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Filmmaker Nila Madhab Panda has received Padma Shree, one of the highest civilian honors in India, presented by the president of India in 2016. He has directed six Hindi feature films. His first feature, the iconic I Am Kalam, has won thirty-three International awards and one National Award. He followed that success with a series of acclaimed films, including Jalparia, Babloo Happy Hai and Kaun Kitney Paani Mein.

On the occasion of his latest film, “Dark Wind” (Kadvi Hawa), screening at Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, we spoke with him about climate change and its consequences, Sanajy Mishra, and other topics.

Climate change is real and Indian theatrical release of “Dark Wind” coincided with the Delhi toxic smog problem, which made the international news. This made a lot of people realize the importance of the film, so the timing was perfect I’ve heard you have been working on this script for a long time,...

Climate change is real and India has been facing problems caused by this for years. Tsunami, earthquakes, floods and draughts can be found in the news from a certain part of the country or the other on a daily basis. However, the number of films dealing with these problems, particularly in the Hindi language is scarce. Nila Madhab Panda’s “Dark Wind” delves into such situations without being preachy about it, using a simple but hard-hitting story.

Hedu (Sanjay Mishra) is a blind elderly man living in the village of Mahua, Rajasthan. Like the majority of the people in the village, Hedu’s son, Mukund (Bhupesh Singh) is also long due on a farming loan taken from the bank. The arrival of the new loan recovery officer Gunu Babu (Ranvir Shorey) with a reputation of being Yamduth, The God of Death, scares Hedu along with the farmer suicides in the...

Exclusive: Up to 10 features to be produced through new fund.

Mumbai-based Drishyam Films is launching a $20m fund to produce eight-10 independent Indian films over the next two years.

“Our aim is to take Indian cinema to the next level, in terms of script development, production values and international reach,” said Drishyam founder Manish Mundra, whose credits include Masaan, which screened in Un Certain Regard in 2015, and Amit Masurkar’s Newton, which premiered at this year’s Berlin.

Mundra, who recently brought on Natasha Chopra, as head of content development, expects to announce the first projects under the fund in early 2018. The money will also be used to develop Drishyam’s VFX studio in Mumbai, with the aiming of improving the quality of visual effects in local films.

Separate from the fund, Mundra has two new features going into production over the summer – Mohamed Gani’s Cycle, about the importance of the humble bicycle in small-town India, and...

The fifth Big Ears, held in Knoxville over the weekend, preserved its status as the most adventurously programmed music festival in America — offering everything from a symphony orchestra playing a Pulitzer Prize–winning John Luther Adams composition to Wolf Eyes playing vomitous Midwest noise, from Anthony Braxton’s defiantly complex jazz formulas to Tony Conrad’s defiantly simple “amplified drone strings.” Local new-music ensemble Nief-Norf filled rooms with the beer-sipping Converse-and-hoodie crowd to hear an 80-year-old Edgard Varèse flute solo. At least three different sets during the weekend featured...