News

Dubai Film Market is introducing a selection of Indian projects for the first time this year through a partnership with Europe’s Pjlf Three Rivers Residency.

The five projects are being scripted by hot new talents such as Kanu Behl, whose debut feature Titli premiered at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard in 2014, and Raj Rishi More, whose project is being produced by The Lunchbox director Ritesh Batra.

The Three Rivers residency provides writer-directors with a month-long distraction-free space to work on their scripts in the Italian countryside, with the help of an expert mentor, before presenting their projects at Diff. Although focusing on Indian projects in its first year, the organisers hope to open the programme to international writer-directors, including those from the Arab world, from next year.

“We feel writers sometimes need a much more concentrated period to hone their ideas and get away from all the distractions of a day job and daily life,” said producer...

The film-makers will each receive an expert mentor to help develop their feature projects.

Dubai International Film Festival (Diff) is partnering with the Pjlf Three Rivers Residency, designed to support Indian film-makers in developing their scripts. The residency provides six writer-directors a year with a distraction-free space to write their scripts, the help of an expert mentor and the opportunity to present their projects at Diff.

The six filmmakers selected this year include Kanu Behl [pictured], whose debut Titli screened at Cannes Un Certain Regard in 2014, Arun Karthick, who debuted with Rotterdam title The Strange Case Of Shiva, Raj Rishi More, who served as assistant director on The Lunchbox, Miransha Naik, Sonal Jain and Pushan Kripalani. Naik recently completed post-production on Juze, which has been picked up by Films Boutique and secured a French release through Sophie Dulac Distribution.

This year’s advisers include Molly Stensgaard, Franz Rodenkirchen, Marten Rabarts, Gyula Gazdag and Olivia Stewart, who has developed...

Co-production Market to feature new projects from Kanu Behl, Aditya Vikram Sengupta and Nandita Das, along with Ritesh Batra’s first project as a producer.

Film Bazaar, hosted by India’s National Film Development Corporation (Nfdc), has unveiled the 19 South Asian projects selected for this year’s Co-production Market.

The line-up includes new projects from Kanu Behl, whose Titli premiered in Cannes Un Certain Regard 2014; Aditya Vikram Sengupta, director of Venice 2014 title Labor Of Love; acclaimed Sri Lankan filmmaker Prasanna Vithanage; and Fahad Mustafa, whose credits include award-winning documentary Katiyabaaz.

In addition, Ritesh Batra (The Lunchbox) is stepping into producing with Raj Rish More’s Pirates, which Batra will produce through his new outfit Poetic License Motion Pictures.

Drishyam Films’ Manish Mundra is bringing a new project from Amit V Masurkar (Sulemani Keeda), while acclaimed filmmaker Nandita Das will present her new project Manto at Film Bazaar.

The market is introducing a new feature this year – Open...