India’s annual Film Bazaar market has revealed the five projects chosen for its work-in-progress lab.
The selected projects are Jaicheng Zxai Dohutia’s Assamese and Moran-language “Baghjan”; Shailendra Sahu’s Hindi and Chattisgarhi-language “Bailadila; Ektara Collective’s Hindi-language “Ek Jagah Apni; Harshad Nalawade’s Marathi, Kannada and Hindi-language “Follower”; and Jai Shankar’s Kannada-language “Shivamma.”
The director and editor of the selected films show their rough cuts to the panel of mentors and receive in-depth one-on-one feedback. The international editor assigned to the film guides the director and editor of the selected films through two sessions of the editing lab.
Mentors this year include producers Philippa Campbell (“Top of the Lake”) and Olivia Stewart (“The House of Mirth”), veteran film festival curator Marco Müller, editor and festival curator Marie-Pierre Duhamel, editors Jacques Comets (“Yalda, a Night for Forgivness”) and Lizi Gelber (“Venice Elsewhere”) and critic Derek Malcolm.
Since its inception in 2008, the lab has shaped films that have gone on to premiere at top international film festivals. Recent projects include Nithin Lukose’s “Paka: River of Blood,” which went on to Toronto and Pingyao; Natesh Hegde’s “Pedro” that played Busan and London; Irfana Majumdar’s “Shankar’s Fairies,” which bowed at Locarno; Pushpendra Singh’s “The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs,” which premiered at Berlin; and Ajitpal Singh’s “Fire in the Mountains,” which debuted at Sundance.
The Film Bazaar, now in its 15th edition, is South Asia’s leading film market that normally has a physical event in Goa. It takes place virtually this year from Nov. 20-25. It is organized by India’s National Film Development Corporation.