The 7th edition of NFDC’s Film Bazaar held from November 21 to 24 in Goa, came to an end on a postive note. Sagorika Dasgupta brings the highlights of the four-day market
The Film Bazaar – a part of the National Film Development Corporation’s (NFDC) promotional arm and South Asia’s Global Film Market – struck as many as 10 significant acquisitions, funding and distribution deals this year. A prominent trade event for film industry professionals, the four-day market had selected over 30 international and Indian feature film projects from India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Afghanistan, the UK, the US, Canada, Switzerland, Poland and New Zealand, among other countries.
Success Rate
Funding, Sales & Distribution Deals
• Abhay Deol’s production company, i.e. Films, partnered with UK-based Collin Burrow’s Special Treats Productions for the co-production of Bounty Hunter. A thriller set in the UK, the film will feature Deol in the lead and will be directed by brothers Sunandan and Yugesh Walia. The latter will also co-produce the project through their UK-based production company Endboard Productions.
• Kolkata-based filmmaker Q’s English-language film Brahman Raman found funding from Steve Barron’s UK-based Riley Productions. The company will co-produce the project with Overdose Joint (Q’s production house). The film is set in the 1980s in Bangalore and is a comedy about a filthy-mouthed, whiskey-soaked teenager who is top in his class and also owns a porn collection. Barron is best known for producing films like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and The Specialist.
• New York-based BGP Films has picked up the North American rights of Gyan Correa’s
The Good Road (an NFDC production), which is also India’s official submission in the Foreign Language category at the 86th Academy Awards. Launched by former New Line executive Bill Straus, BGP Films is a sales agency focused on the North American market.
• DAR Motion Pictures partnered with IME Motion Pictures (Suhrud Godbole) and Blue Drop Films (Nikhil Mahajan) for an action-adventure Marathi film titled Baji directed by Nikhil Mahajan. The film will have Shreyas Talpade essaying the title role, and also marks his comeback to the Marathi industry after seven years.
• Nikhil Mahajan’s Blue Drop will be funding Varun Grover’s Mother Goddess Coaching Class, which was part of the Screenwriters’ Lab in 2012. Grover has written lyrics for films like That Girl In Yellow Boots, Gangs Of Wasseypur and Prague.
• Guneet Monga’s Sikhya Entertainment picked up two films – Amit Kumar’s Give Me Blood and Vasan Bala’s Side Hero. Give Me Blood, about two Indian soldiers serving in the British Indian army during World War II, was selected for Film Bazaar’s Co-production Market last year. Kumar’s debut film Monsoon Shootout was invited as the Official Selection at the Cannes Film Festival this year. Bala’s first outing, Peddlers, was screened under the Critics’ Week at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012.
• Vasant Nath’s drama Sebastian Wants To Remember found an Indian co-producer in Kartikeya Narayan Singh’s production house, The Film Café. The film tells the story of an ageing photographer who loses his memory and must embark on a daunting journey with his wife in search of his past – NFDC Screenwriters’ Lab 2011 and Co-production Market 2012.
• France’s ASAP Films came on board for Rajesh Jala’s The Spark (Chingari) at the market. The project was part of the Screenwriters’ Lab and Co-production Market this year. The Film Café will produce the film alongside existing co-producers, Germany’s Die Gesellschaft DGS and France’s 24 Images.
Last year, Nasreen Munni Kabir of Channel 4, a UK-based broadcaster, had picked up four titles at the Bazaar – The Good Road, Sulemani Keeda, Fandry, and BA Pass. The deal was officially announced in July 2013. The titles will be broadcast as part of the new Voices section on Channel 4’s Indian film season in 2014. The season, comprising around 20 Indian titles, will be screened in two blocks, April and Sept- Oct.
According to Kabir, “It was an enjoyable experience at Film Bazaar and was fantastic to interact with young filmmakers. I have liked a few films from this year too, which will be finalised and announced at a later stage.”
Other Highlights
The market was also attended by four bigwigs of the Cannes Film Festival – Thierry Fremaux, Christian Jeune, Charles Tesson – Critics’ Week, and Edouard Waintrop, Artistic Director, Director’s Fortnight.
Meanwhile, Resul Pookutty, Jaideep Sahni, Ritesh Sidhwani, Farhan Akhtar, Sujoy Ghosh, Tillotama Shome, Rajat Barjatya, Rajkummar Rao (earlier Rajkumar Yadav), were a part of the Knowledge Series and Producers’ Lab. Sanjay Suri, Rajjat Kapoor, Adil Hussain, Kamal Hassan, Irawati Harshe, Abhay Deol, Anushka Manchanda and many other Indian filmmakers visited the market.
Awards
The Bazaar drew to a close with an awards ceremony, where The Incredible India award
was conferred on Rajesh Jala for his film Chingari (The Spark), a Screenwriters’ Lab project. The film won a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh.
The DI Prasad Labs award was given to Kanu Behl for his film Titli, a Work-In-Progress Lab project being co-produced by Dibaker Banerjee and Yash Raj Films.
Nina Lath Gupta, Managing Director, NFDC said, “It’s heartening to see the response and growth of Film Bazaar over the years, not only in terms of participation but the way the projects have developed at various stages with the aid of our labs. Our endeavour now is to enhance the reach to mainstream audiences as well, where, since the past two years, studios have been showing interest in projects that have been a part of the market. That apart the platform has over the years emerged as a crucial gateway to showcase and promote South Asian films amongst the diverse global film fraternity.”
