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The first edition of India’s Cinevesture International Film Festival (Ciff) has revealed 20 projects that will participate in its accompanying market.

Comprising 17 features and three series, several of the projects are by creators who have found acclaim both internationally and in South Asia.

From Bangladeshi auteur Mostofa Sarwar Farooki (Busan title “Something Like an Autobiography”) comes Hindi and English-language unconventional romance “To Hell With Love.” Alankrita Srivasttava (Tokyo winner “Lipstick Under My Burkha”) has English and Hindi-language drama “Girls of Orlem,” an adaptation of Lindsay Pereira’s bestselling novel “Gods and Ends.” Gurvinder Singh is prepping Hindi, Punjabi and English-language historical thriller series “The Trial.”

“#Jack” is a thriller film from Bhaskar Hazarika (Tribeca selection “Aamis”), while “Chhaal” (“The Skin”) by Don Palathara (Rotterdam title “Family”) is a folk thriller adapted from a story by Vijayan Detha. “Encounter” by Anurag Singh (the Jatt and Juliet franchise) is a drama-thriller in...

The 17th annual Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles is nearly upon us and the feature and short film lineups have been announced. Opening on April 11th with a special screening of Sriram Raghavan's stellar Andhadhun and tribute to leading lady Tabu, Iffla continues through the 14th with a number of fantastic films and events. The festival closes with the world premiere of Megha Ramaswamy's The Odds and a screening of Tiff alum and acclaimed documentary Reason by Anand Patwardhan I can definitely recommend the above-mentioned Andhadhun, Slamdance award-winner Cat Sticks, Aditya Vikram Sengupta's Bengali Rotterdam alum Jonaki, Dar Gai's Nambau Dev In Search of Silence, and the shorts Bebaak by Shazia Iqbal and Maya by Vikas Chandra. I'm very much looking forward to digging...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Actors Atul Srivastava and Alka Kaushal have been roped in for comedy drama series "Mannphodganj".

Sameer Nair-led Applause Entertainment, the content studio of the Aditya Birla Group, along with DJ's A Creative Unit is working on the series which is an adaptation of the book "Band Baaja Boys" by Rachna Singh, read a statement.

The story revolves around a 22-year-old girl Binny Bajpai, to be played by model Pranati Rai Prakash, who challenges the customs and traditions in Mannphodganj.?

Vikas Chandra is directing the series from a screenplay by Amitosh Nagpal. It also stars Anurag Sinha, Farmaan Khan, Abhinav Anand, Kritika, Aru Krishank and Samar Vermani.

"'Mannphodganj' is a light-hearted comedy. I always wanted to direct a show which the audience can relate to... I am thrilled to work with such outstanding cast and can't wait to for the audiences to watch it," Chandra said.

To this, showrunner Tony Singh...

In a journey spanning only ten months on digital, Y-Films, India’s premiere youth entertainment studio, has been hailed as a trailblazer by both critics and fans. Over just four super hit series, one short film anthology and one pop music group, Y-Films has amassed over 65 million views, almost 5 Lac subscribers, a Cannes Grand Prix Glass Lion Award as well as a Webby Award, amongst many other laurels. The youth films wing of Yash Raj Films, Y-Films has always picked content that’s both entertaining and also social relevant. Be it sex education with Sex Chat with Pappu & Papa, Lgbt rights with the 6-Pack Band, gender equality with Man’s World or more. It’s now gearing up to go bigger, darker and edgier with a reboot of the cult Yrf thriller, Darr, in a contemporary avatar as a five part mini-series, Darr 2.0.

Darr 2.0 will feature the characters of Rahul,...

The UK firm will raise around $310,000 (£200,000) in UK production finance for Microwave International: Shakespeare India; projects, teams, mentors announced.

Media investment firm Bob & Co is the latest company to invest in Film London’s mentoring and development scheme Microwave International: Shakespeare India.

Bob & Co will raise UK production finance for the project through an Enterprise Investment Scheme (Eis).

The scheme’s aim is to finance one feature with significant Asian and British Asian involvement with up to $780,000 (£500,000) and to theatrically release the film in 2016.

Andy Brunskill, of Bob & Co’s subsidiary Sums London, brokered the deal and will executive produce the selected feature.

Bob & Co will raise money through the Eis scheme, along with India’s Cinestaan Film Company, who partnered with Film London on the initiative in April.

The project will involve six teams of Asian writers, directors and producers from the UK and India honing ideas for Shakespeare-themed features in an intensive week-long microschool, which...

After its world premiere at Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes this year, Anurag Kashyap’s Ugly is now headed to 17th Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival in South Korea. Four more Indian films will keep Ugly company at the premier genre film festival in Asia.

The festival will also showcase Reema Kagti’s Talaash, Krishna D.K. and Raj Nidimoru’s Go Goa Gone, Abhishek Kapoor’s Kai Po Che and Gauri Shinde’s English Vinglish.

Ugly will be screened under Puchon Choice section, the flagship competition section of the festival. The section offers six awards including 15,000,000 Krw (Inr 7.7 Lakh) Best of Puchon and 10,000,000 Krw (Inr 5 Lakh) Best Director award. There are awards for best actor and best actress besides a jury and audience award. Twelve films are competing for these awards.

Ari Folman’s The Congress is the opening film of the festival.

Talaash and Go Goa Gone will be screened...

Project 11, India's first short collaborative film, has been released online on glamsham.com (www.youtube.com/glamsham) and Rajshri on December 1, 2012 at 11:11 am. The film started garnering great response as soon as it was released.Directed by Vikas Chandra, the 11 min 11 sec thriller film generated a lot of buzz when it was first premiered on Glamsham last year at 11:11 Am on 11.11.11. Project 11 has won the Best Sound Award at Imphal International Short Read More...

Project 11, India's first short collaborative film, has been released online on glamsham.com (www.youtube.com/glamsham) and Rajshri on December 1, 2012 at 11:11 am. The film started garnering great response as soon as it was releasedDirected by Vikas Chandra, the 11 min 11 sec thriller film generated a lot of buzz when it was first premiered on Glamsham last year at 11:11 Am on 11.11.11. Project 11 has won the Best Sound Award at Imphal International Short Film Festival 2012,...

Project 11 and Aida will be screened at the 8th Budapest Short International Film Festival (Busho). Both films will be screened out of competition.

Project 11 is produced by Ranjan Singh and Vikas Chandra and directed by 11 directors from across the globe including Vikas Chandra. Shot in 11 different cities in the world, the film revolves around 11 principal characters.

Aida is directed by Pierre Friquet. The film narrates the story of a young Ethiopian woman who runs away from her tyrannical father in hopes of finding her love in Antarctica. Instead she lands up in Mumbai. Friquet, French by birth, is an alumnus of the Film and Television Institute of India (Ftii).

Busho will be held from the 4th to 9th September, 2012.

Abhinay Deo’s Delhi Belly, Anubhav Sinha’s Ra.One, Zoya Akhtar’s Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Imtiaz Ali’s Rockstar, Farah Khan’s Om Shanti Om and Antoine Charreyron’s The Prodigies 3D (a co-production between UK, India, Belgium, Canada) are screening at the 16th Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival. The festival will run till August 29, 2012 in Bucheon City, South Korea.

Project 11, a collaborative short film by 11 filmmakers including Vikas Chandra from India is competing at the Puchon Choice Short, International Competition. “Project 11 is about 11 avid gamers who are racing to finish a game. What they don’t realize is that they could be playing the last game of their lives,” is the synopsis of the film.

Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival, launched in 1997, is one of the biggest Genre film festivals in the world focusing on animation, cartoon and gaming.

Collabfeature’s The Owner, a film made by 25 filmmakers on 5 continents will premiere in various cities of the world including Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi and Bangalore on May 25.

The Owner follows the adventures of an old backpack on a journey around the world. The bag is passed from character to character, country to country, on its way back to its owner—a man whose identity is the central mystery of the film. The story, written collaboratively over the Internet, brings together a variety of cultures, languages, and film styles into a singular narrative plot.

Currently the film will be premiering in Bangalore, Berlin, Bogota, Chicago, Detroit, Dubai, Dublin, Holmfirth, Kolkata, Mumbai, Nairobi, Newcastle, New York, Rio De Janeiro, Sao Paulo & Vienna.

Collabfeature is an international co-production film group. Their second project Train Station is currently under filming all over the world. To be a part of this project, click here.

India Screenings

Mumbai,...

Vikas Chandra was selected for the inaugural edition of Mumbai Mantra—Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab in India for his script ‘Toothache’. He, along with seven other screenplay writers, participated in a 5 day- workshop in Lonavla. Vikas Chandra sums up his learning from the workshop in this article:

Your donkeys are not carrying enough load!

In the beginning I had no clue on how to prepare or even what to expect from the lab. Worse, I was gripped with the fear that in no time I would be exposed as a writer!

I expected to be bombarded with questions I had no answers to, at least not at that moment. With such apprehensions, I approached my first session, which was with Audrey Wells.

Thankfully – nothing of the above happened.

We started talking about the central character in my script. Why did I choose my protagonist? What do I like about her?...

Mumbai Mantra, the media and entertainment division of the Mahindra Group, is  collaborating with Sundance Institute for the inaugural Mumbai Mantra Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab 2012. Eight feature film projects have been selected through a rigorous evaluation process of submissions from Indian screenwriters from around the world . These Screenwriting Fellows will have the opportunity to work intensely on their feature film scripts with the support of Creative Advisors (established Screenwriters and Directors) in an environment that encourages innovation and creative risk-taking. Through one-on-one story sessions with the Creative Advisors, the Screenwriting Fellows will engage in an artistically demanding process that offers indispensable lessons in craft, a fresh perspective on their work and a platform to fully realize their material.This year.s Screenwriting Fellows who will go through an immersive five day workshop (March 11-16) at a Club Mahindra Resort are: .    Charudutt Acharya (Sonali Cable Centre).    Shonali Bose & Nilesh Maniyar (Margarita,...

Mumbai Mantra | Sundance Institute Screenwriters’ Lab 2012 announced eight feature-film projects for its inaugural edition. Anusha Rizvi and Mahmood Farooqui’s Opium and Shonali Bose and Nilesh Maniyar’s Margarita, With a Straw are two of them.

The selected 8 Screenwriting Fellows will get an opportunity to develop their works under the guidance of Creative Advisors at a workshop for 5 days from March 11-16, at Club Mahindra Resort in Lonavala.

The selected 8 projects are:

• Charudutt Acharya (Sonali Cable Centre)

• Shonali Bose & Nilesh Maniyar (Margarita, With a Straw)

• Vikas Chandra (Toothache)

• Rajnesh Domalpalli (Avani)

• Prashant Nair (Umrica)

• Anusha Rizvi & Mahmood Farooqui (Opium)

• Ajitpal Singh (Manjhi)

• Kartik Singh (Public School).

The group of Creative Advisors include Guillermo Arriaga (Amores Perros, 21 Grams), Marcos Bernstein (Central Station, Foreign Land), Michael Goldenberg (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Contact),Asif Kapadia (The Warrior, Senna), Shekhar Kapur (Bandit Queen, Elizabeth), Kasi Lemmons (Talk to Me, Eve’s Bayou), Anjum Rajabali (Rajneeti,...

Two days away from its release, Project 11 is going to touch 11,000 fans on Facebook soon. It is a unique project that has been shot in 11 different cities of the world by collaboration among 11 directors. And it has managed to create quite an unprecedented buzz for a short film —with its unique concept hinged on number 11—of duration 11 minutes and 11 seconds, all set to release on a movie portal on 11.11.11. The film is said to be a ‘high-concept thriller’ and was conceived by Vikas Chandra, a filmmaker who was associated with Kavi, a short film that was nominated for the Oscars in 2010. Ranjan Singh, a film professional for over ten years came on board as a co-producer.

The budget of Project 11 was around 9 lakhs– entirely self-funded by the people behind the project. The 11 filmmakers who participated in this project were shortlisted through Facebook, Twitter and Skype. It wasn’t going to be an episodic film,...

The Oscar bug is in the air. On the 7th of March this year, the rich and famous celebrities will haul a lineup on the famous red carpet. The flash of a few hundred cameras would only be a start to a magical experience. Certainly 'dressed to impress' would be their code for the evening. The media hawks eyeing their every move would also be a part of a few million witnessing this grand event live on television all around the globe.

Needless to say, it is a prestigious annual event. And this year, in that honored lineup of guests present in the Kodak theatre, there would be an Indian element also present waiting for the winner to be announced. The short film 'Kavi' directed by American nationality, Greg Helvey is an esteemed nomination for the ‘Short Film (Live Action)’ category. Kavi is a touchy story about slavery and child labour.

The Indian crew of Oscar-nominated film "Kavi" have finally got sponsored tickets to attend the Academy Awards in Los Angeles. The 19-minute "Kavi" has been made by American director Gregg Helvey. The film, which is in Hindi, tells the story of a young boy who wants to play cricket and go to school, but is forced to work in a brick kiln. It has been nominated in the Short Film (Live Action) category at the upcoming 82nd annual Academy Awards that will be held March 7.

"So far we have got huge support from the government but we wish that the president and Rahul Gandhi also see the film. We realise they are busy, but we feel even we are important at this point," Guneet Monga, co-producer of the film, told Ians.

"I did write to the president's office and got a response but we didn't get to meet her. I...