News

CAA has taken North American sales rights to psychological horror-thriller “Feral.” The project, set in 1950s India, already has Oscar-nominated producers Ron Yerxa and Albert Berger attached as executive producers. It heads to Film Bazaar as its creative team pursues further co-production partners and final financing.

The film follows two part-tribal sisters trained as servants by an English madame on a Himalayan colonial estate. The story centers on the estate’s shifting power dynamics after the arrival of the madame’s new lover, a singer/shaman scholar, as the sisters begin reclaiming their tribal heritage. The film will be shot in the English and Kinnauri languages. The project has previously found support from Sundance+Wif, Breaking Through The Lens and Film Independent.

Director-producer Nihaarika Negi (“Labours Of (An)Other Solipsist”) explores themes of colonialism through the lens of horror and magical realism. “As someone of a part-tribal identity from India,...

India’s Film Bazaar market has revealed the 21 feature projects selected for this year’s Co-Production Market.

The invited titles span seven countries including India, UK, Australia and Germany. The projects will be pitched to producers, distributors, festival programmers, financiers and sales agents at Goa’s Marriott Resort from November 20-24.

Titles include The Song Of Flowers from UK-based producer Neeraj Churi whose previous projects include SXSW 2024 audience award winner A Place Of Our Own. The film is directed by Shubham Negi and Sourav Yadav.

Also selected is Payal Sethi’s India-Germany co-production The Disappearing Flower, produced by Thanikachalam Sa...

National Film Development Corporation (Nfdc) Indian project market Film Bazaar has unveiled an ambitious slate for its 18th edition co-production market, with “Baahubali” producer Shobu Yarlagadda among the selection. The market, set for Nov. 20-24 at Goa’s Marriott Resort, showcases 29 projects spanning India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Australia, the U.K., Germany, and Hong Kong.

The market runs concurrently with the International Film Festival of India, which unspools Nov. 20-28 across Goa.

From a pool of 180 feature submissions spanning 23 countries, 21 features made the cut. The projects represent a linguistic mosaic, including Hindi, English, Assamese, Tamil, Marwari, Bengali, Malayalam, Punjabi, Nepali, Marathi, Pahadi, and Cantonese, demonstrating the market’s growing international appeal.

High-profile industry veterans dominate the features section. Abhishek Chaubey teams with Honey Trehan for “Absent,” a psychological drama about two schoolboys whose friendship takes a dark turn. Producer Alan McAlex, who had two films at Cannes this year – “Santosh” and...

Yes, the Film Independent Forum is back, happily in person again, and with a new global twist. With so much going over the two days, we wanted to highlight some of the panels and events we missed in our last post on the Forum.

Of course, there will still be the great screenings, networking and workshops that the Forum is known for. September 27 & 28, in person at the DGA in Los Angeles. Tickets are still available.

Keynote By Hiro Murai Moderated By Daniel Kwan

What: In case you missed it, our keynote speaker this year is Hiro Murai. With a very distinct voice and visual style, Hiro Murai has established himself as one of the most innovative artists working today. In particular, Murai’s ten-year artistic collaboration with Childish Gambino produced one of the most acclaimed shows of the century, Atlanta; garnered him a Grammy Award for the music video for...

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...