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Until 2020, there was a concerted effort from the Indian wing of Netflix, or maybe I should say the Hindi wing of Netflix, to tell stories set in the horror genre. Although Bollywood’s relationship with horror had been quite shaky, the streaming platform started off strong with Ghoul. With the ever-dependable Radhika Apte at the helm, the miniseries was a pretty interesting take on John W. Campbell Jr.’s Who Goes There? Then there was Betaal, which, unlike a lot of people, I actually enjoyed quite a bit. The idea of the Brits coming back to haunt us as zombies is an interesting concept, and it had some committed performances from Vineet Kumar Singh, Aahana Kumra, and Manjiri Pupala. After that we got Typewriter, which seemed promising because it had Sujoy Ghosh at the helm, but it was just a boring mess. In Ghost Stories, let’s be honest, only...

Films by Lukas Dhont, Pawel Pawlikowski, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Marie Kreutzer, Jonas Poher Rasmussen and Radu Jude are among 35 features to share €10.7m in Eurimages’s latest round of funding.

The 35 supported co-productions include five documentaries and two animations. 13 of the projects are to be directed or co-directed by women, representing 39.41% of the total funding awarded.

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Flemish director Dhont, who was Oscar nominated for his 2023 feature Close, received €500,000 forCoward. Dhont joins forces again with co-writer Angelo Tijssens for the film, for which plot details are not yet available.

The Reunion, the production company set up by Michiel and Lukas Dhont,...

South African co-production and film finance market Durban FilmMart (Dfm) has unveiled 31 official projects taking part in its Pitch and Finance Forum.

The 16th edition of Dfm takes place from July 18-21 in Durban under the banner Bridges Not Borders: Stories that Unite.

The 31 projects in development come from 15 countries. The Dfm Pitch and Finance Forum allows filmmakers to network with global broadcasters, financiers, streamers, sales agents, festival programmers and producers.

The line-up includes a feature-length version of Kenyan directors Millan Tarus and Tevin Kimathi’s Stero, whose short of the same name played at Rotterdam in 2024.

Also selected is...

A new feature film chronicling the life of South African transgender icon Granny Lee is due to begin production in Johannesburg in April 2025.

The project, titled “Granny Lee,” participated at the Film London Production Finance Market during the ongoing BFI London Film Festival.

The titular character is based on a real-life figure who was both white-passing and trans femme and lit up the underground disco scene in the 1980s in South Africa. Set against the backdrop of Apartheid-era Johannesburg and the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the film will follow Granny Lee as she guides a grieving mother through the city’s LGBTQ underground scene.

Soli Philander, a multi-hyphenate talent in South African entertainment, will portray Granny Lee. Alexandra Billings has joined the project as an executive producer through her production company, Schmengie.

The father-son directing team known as The Gabriels, comprising Ian and Gabe Gabriel, will helm the feature. Ian Gabriel,...

Have you ever showed up to speed dating only to find the opposite side of the barcade banquette occupied by a Puritan it-girl, Chicano art collective or trans-femme disco-dancing granny? For that matter, has your scorecard of prospective singles ever included A24? Hulu? ABC News? If not, then you’ve never been on the floor to pitch your latest film project at Film Independent Fast Track.

Now in its 21st year, Fast Track seeks to inject some much-needed capital and support into a diverse range of deserving independent film projects, both fiction and nonfiction. Taking place online December 4–6, the program is an intensive four-day film-financing market; participating filmmakers are connected with established financiers, production companies, agents, managers and other pros who can move their current projects forward.

Making friends at Fast Track

“This year’s Fast Track line-up of projects reflects the current landscape’s desire for bold, innovative and entertaining films.

Film Independent announced that 16 projects were selected for the 21st Fast Track Film Finance Market taking place online December 4–6th, 2023. The program is an intensive, film-financing market in which participants are connected with established financiers, production companies, agents, managers and other film industry professionals who can move their current projects forward.

“This year’s Fast Track line-up of projects reflects the current landscape’s desire for bold, innovative and entertaining films. We’re thrilled to introduce the dynamic and talented filmmakers behind these films at this year’s finance market.” said Angela Lee, Director of Artist Development.

The Sloan Fast Track Grant, a $20,000 grant to support the production of a project that explores science and technology themes or characters in engaging and innovative ways, is awarded towriter/directorCole Smith and producer Nicholas Nyhof for their project Silo.

The Cayton-Goldrich Family Foundation Fellowship is a $10,000 grant that is awarded to a...

2023 edition of international finance forum adds episodic content to line-up.

Canadian 2Slgbtq+ film festival Inside Out has unveiled 11 projects to participate in this weekend’s seventh annual international finance forum, which is moving ahead after the end of the Hollywood strikes.

The two-day forum had been scheduled to run during Inside Out’s flagship festival in Toronto in May and now takes place from November 17-18.

The agenda includes in-person conversations and interactive panel discussions with queer filmmakers and producers, as well as one-on-one meetings with executives, and roundtable sessions on co-producing with Canada, and entertainment law and music rights.

Shant Joshi’s Los Angeles and Toronto-based company Fae Pictures (2023 Cannes title “In Flames”) has boarded Cape Town-based company Giant Films’ “Runs in the Family.”

Fae will executive produce and handle the festival launch of the LGBTQ+ road trip family drama, a clip for which has been unveiled. The film is by real-life father-son duo Ian Gabriel (“Ludik”) and Gabe Gabriel (“No Hiding Here”). Ian directed and Gabe wrote and stars in “Runs in the Family.” The film marks Gabe’s first professional role since he came out as trans in 2019.

The film follows a reformed con artist, Varun (Ace Bhatti), and his transmasculine son, River (Gabe Gabriel), on a road trip across South Africa to break River’s estranged mother (Diaan Lawrenson) out of rehab. When injury befalls Ollie (Cleo Wesley), River’s drag partner and best friend, his mother propels father and son to partner up for a...

Participants come from Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Botswana, and Zimbabwe.

African development organisation the Realness Institute has selected 12 participants for its 2023 Episodic Lab and Development Executive Traineeship (Det), in partnership with Netflix.

The two cohorts each comprise six participants from Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Botswana, and Zimbabwe.

The Episodic Lab participants include Amanda Gicharu and Juma Adero (Kenya), Emil Garuba (Nigeria), Gabe Gabriel, Jason Staggie and Vanishia Kisten (South Africa).

They will work to refine their skills as episodic screenwriters and develop their story ideas, and will have the opportunity to pitch their stories to Netflix content executives at the end of the proramme.