fosters a vibrant and sustainable independent storytelling community through its year-round programs, which include Independent Film Week, Filmmaker Magazine, the Gotham Independent Film Awards and the Made in NY Media Center by Ifp, a new incubator space developed with the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment. Ifp represents a growing network of 10,000 storytellers around the world, and plays a key role in developing 350 new feature and documentary works each year. During its 35-year history, Ifp has supported over 8,000 projects and offered resources to more than 20,000 filmmakers, including Debra Granik, Miranda July, Michael Moore, Dee Rees, and Benh Zeitlin. More info at www.ifp.org.

On the heels of the 39th edition of the Toronto Int. Film Festival (Sept 4-14), Ifp’s Independent Film Week is where a plethora of fiction, non-fiction and new this year, web-based series from the likes of Desiree Akhavan and Calvin Reeder find future coin. Sectioned off as projects at the very beginning of financing to those that are nearing completion, there happens to be tons of Sundance alumni in the names below. Among those that caught our attention we have Medicine for Melancholy‘s Barry Jenkins’ sophomore feature, produced by Bad Milo!‘s Adele Romanski, Moonlight is about “two Miami boys navigate the temptations of the drug trade and their burgeoning sexuality in this triptych drama about black queer youth”. Concussion‘s Stacie Passon digs into the thriller genre with Strange Things Started Happening. Produced by vet Mary Jane Skalski (Mysterious Skin), this is about “a woman who has...

The 18th Puchon International Film Festival (PiFan)’s Network of Asian Fantastic Films (Naff) wrapped tonight with top Bucheon Award going to Dev Benegal’s Indian project Dead, End Or: How I Learned To Stop Living And Love Being Officially Dead.

Jury head Michael Favelle said: “Dead, End may be seen as a surprising choice given that it’s not an immediately obvious, traditional fantastic film in the way fantastic film festivals are known for. It is, however, a brilliant satirical surrealist comedy of a place that no one has seen before.”

The comedy is about a man who is declared dead by a shady government official and fights along with other officially “dead” people to get back their “lives”.

Upon accepting his award with the KW15m ($14,790) cash prize, Benegal said of the PiFan/Naff experience: “It’s been just memorable. So I hope we can go back with this memory, and come back...

After Singham 2, Kareena Kapoor was supposedly going to join the cast of Shuddhi. Now, with her opting out of the film, Kareena might soon be seen opposite Farhan Akhtar. But this time around, we are not talking about the Dev Benegal film Bombay Samurai which is on hold, but about Bejoy Nambiar's next. Bejoy is currently in talks with Kareena Kapoor for his next starring Amitabh Bachchan and Farhan Akhtar. Though no formal announcement has been made, Kareena recently revealed that she liked the script but will make a decision once she wraps up the shoot of Singham 2. Commenting on the same, Bejoy says, "I cannot comment on this right now, but the film will be produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra, we will make an official announcement on the same, since we are still in talks for it." This yet to be titled film is slated to...

Mumbai, March 27: Filmmakers Satish Kaushik and Dev Benegal's "Dead, End" has been honoured with an award at the 12th Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum (Haf).

"Dead, End", which tells the story of a man who was declared dead on paper, was given the Network of Asian Fantastic Films Award in Hong Kong Wednesday.

"Dev Benegal and me packing bags to leave for Hong Kong airport after winning an award for our project 'Dead, End' in Hong Kong Film Festival," Kaushik tweeted Thursday.

The forum, that connects Asian filmmakers and their upcoming film projects with film financiers worldwide, was held from Monday to.

Dev Benegal’s feature-film project Dead, End won the Network of Asian Fantastic Films Award at the 12th Hong Kong – Asia Film Financing Forum (Haf) that concluded on 26 March, 2014 .

The award, presented by the Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival, comprises of a cash component of Us$2,700.

Dead, End is a black comedy, co-produced by Satish Kaushik and Dev Benegal, about Abhay who finds himself ‘officially dead’ one morning and pursues the Governor of Department (GoD), the only person who can reverse the death certificate. The film is currently in pre-production.

Benegal latest film Road, Movie (2009), starring Abhay Deol, Tannishtha Chatterjee and Satish Kaushik, had screened at international film festivals like Berlin, Toronto and Tribeca.

Dev Benegal’s Dead, End and Rakesh Sharma’s Malegaon: Tales from the Terror Trail were the two Indian projects selected for the 12th Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum (Haf).

Carrie Ng and Shirley Yung’s Angel Whispers won this year’s Haf award for a Hong Kong project at the close of the Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum (March 26), while Taiwan’s Private Eyes won the Haf award for a non-Hong Kong project.

Angel Whispers is a suspense thriller set in the red-light district of Sham Shui Po. Filmmaker and actress Ng will produce with Yung and Chan Pang-chun.

Chang Jung Chi’s Private Eyes is a detective mystery based on the bestselling novel written by Chi Wei Jan. Chang previously directed award-winning drama Touch Of The Light. The Haf awards both come with a cash award of $38,460 (Hk$300,000).

Meanwhile, the $12,820 ($100,000) Haf Script Development Fund, presented by Emperor Motion Pictures and the Hkiff Society, went to Taiwanese filmmaker Jack Shih’s animation feature project The Solitary Pier.

Love Is Speaking, from Shanghai-based director Shu Haolun, won the Haf/Fox Chinese Film Development Award.

Based on a story...

Carrie Ng and Shirley Yung’s Angel Whispers won this year’s Haf award for a Hong Kong project at the close of the Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum (March 26), while Taiwan’s Private Eyes won the Haf award for a non-Hong Kong project.

Angel Whispers is a suspense thriller set in the red-light district of Sham Shui Po. Filmmaker and actress Ng will produce with Yung and Chan Pang-chun. Chang Jung Chi’s Private Eyes is a detective mystery based on the bestselling novel written by Chi Wei Jan. Chang previously directed award-winning drama Touch Of The Light. The Haf awards both come with a cash award of $38,460 (Hk$300,000).

Meanwhile, the $12,820 ($100,000) Haf Script Development Fund, presented by Emperor Motion Pictures and the Hkiff Society, went to Taiwanese filmmaker Jack Shih’s animation feature project The Solitary Pier.

Love Is Speaking, from Shanghai-based director Shu Haolun, won the Haf/Fox Chinese Film Development Award. Based on a story...

Global hotties Eva Mendes and Eva Longoria are the fabulous faces of the Magnum ice-cream brand. Now it's Kareena Kapoor who is the ice cream's brand ambassador in India. On Sunday, Kareena shot her first ad for the ice cream. To ensure international standards, the entire team that shot the ads for the two enchanting Evas, Mendes and Longoria, was flown into Mumbai from New York for the Sunday ad. And to ensure that Kareena looked her international best her habitual stylist Manish Malhotra was set aside just this once. Instead young dynamic Tanya Ghavri who has been working sartorial miracles on Sonam Kapoor and Ilena D'Cruz was roped in to do Kareena's look for the ad. Taking a break from the very stylish ad-shoot on Sunday, Kareena said, "It's amazing to work with international brands and teams. Yes, I am shooting an ad with the crew that did the...

Dev Benegal’s Dead, End and Rakesh Sharma’s Malegaon: Tales from the Terror Trail are the two Indian projects selected for the 12th Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum (Haf). The 12th edition of Haf, a premier project market in Asia organized by the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society, selected 29 films from 11 countries.

Rakesh Sharma, a well known documentary filmmaker whose filmography includes multiple-award winning film Final Solution, has secured more than half the budget of his 150 minutes long documentary Malegaon: Tales from the Terror Trail which documents the rise of Hindu and Muslim identity politics post the Malegaon blast.

Dead, End is a black comedy, co-produced by Satish Kaushik and Dev Benegal, about Abhay who finds himself ‘officially dead’ one morning and pursues the Governor of Department (GoD), the only person who can reverse the death certificate.

Haf 2014 will be held from March 24-26, 2014 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Satish Kaushik and Dev Benegal's association during Road, Movie turned out to be a boon for these filmmakers, after which the two decided to script a movie based on a real story titled Dead End. And now, the script has been selected from 29 scripts across 11 countries by the Hong Kong Asia Film Forum for international collaboration. Satish Kaushik who is enthralled about this, said that the film is based on a real life story. "I have bought the rights for this film from the man who lives in Azamgad. The man had undergone a torture of 18 years trying to prove his existence after his family robbed him off his property and proved him dead." Satish, however, believes the reason behind this achievement should be attributed to Dev Benegal. "Dev wanted the world to know this story. And then, he built it up in his own way as he has...

Mumbai, Jan 31: Filmmakers Satish Kaushik and Dev Benegal's "Dead, End" has been selected amongst 29 scripts from 11 countries to be funded at the "Hongkong-Asia Film Financing Forum (Haf).

Kaushik took to Twitter to announce the news.

"Mine and Dev Benegal's script 'Dead, End' has been selected in Hongkong-Asia Film Financing Forum...29 scripts from 11 countries to be showcased," tweeted Kaushik.

"Investors, sales agents, producers and distributors from all over the world will attend Haf to fund these script for (the) international market," he further posted.

The film revolves around the story on.

The Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum (Haf) has unveiled this year’s line-up of 29 projects, including two from the Philippines’ Brillante Mendoza.

The line-up includes four projects under the third annual Haf/Fox Chinese Film Development Award, which aims to support scripts from up-and-coming Chinese filmmakers (see full line-up below).

Mendoza is bringing feature film project The Embroiderer, about undying love, along with documentary Gay Messiah, which questions religion and belief. The Philippines’ Jun Robles Lana also returns to Haf this year with his project Our Father, after winning the 2013 Haf award for Barber’s Tales.

Hong Kong filmmakers are also strongly represented in the line-up, with five projects, including comedian Lam Tze-chung’s Game and actress-turned-director Carrie Ng’s Angel Whispers.

Hong Kong projects also include Jason Kwan’s A Nail Clipper Romance, produced by acclaimed director Pang Ho-cheung; Philip Yung’s The Sea, produced by Jia Zhang-ke’s regular producer Chow Keung; and Simon Chung...

Mumbai, Jan 22: Actress Kareena Kapoor, who is excited about working with Farhan Akhtar in the film "Bombay Samurai," says it will be a very whacky one and she will be seen in a role unexpected from her.

"The director is from New York who has made slightly international cinema - Dev Benegal. So, it's a very interesting concept," the 33-year-old said here during the making of a green tea ad film.

"It's not a thriller, it's a very whacky film, something which my fans would not expect me to do," she added.

Benegal is known for films like "Road, Movie", "Split Wide Open" and "English August".

Kareena added.

2013 was an okay year for Kareena Kapoor as she featured in a decent runner Satyagraha followed by a box office and critical disappointment Gori Tere Pyaar Mein. On the other big ticket film, Shuddhi, was further delayed due to Hrithik Roshan's unavailability owing to his head injury.Meanwhile Kareena has moved on and is all excited about the new phase of her career that would see her pair up with Farhan Akhtar for a Dev Benegal film which, contrary to perceptions,...

Mumbai, Dec 18: With the signing of a film each with Dev Benegal and Rohit Shetty, actress Kareena Kapoor has embarked on a new phase in her career. She says she is now keen to create a balance in the nature of her films.

"As a commercial actress, I've done it all. Now I'd like to balance out the more massy stuff with something more unconventional. I would like to work with Aanand Rai, Sudhir Mishra, Dibakar Banerjee and Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, and I'm working towards it," Kareena said.

She has signed Benegal's "Bombay Samurai", which also features Farhan Akhtar. And she has taken up Shetty's "Singham 2", Projects with.

Mumbai, Dec 9: As an actor Farhan Akhtar, who also directs and produces movies, had a fabulous year with biopic "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag" and now he is looking forward to Dev Benegal's film with Kareena Kapoor and his sister Zoya's next directorial venture which he says has nothing to do with their off screen relationship.

"Let me take this opportunity to very clearly state that Zoya's film has nothing to do with our real life relationship. It is entirely a work of fiction," said Farhan about the content in Zoya's film.

He will start shooting for Benegal's film after "my forthcoming film 'Shaadi Ke Side Effects' releases".

So far he has acted in films like "Rock On!!", "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag" (Bmb), "Zindagi Na Milegi.

Dev Benegal's next film titled Bombay Samurai will feature a fresh pair of Farhan Akhtar and Kareena Kapoor for the first time. While the film has been drawing attention for its pairing, it is said to be a war thriller. The film will feature Kareena as an actress and Farhan will as a contract killer. However, the rest of the details like Farhan's role in the film are currently being kept under wraps. The film will also feature Satish Kaushik in a prominent role.

While speculations are on the rise about Farhan doing a role in Zoya's next, the actor recently revealed that he is indeed doing the film. Zoya's next will see Priyanka Chopra and Ranveer Singh playing the role of siblings as the film is based on the brother-sister relationship. Not divulging many details about his role in this family drama, Farhan recently said that he will be shooting the film along with Dev Benegal's Bombay Samurai but there won't be any overlap since his look in both the films are drastically different. Also putting an end to all the rumors about this film being based on his real life, Farhan cleared the air by stating that the film has nothing to do with his relationship with Zoya. This will be Farhan's third venture with sister Zoya after films like Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and Luck By Chance.

The gorgeous Kareena Kapoor-Khan's career seems to be heading into an exciting new level.

Phase 2 in Kareena Kapoor Khan's career begins now. Post-marriage she seemed to flounder in her choices with her half-hearted crusader's role in Prakash Jha's Satyagraha and the totally inane social activist's role in Gori Tere Pyaar Mein.

With Dev Benegal's film entitled Bombay Samurai, Kareena finally seems to have got her post-marriage formula right.

According to sources, the film is, "a crazy zany rollicking roller coaster ride with amazing twists and turns. There are 7-8 pivotal characters. But Kareena and Farhan preside over the show. They play a couple like no other seen before in our films. They are wacky and unpredictable. The two actors will have a ball playing their outgoing zestful characters."

A filmmaker who has been lamenting Kareena's recent choice of roles says, "It's good she's working with a...

Mumbai, Nov 30: Actress Kareena Kapoor's career seems to be heading to an exciting new level with Dev Benegal's film "Bombay Samurai".

Post-marriage, she seemed to flounder in her choices with her half-hearted crusader's role in Prakash Jha's "Satyagraha" and the totally inane social activist's role in "Gori Tere Pyaar Mein". With "Bombay Samurai", Kareena finally seems to have got her post-marriage formula right.

According to sources, the film is "a crazy zany rollicking roller coaster ride with amazing twists and turns. There are seven to eight pivotal characters. But Kareena and Farhan (Akhtar) preside over the show".

"They.

N Fdc Film Bazaar 2013 hosted a panel discussion on the ‘Role of Sales Agents’ as part of Knowledge Series. The panelists were: Bero Beyer, Producer and Film Consultant, Netherlands Film Fund; Luc Ntonga, Insomnia Worlds Sales; Bill Strauss, Sales Agent, Bgp Films and filmmaker Dev Benegal. The panel was moderated by Liz Shackleton, Asia Editor, Screen International.

Here are the takeaways from the discussion -

(L-r) Bero Beyer, Luc Ntonga, Liz Shackleton, Bill Strauss and Dev Benegal

“Indian filmmakers mostly look to sell their film in India or to the Indian diaspora market”, said Dev Benegal, summing up the relation between Indian filmmakers and sales agents.

He said that the filmmakers / producers recover their money domestically and hence do not take steps to enter the international market. Most Indian filmmakers / producers approach distributors instead of sales agents to sell their films.

According to Luc Ntonga, there are many benefits in going the sales agent route.

Rajesh Jala’s The Spark was awarded the $16,000 (Rs1m) Incredible India award at the close of Film Bazaar (Nov 20-24), while Kanu Behl’s Titli took the Prasad Digital Intermediate prize.

The Spark, which was selected for Film Bazaar’s Screenwriters’ Lab, tells the story of a riot victim who has a plan to take revenge, but is indecisive about taking action. Jala previously directed award-winning documentary Children Of The Pyre.

Produced by Dibakar Banerjee with backing from Yash Raj Films, Titli revolves around the volatile relationship between two brothers. Currently in post-production, the film was selected for Film Bazaar’s Work-in-Progress Lab. Behl has worked as assistant and co-writer on Banerjee’s previous features.

More than 950 delegates from 35 countries attended this year’s Film Bazaar, compared to 712 from 32 countries in 2012. International visitors included four Cannes heavyweights – Thierry Fremaux, Christian Jeune, Critics Week’s Charles Tesson and Directors’ Fortnight’s Edouard Waintrop – along with delegations from Screen...

Sales agents urged Indian producers to pay more attention to the materials they require to handle a film’s international distribution at a Film Bazaar seminar on The Role Of A Sales Agent.

“You need a good poster, a good trailer and you need to be thinking about international versions and rights clearance,” said Luc Ntonga, general director of Paris-based sales agent Insomnia World Sales.

Talking about his last film, Road, Movie, Indian filmmaker Dev Benegal said: “The list of deliverables we received from our sales agent [Fortissimo Films] was quite daunting. It was a good job we weren’t doing post-production in India because local studios can’t deal with those requests.”

However, the speakers agreed that deliverables are worth the extra effort because a sales agent can protect producers in international markets and ensure they get the best deals. “You could deal directly with distributors, but they have to go back to the same sales agent year after...

V arenya is one of the twenty-three films selected for the co- production market of Film Bazaar 2013. We spoke to the director Shripriya Mahesh:

Shripriya Mahesh

Tell us about your project. What language will it be in?

Varenya is about a South Indian Hindu priest who accepts a young apprentice, and is forced to question the doctrines of his religion.

The film is in Tamil and will be shot entirely on location in Madurai.

Varenya was selected for Ifp’s Emerging Storytellers section and was presented at Independent Film Week. It was also selected by Film Independent for the Screenwriting Lab. Both Ifp and Film Independent are supporters of the film.

Which stage of development is it in currently?

We are currently in development and are focused on fundraising. We are just beginning the casting process. For this film, we are looking for a mix of trained actors and non-actors from the world.

New pairings have become the latest trend of Bollywood and Farhan Akhtar is one lucky man who gets a new leading lady every time he faces the camera. After being paired with some talented actresses of Bollywood like Deepika Padukone and Vidya Balan, Farhan will now be paired opposite Kareena Kapoor Khan. The film which is still in the initial stages of pre-production is said to be directed by Dev Benegal and involves some romance brewing between the leads. However, the other details of the film are yet to be finalized. The yet to be titled project is slated to go floor in March 2014.

Leave it to Siddhartha Jain to come up with an out of the box title for his films. Post his film titles like Kill The Rapist, Bloody Veer and Disco Valley, Jain's next has been titled Sa'xxx' Ki Dukaan. The oddly titled film revolves around a sex toy shop in the heart of a newly developed industrial city. It is said to be an adult-youth comedy, set in the world of adult toys, with a tagline that goes - Toys, Boys & Super-Lingam. While the cast of the film is yet to be decided, the film will be directed by Paran Bawa who has earlier assisted Rakesh Omprakash Mehra, Sanjay Gupta and Dev Benegal.

New Delhi, April 26: Director Dev Benegal, who has won awards for "English August" and "Road Movie", has been chosen as a jury member for the Sci-Fi-London 48 Hour Film Challenge 2013.

The 48 Hour Film Challenge is a part of Sci-Fi-London Film Festival 2013. The competition will start from April 30 and go on till May 6.

"Wow. It's an honour to be a part of such a distinguished jury. 'Pan's Labyrinth' is one of my favourite films and my son and I are great fans of Benedict Cumberbatch," Benegal said in a statement.

Other members of the Jury include actor Benedict Cumberbatch and Mexican director Guillermo Del Toro.

Ians...

The 12th edition of the Marrakech International Film Festival has organised a special section “Hindi Mood for Marrakech” this year to mark the centenary year of Indian cinema. Some of the Hindi films to be screened are Jab Tak Hai Jaan, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Barfi!, English Vinglish, Don and Don 2.

An outdoor screening of selected films from Bollywood will be organised at the Jemaa el Fna square, each evening of the festival.

A delegation of Indian actors, directors and producers, lead by Amitabh Bachchan has been invited to attend a tribute ceremony on Saturday, December 1, 2012.

The festival will run from 30th November – 8th December, 2012.

Films to be screened under ‘Hindi Mood for Marrakech’:

Yash Chopra:

Jab Tak Hai Jaan

Amitabh Bachchan | Actor

Black by Sanjay Leela Bhansali

Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (Happiness & Tears) by Karan Johar

Agneepath by Mukul Anand

Silsila by Yash Chopra

Deewar by...

A n Open Forum was held on the 4th day of the 14th Mumbai Film Festival to discuss film preservation and restoration. On the panel were Schawn Belston, Senior Vice President and Executive Director of Film Preservation, Twentieth Century Fox; Margaret Bodde, Executive Director, The Film Foundation; Michael Pogorzelski, Director, Academy Film Archive; Kimball Thurston Reliance Media Works, La, Shivendra Dungarpur, Filmmaker and David Pozzi, Cineteca Bologna.

The discussion was moderated by Ian Birnie, a noted film historian. Amid discussions on the best way to go about preserving and restoring the films from the past and present, the forum was replete with the screening of clippings from the films that have been restored.

Filmmaker Dev Benegal and P.K. Nair, founder-director of National Film Archive of India, Pune were also present for the forum.

Michael Pogorzelski shared how the idea of restoring films started at the Academy. Satyajit Ray was...

The 14th Mumbai Film Festival will host a workshop on pitching, screenwriting and script development. The two day workshop will run on 17th and 18th October, 2012 from 10:30am to 5pm. The workshop will be conducted by David Magee and Claire Dobbin.

David Magee has written the screenplay for films like Finding Neveland and Life of Pi. Presently he serves as the Jane and Terry Semel Chair in Screenwriting at Emerson College.

Claire Dobbin is an Austrailian script advisor cum editor and works with development agencies in Austrailia, New Zealand, Norway, Adu Dhabi, Yemen, UK and France.

Madhu Mantena, Guneet Monga and Dev Benegal would also be present for the workshop.

Registration for the workshop closes on 10th October. Fees for student is Rs 1,500 with valid ID proof and for others is Rs 2,000. Registration can be done at Mami office. See here for online registration.

The 12th Annual New York Indian Film Festival (Nyiff), presented by the Indo-American Arts Council announced the nominations for various categories of awards.

The festival will be held from May 23 to 27 at the Tribeca Cinemas in Lower Manhattan.

Nyiff will more than 50 features, documentaries, and short films over a span of five days.

Best Film

Nominees:

Aadukalam Chitrangada Chittagong Gangs of Wasseypur Gattu Shala Best Documentary Film

Nominees:

Big in Bollywood Inshallah Football Kumare Saving Face Transgenders: Pakistan’s Open Secret Best Screenplay

Nominees:

Pooja Desai, Anvita Dutt, Rajesh Narasimhan, Ashish Patil (Mujshe Fraaandship Karoge) Avinash Deshpande (Shala) Rituparno Ghosh (Chitrangada) Vetri Maaran (Aadukalam) Bedabrata Pain, Shonali Bose (Chittagong) Best Director

Nominees:

Sujay Dahake (Shala) Rituparno Ghosh (Chitrangada) Anurag Kashyap (Gangs of Wasseypur) Vetri Maaran ( Aadukalam) Prashant Nair (Delhi in a Day) Bedabrata Pain (Chittagong) Best Young Actor

Nominees:

Sihle Dlamini (Lucky) Dilzad Hiwale (Bubble Gum) Dilzad Hiwale (Chittagong) Ashuman...

An Open Forum was held on ‘The state of screen writing today’ on Day 7 of the 13th Mumbai Film Festival. The panel comprised Vinay Shukla, Saurabh Shukla, Abbas Tyrewala, Sagar Ballary, Dev Benegal and Atul Tiwari. The discussion was moderated by Atul Tiwari, who wrote dialogues for films like Droh Kaal and Mission Kashmir.

Vinay Shukla, writer-director who made Godmother (National Award for Best Feature Film 1999) blamed producers for the sorry state of screenwriting in India today. “Though every producer will tell you that script is the backbone of the film, they want something that is tried and tested. They do not encourage fresh talent. So writers are afraid to write something new.” He also pointed out that Hindi films had become formulaic 1960s onwards.

Dev Benegal, who is known for films like English, August (National Award for Best Film in English 1995) and Split Wide Open (Venice International Film Festival...

Click above for more event stills The 7th day of Mumbai Film Festival began with a lot of gusto. The day was marked with the anticipation, the arrival of Olivia Harrison (Wife of George Harrison- Beatles), producer of George Harrison: Living In The Material World which was screened this evening and the Master Class on advertising by Hugh Hudson. Mithun Chakraborty, Anurag Basu, Prahlad Kakkar, Bharat Dabholkar, Abbas Tyrewala, Harsh Chhaya, Sagar Ballary, Saurabh Shukla, Dev Benegal, Tanya Abrol (Chak De India Fame) were spotted at the festival venue today. The Open Forum discussion for the day was on 'The state of screen writing today…' and the panel of guests included Vinay Shukla, Saurabh Shukla, Abbas Tyrewala, Sagar Ballary, Dev Benegal and Atul Tiwari. Speaking on the state of writers, Vinay Shukla said, "Every producer says script is the backbone of a movie, yet they all want what has already been done before.

Click above for more event stills The 7th day of Mumbai Film Festival began with a lot of gusto. The day was marked with the anticipation, the arrival of Olivia Harrison (Wife of George Harrison- Beatles), producer of George Harrison: Living In The Material World which was screened this evening and the Master Class on advertising by Hugh Hudson. Mithun Chakraborty, Anurag Basu, Prahlad Kakkar, Bharat Dabholkar, Abbas Tyrewala, Harsh Chhaya, Sagar Ballary, Saurabh Shukla, Dev Benegal, Tanya Abrol (Chak De India Fame) were spotted at the festival venue today. The Open Forum discussion for the day was on 'The state of screen writing today…' and the panel of guests included Vinay Shukla, Saurabh Shukla, Abbas Tyrewala, Sagar Ballary, Dev Benegal and Atul Tiwari. Speaking on the state of writers, Vinay Shukla said, "Every producer says script is the backbone of a movie, yet they all want what has already been done before.

A panel discussion on the relevance of film script writers was held on seventh day of Mami film festival at Cinemax, Versova. Script writer Abbas Tyerwala, Saurabh Shukla, Dev Benegal and film director Sangar Bellary were the part of the discussion.

The panel opened with the strong point rising whether is their dearth of script writers in the showbiz. Dev Benegal says, “There is dearth of talent. Besides we don’t encourage new talents. In a way we write the same script in different level of it’s film ...

Screenwriting is considered to be the backbone of a film. It is also believed that it is an art form that is in decline in India. Or is it? An open forum held at the ongoing Mumbai Film Festival to discuss the same saw some interesting fireworks..Sorry, but I am not optimistic at all. I think we are f*****. There.s no dearth of writers in India, but there.s a great lack of writing that has the life and smell of this nation,. said celebrated screenwriter Abbas Tyrewala.He dug into the root of this decline. .Before the 60s, we were telling stories. Major stars worked with the films instead of merely acting in it. Problem started during the Bachchan era. Amitabh Bachchan.s persona started towering over everything. Suddenly it was okay to not have a story as long as you had him since people were in awe of him.

The traveling cinemas of Salim, Hanif and Feroz open up a world of imagination for children; make it more affordable to them, which the projectionists keep alive in part to make their own livelihood but in part to feed that hunger for creating the world for children, something we have assigned toys to do.

Dev Benegal’s (2009) Road, Movie is only the latest addition to a number of films that have been produced over the last decade and a half around the world. For some reasons, there is a renewed focus on a practice that has been in existence since the beginning of cinema, now being revived in all corners of the world. As one takes a panoramic look at these films, it is clear that there are quite a few from India. This does not seem to be only a numerical advantage but also an indication of how traveling...