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Benefit from the early bird discount and register until November 30 Submit films until December 19 Special advertising rates and packages available WWW.EFM-BERLINALE.DE

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IFFI Turns a Healthy 49

Shaji N Karun: A Quest for Cinema's Soul

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Lijo Jose Pellissery: A Storyteller Par Excellence

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Goa a hot favourite for filmmakers

Vasan Bala: The Magic of `Madness'

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26 Eleven indie voices that could shape the broad contours of India’s alternative cinema in the years ahead

42 Shooting Locales of India

Lessons from American Film Market 2018

32 Cinema as an art form will survive: Dorothee Wenner, delegate and South Asia programmer, Berlinale

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INTERNATIONAL ANIMATION FILM

FESTIVAL AND MARKET

ANNECY

JUNE 2019

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THE PEACOCK GETS READY

IFFI TURNS

A HEALTHY 49

A year shy of its 50th edition, the International Film Festival of India, Asia’s oldest event of its kind, still holds on to its pre-eminent position as a showcase of cinematic excellence 6

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9 The International Film Festival of India (IFFI), the oldest event of its kind in Asia, has over the years witnessed numerous alterations in character, nomenclature, location, dates and duration. Through it all, it has remained steadfast in its emphasis on showcasing the diversity of Indian cinema as well as in its commitment to the celebration of excellence across moviemaking genres.

Over the past two and a half decades, several other international film festivals have sprung up across India, notably in Kolkata, Kerala and Mumbai, and they all contribute meaningfully to the collective task of taking quality cinema to a people weaned principally on a staple diet of star-driven, song and dance extravaganzas. But IFFI continues to retain its preeminent position owing to its size, scope and vintage.

Not just in the Indian context but also in relation to the other major Asian film festivals, IFFI matters. And this is despite all the inevitable ups and downs that it has seen over the years.

All the other major Asian festivals – Tokyo, Busan and Shanghai – are of far more recent origin and therefore lack the history that is associated with IFFI, which is now a year shy of its 50th edition. The festival in Tokyo was launched in 1985, the one in Shanghai began in 1993 and the Busan Film Festival came into being in 1996.

IFFI hands out prize money to the tune of US$ 200,000. The winner of the Golden Peacock for the best film takes home $80,000. That apart, the best director and the Special Jury Prize winner bag $30,000 each, while the two acting prizes come with a cash component of $20,000 each.

IFFI also confers two Lifetime Achievement Awards – one to an international film personality, the other to an Indian great. The moves to push IFFI up a few notches have unfolded since the coastal state of Goa became its permanent venue in 2004.

IFFI now has a far more settled feel than ever before, with each improvement in terms of infrastructure and programming initiatives adding value to both the event and the location.

On the programming side, IFFI not only unveils the best films from around the multilingual country with the aim of providing a glimpse of the sheer range and dynamism of Indian cinema, it also puts together a remarkable slate of brand new world cinema titles.

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Films are the true mirrors which reflect the actual picture of the society and the world around us. In this context, it is a matter of pride for us that our Indian Film Industry is progressing by leaps and bounds and setting new records in the world of cinema Col Rajyavardhan Rathore Hon’ble Minister of State for Youth Affairs &Sports (I/C) and Information &Broadcasting (I/C) Government of India

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IFFI also hosts many retrospectives, tributes, master classes and special sections, which enhance the variety and depth of the event. The master classes have emerged as a highlight of the festival, especially for film school students who converge in Goa during the ten-day event.

The 49th International Film Festival of India (November 20 to 28, 2018) promises to be just as exciting and wide-ranging as any of the editions that have gone before. The festival, which will screen more than 200 films from nearly 68 countries, will open with French director Julien Landais’ English-language The Aspern Papers, adapted from the Henry James novel of the same title. The 90-minute period drama set in Venice features Vanessa Redgrave, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers and Joely Richardson in starring roles.

The two films that IFFI 2018 has lined up for the mid-fest gala and the closing night – American director Matthew Wilder’s Regarding the Case of Joan of Arc and German filmmaker Bernd Bohlich’s Sealed Lips – are both exciting new titles. IFFI 2018 is hosting the world premieres of all the three titles.

The IFFI line-up this year is studded with the latest works of world cinema luminaries like Jean-Luc Godard, Lars Von Trier, Claire Denis, Jafar Panahi, Jia Zhangke, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Ki Ki-duk, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Hong Sangsoo, Pawel Pawlikowski, Matteo Garrone and Naomi Kawase. The festival is also marking the centenary of Ingmar Bergman with a package of eight films.

This year Israel has been chosen as the festival’s Focus Country. A package of ten contemporary films from the cinematically and geopolitically significant nation plus three titled helmed by veteran Israeli director Dan Wolman, winner of this year’s IFFI Lifetime Achievement Award, will be screened during the nine-day festival.

India’s first international film festival was organized within five years of the nation attaining Independence. It was a non-competitive event held in 1952 in Bombay (Now Mumbai). A special feature of the inaugural function was the screening of the first film screened in India in 1896 by the Lumiere brothers. Frank Capra was part of the American delegation that attended the festival.

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This festival is an august rendezvous of different cultures and it's indeed an epitome of India's cultural soft power. In its journey towards this excellence, the festival brings quality productions for participants and introduces best of new films Amit Khare Secretary Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Government of India

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After a fortnight-long run in Bombay, the festival travelled to Calcutta (now Kolkata), Madras (now Chennai) and Delhi. The first international film festival of India is rightfully credited with triggering a burst of creativity in Indian cinema by exposing young Indian filmmakers to the best from around the world, especially to Italian neo-realism.

It isn’t without significance that Satyajit Ray’s first film, Pather Panchali, was completed in 1955, and Bimal Roy’s classic Hindi film, Do Bigha Zameen, was released in 1953.

Six decades on, IFFI continues to provide a useful platform to young Indian filmmakers who work outside the mainstream distribution and exhibition system and in languages that do not have access to the pan-Indian market that Hindi cinema has.

The Indian Panorama, a section that is made up of both features and nonfeatures, opens global avenues for films made by veterans and newcomers alike.

It wasn’t until 1961 that the second edition of the festival, also non-competitive and hosted by Delhi, was mounted, but the idea of an itinerant festival had been sown.

In 1965, the year of its third edition, the festival secured ‘A’ category grading from the Parisbased FIAPF (Federation Internationale des Associations de Producteurs de Films), which brought it on par with the world’s biggest festivals in Venice, Cannes, Berlin, Moscow and Karlovy Vary.

For three decades from the mid-1970s, the festival was held every alternate year in the national capital of Delhi, with other Indian cities – Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Thiruvananthapuram – taking turns to host the event every other year.

IFFI now has a permanent home in Goa. The coastal state has benefitted appreciably from the shift. Its cinema has received a huge fillip in the decade and a half that Panaji has hosted IFFI. Filmmakers in the coastal state have been increasingly making their mark on the national and international stage.

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With his first film in four years, Olu (She), Shaji N Karun is back in the Indian Panorama of the International Film Festival of India.The new film, a fantasy woven around a gang-rape survivor thrown into the backwaters of Kerala, has been selected as the opening film of the section

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A QUEST FOR CINEMA’S SOUL Veteran cinematographer and director Shaji N. Karun feels that both cinema and the audience have changed significantly in a way that allows for the achievement of instant success -by Saibal Chatterjee Shaji N. Karun, who earned his spurs lensing the films of celebrated Malyali directors such as G. Aravindan, K.G. George, M.T. Vasudevan Nair and Padmarajan, branched out 30 years ago as an independent director.

His first film, Piravi (1988), ranks among the most lauded debuts in the history of Indian cinema. It screened in the 1989 Cannes Film Festival’s Un certain regard section and was a joint winner of a Mention d’honneur – Camera d’Or. The veteran cinematographer and director who has crafted only six more narrative features since then feels that both cinema and the audience have changed in a way that allows for the achievement of instant success. “Not just filmmakers but all artists of the past had to work over long periods to establish themselves. Today, people are catapulted into the limelight all too quickly LIKE PICKLE IN FACEBOOK

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Still from Olu (She) and, therefore, the process of forgetting is also very quick,” he says.

Besides the all-conquering Piravi, two other Shaji films – Swaham (1994) and Vanaprastham (1999) – have been in the Cannes official programme. In fact, Swaham remains the last Indian film to play in the Cannes Competition.

With his first film in four years, Olu (She), Shaji is back in the Indian Panorama of the International Film Festival of India.The new film, a fantasy woven around a gangrape survivor thrown into the backwaters of Kerala, has been selected as the opening film of the section.

Like all his other narrative features, Shaji’s last film Swapaanam (2014), which

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probed the relationship between a master drummer and a Mohiniyattam danseuse, made it to the Indian Panorama.

Shaji laments that festivals too are becoming “centres of business”. He says: “There was a time when festivals had a vision of the future and therefore selections reflected that farsightedness. Now films are selected for their instant appeal, for what they yield for the moment.”

“Cinema’s roots lie in the realms of fantasy,” he says, citing the 1902 George Melies film, A Trip to the Moon. “Cinema was born because it had the power to dazzle audiences with its scale and spectacle. With Olu, I have sought to return in a way to the origins of cinema.” In his new film, the

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violated young woman not only survives underwater, she also becomes a muse for an artist struggling for inspiration.

Why has he made only seven films in 30 years? “You must remember that I devote 50 per cent of my time outside my immediate professional work. I’ve am actively connected with running film development bodies, organizing film festivals and other such activities,” he replies.

But Shaji believes that with the rapid technological advances that the world has seen in recent years, the very act of watching cinema has changed. “Technological tools now determine how a film is consumed.

The umbilical cord between the filmmaker and the audience, which thrives in a

darkened hall where a group watches a film together, has snapped,” he says. “It is now confined largely to personal enjoyment. It is no longer something meant for savouring in a shared space.”

“Today,” says Shaji, “everything in cinema is designed keeping the point of view of the consumer in mind. The primacy of the artist and the storyteller has been severely undermined.” So he believes that the time may have come for the operatic way of mounting films to be brought back not just to cinema but also to other art forms. But cinema, he asserts, must always retain its meditative, philosophical and spiritual qualities. “That is only way the medium can guard against losing its value as a medium of expression and a form of art,” he says.

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19-11-2018 03:49:24 AM

Not one to throw in the towel and make creative compromises despite failures, Lijo Jose Pellissery is rightfully hailed as an exceptionally skilled director who vividly captures social and inter-personal dynamics within and around communities - by Saibal Chatterjee

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19-11-2018 03:55:12 AM

D

irector Lijo Jose Pellissery, whose fifth and sixth films (Angamaly Diaries, 2017 and Ee Ma Yau, 2018) have catapulted him into national prominence, is easily one of the most exciting filmmakers to have emerged in India in the course of the current decade. His films have a distinct style and pace and are underpinned by a keen sense of time and place.

Angamaly Diaries is a pulsating gangster saga with 86 first-timers in the cast, while Ee Ma Yau is a black comedy built around a Roman Catholic funeral in a parish near Kochi. But neither of the two is a routine genre film. Lijo informs them with heady energy derived from the dazzling nature of the handheld camera techniques that he employs as well as from the precise choreography of the actors within long, uninterrupted sequences.

Lijo made his first film, Nayakan, in 2010.

Eight years and five films later, he is being rightfully hailed as an exceptionally skilled director who vividly captures so-

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Still from Ee Ma Yau. The film is selected in the International Competition Section, IFFI 2018

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cial and inter-personal dynamics within and around communities. His interest as a storyteller is focused on specific groups of people who are at odds with each other, with society at large, with the religious establishment, and with other groups that exist in the same geographical location.

Nayakan and his second venture, City of God (2011), both crime dramas, earned critical hosannas but failed at the box office. The two films are now regarded as key points in the evolution of a new kind of Malayalam cinema that has since gained ground in Kerala. Lijo had to wait until 2013, the year he made Amen, a musical satire about a church band caught in a crossfire between the clergy and the Syrian Christian community, to taste commercial success.

The box-office success of Amen, in which Lijo made no creative compromises despite the failure of his first two films, bolstered his confidence. In fact, Amen could be seen as a sort of precursor to Ee Ma Yau, which is his definitive masterpiece, a film so full of vitality and innovation that it is impossible not to be swept up in its dizzying momentum.

Emboldened, Lijo next made the genredefying, big-budget Double Barrel (2015). He upped his technical ante several notches in the film but the experimentation did not find takers. Any other young filmmaker would have thrown in the towel and settled for something safer moving forward. He did not. He turned once again towards all-out action all right, but he invested the genre with amazing flair in terms of camerawork, editing and soundtrack. The outcome was the incredibly infectious Angamaly Diaries.

Lijo Jose Pellissery is a craftsman and storyteller of the highest calibre – a breakthrough on the world stage is round the corner

Angamaly Diaries

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The drama in Ee Ma Yau is triggered after a drunk man drops dead in his house, sending his family, including his son and daughter-in-law scurrying for help from the neighbourhood. While the bereaved family receives unstinted support from many friends and wellwishers as they prepare for the funeral, malcontents in the parish play the local priest off against the dead man’s temperamental son. The fascinating gallery of characters, the swirling camera, the demonstrative nature of the expression of grief and the social tensions rife in

the community come together to deliver a tale of rousing proportions.

In an ideal situation, Ee Ma Yau would have caught the attention of international festival spotters. It is one of three Indian films in the International Competition section of the 49th International Film Festival of India. It deserved much, much more – on the global circuit, it could have touched instant chords with a little bit of luck. Lijo Jose Pellissery is a craftsman and storyteller of the highest calibre – a breakthrough on the world stage is round the corner.

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IFFI now has a far more settled feel than ever before, with each improvement in terms of infrastructure and programming initiatives adding value to both the event and the location 20

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CINEMA DESTINATION

GOA A HOT FAVOURITE FOR FILMMAKERS For the past 14 years, Goa has been providing a common platform through IFFI to the best of global filmmakers to project their excellence in film craft, thus contributing immensely to the appreciation of film cultures of different nations and promoting the culture of peace, harmony and partnership Rajendra Talak, Vice-chairman Entertainment Society of Goa

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he State of Goa has been successfully organising the International Film Festival of India for fourteen years and has evolved completely as a filmmaking centre, says National Award winning filmmaker Rajendra Talak who is also the vice-chairman of the Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG). “We are producing more local films than ever before. The film society and cinephile in Goa is on the surge.”

Rajendra Tilak says Goa has now transformed into a film friendly state with the state’s film loving people embracing film culture. “We have over 3,000 local delegates registering for IFFI from the total of 7,000 registrations. It is amazing.”

In addition to managing IFFI, ESG runs film-friendly programmes in the form of film clubs; screening of National Award winning films and region focused films across the year. ESG has also brought out a Goa Film Fraternity Directory capturing every film professional in the state.

Aiming for another successful execution of IFFI which is in its 49th Edition, ESG is the nodal agency for organsing and providing leadership in logistics.

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Rajendra Talak is looking ahead for IFFI secretarial to be housed permanently in Goa. “We are also excited that IFFI will be marching towards celebrating its 50th Golden Anniversary in 2019,” states Rajendra Talak.

Going forward, ESG’s aim is to create an IFFI Complex and infrastructure on par with global festive venues, he avers.

With an industry-friendly state policy facilitating permissions and time-bound clearances for film shoots, Goa is a hot favourite for Indian filmmakers. “The film shoots in Goa is on the rise. Filmmakers like Rohit Shetty have shot almost all their films here. We also provide the best film shooting services,” says Rajendra Talak.

“We have not had many international films but lot of domestic films are shot in the state.”

The Dabolim airport operates both domestic and international flights. One can reach Goa by rail, road or air from Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kochi. “This is the biggest attraction whether they are tourists, film shoots or festival delegates,” he says.

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Idiosyncratic or not, Vasan Bala has the makings of a worthy flag-bearer of a cinematic tradition that is crying out to be rescued from the morass of mediocrity

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THE

MAGIC OF

‘MADNESS’ Vasan Bala’s second film was long overdue. The wait’s been well worth it. The wild and wacky Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota, produced by Ronnie Screwvala, elevates the superhero action genre to a higher plane and gives us reason to follow his career from here on with keen interest

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19-11-2018 03:59:03 AM

Mard Ko Dard Nahin Hota, won the Grolsch People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award at the 43rd Toronto International Film Festival

Cinema is a director’s medium. Artistic and commercial choices shape a film no matter where and how it is made. However, one criticism mainstream Bollywood persistently faces is that the films it produces are rarely self-reflexive. They are usually for mass consumption and there is no room in them for personal expression or exploration.

So when Vasan Bala’s zany actioner Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota comes along, you cannot but sit up and take notice. Here is a Bollywood vengeance drama that bears the unmistakable imprimatur of its maker.

A delightfully unabashed celebration of schlocky genre movies of an era gone by, it offers a happy blend of pulpy melodrama, quirky narrative sleights and heavily stylized superhero movie dynamics. Vasan Bala clearly knows his onions inside out.

There hasn’t been a Hindi film quite like Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota in several decades. Is that the reason why the director who burst on the scene in 2012 with the Cannes Critics Week selection Peddlers, has had to wait six long years for his second film?

The unfortunately unreleased Peddlers had flashes of the flair and flourish that find full expression in Mard Ko Dard Nahi

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Hota. Vasan Bala is a director to watch. His wacky, refreshingly joyful tribute to the Bmovies he devoured as a boy is underwired with his deep love for cinema as a whole.

You can see his personality and vision in every frame of the film. Happily, Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota faces no threat of not making it to the multiplexes.

Mard Ko Dard Nahin Hota, with which the 20th MAMI Mumbai Film Festival opened in October, returned home after a major triumph at the 43rd Toronto International Film Festival, where it won the Grolsch People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award.

In doing so, it edged out Hollywood biggies like Shane Black’s The Predator, David Gordon Green’s Halloween and Sam Levinson’s Assassination Nation. No mean achievement for a film made on a minuscule fraction of the budget of an American production.

Vasan Bala is the first-ever Indian filmmaker to break into TIFF Midnight Madness, a section devoted to genre films that shock and startle. Mard Ko Dard Nahin Hota thrives on defying expectations. The film’s narrative angularities impart a staccato, delirious rhythm to the storyline.

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‘action’ turns the film into a deliciously crazy ride.

As the hero goes about his job, he is aided by his childhood crush Supri (debutante Radhika Madan), an adventurous grandfather (Mahesh Manjrekar), and the one-legged karate master Mani who inspires him to pull off ‘great’ deeds (Gulshan Devaiah).

The plot takes a turn when Mani’s evil twin Jimmy (Devaiah again highlighting his incredible versatility) appears and unleashes his henchmen on the hero.

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writer in Toronto. “That is probably why I haven’t converted more of my ideas into films. For me, the story starts from scene one. But the plot kicks in whenever it has to.”

It isn’t only its absurd quality that sets Mard Ko Dard Nahin apart from the crowd.

The wonderfully varied background score enhances its inherent unbridled energy.

The director admits to the influence of Shankar-Jaikishan’s orchestration on the film’s soundscape.

The male protagonist of Mard Ko Dard Nahin Hota, Surya, a 21-year-old man who is congenitally insensitive to physical pain, is played by first-timer Abhimanyu Dassani.

The cherubic, middle-class ‘superhero’ is on a mission that borders on the ridiculous.Muggers caused his mother’s death.

He’s out to eliminate them all. For all his heroics, he is a believable guy because he isn’t exactly infallible. Socially awkward, susceptible to dehydration and often vulnerable, he is driven by a sense of intrepidity engendered by his medical condition.

Like the film itself, this protagonist has come in from the cold and does many a thing that you least expect him to. We root for him nonetheless. Vasan Bala’s directorial flair and the general zaniness of the

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Although Mard Ko Dard Nahin Hota is a full-on tribute to B-movies of all kinds – the title, of course, harks back to Amitabh Bachchan in Manmohan Desai’s Mard– the filmmaker grew up on multiple cinematic influences. “The first film that my father took me to see,” he says, “was Franco Nero’s Django (a spaghetti western made in the mid-1960s). “Later on, Doordarshan curated such an interesting variety of films without the help of algorithms – Ozu and Bergman, Bollywood and MGR films. It was a great time.”

Vasan Bala points to the critical bias towards B-movies. “Rambo: First Blood, Taxi Driver and Born on the Fourth of July are all about Vietnam vets, but Rambo will never unlike the other two earn the status of a great film although it does not fall short in emotion, expression and craft,” he says.

How did he come up with something as wildly weird as Mard Ko Dard Nahin Hota?

Vasan Bala replies: “When you are writing your film you are so into that world that you are completely convinced about it. It is with that passion and zeal that you convince the producer. It is with the same passion and zeal that you make the film. You think it’s quirky or offbeat only when the film is out and people tell you so.”

Idiosyncratic or not, Vasan Bala has the makings of a worthy flag-bearer of a cinematic tradition that is crying out to be rescued from the morass of mediocrity.

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19-11-2018 03:59:06 AM

THEY BREATH LIFE INTO CINEMA

Is the Future Here?

ELEVEN INDIE VOICES THAT COULD SHAPE THE BROAD CONTOURS OF INDIA’S ALTERNATIVE CINEMA IN THE YEARS AHEAD

BY SAIBAL CHATTERJEE

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Hypnotic Surrealism A filmmaker who brings an impressively individualistic style and vision to the medium, Kolkata-born Aditya Vikram Sengupta won instant admirers with his 2014 debut Asha Jaoar Majhe (Labour of Love), which bagged a prize at the Venice Film Festival. The virtually dialogue-less film used images, sound and music to craft a lyrical love story set in the unsettled times brought on by the economic recession of 2009. With his next essay, Jonaki, which premiered in the International Film Festival of Rotterdam, Sengupta, who is a graphic designer by training, has gone even further down the path of pure form of cinema, employing heightened reality and complex dreamscapes to probe love, loss, death, grief and social decay. The result is a film of stunning images and beautiful moments that blend hypnotic surrealism and visual poetry.

ADITYA VIKRAM SENGUPTA Filmmaker from West Bengal

Meta-Fiction

KABIR SINGH CHOWDHRY Filmmaker from Punjab

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A multidisciplinary artist who was the creative producer of Mukti Bhawan, Kabir Singh Chowdhry has earned his spurs as an independent director with the remarkable documentary-fiction hybrid Mehsampur. The film takes a part established genre norms in telling the story of a filmmaker researching for a biopic on the iconic folk singer Amar Singh Chamkila, the Elvis of Punjab, who was gunned down in the late 1980s along with his wife and two other band members. The firebrand performer – he revelled in challenging cultural, social and religious shibboleths – was only 27. The film is every bit as rebellious as the man whose life it probes. It calls into question the ethics of filmmaking and the state of affairs in a once prosperous state that appears to have sunk into the doldrums of late.

The highly inventive overlapping of meta-fiction and documentary elements yields a challenging, provocative, playful movie experience.

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Touching Lives

IVAN AYR Filmmaker from Punjab

Chandigarh-born Ivan Ayr spent several years of his childhood in Delhi and still has extended family in India’s capital city, which has earned notoriety in recent years for the risks that women face here on a daily basis. He channels his concern into Soni, which premiered this year in Venice after snagging the best work-in-progress award at the NFDC Film Bazaar in 2017. It’s a naturalistic portrait of a Delhi policewoman and her superintendent, who grapple with gender expectations and deeply entrenched patriarchy as they go about their work in a city where cases of sexual assault are alarmingly frequent. Soni won the best film award at the recent Pingyao International Film Festival – part of the prize money will go into funding the director’s next project.

House-Full The Chennai-based cinematographer pressed his decade-long experience behind the camera into service in the making of his directorial debut, To Let, which has won multiple awards.

It is a deeply personal film about a young movie industry professional and his family looking for a house in Chennai during the information technology boom in the first decade of the millennium. The film is marked by a storytelling style that eschews the conventions of Tamil cinema and uses a soundscape that springs from the milieu the story is set in. Chezhiyan is in the midst of his next production, which is in the Co-Production Market of the 2018 NFDC Film Bazaar.

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CHEZHIYAN RA Filmmaker from Tamil Nadu

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DAR GAI Filmmaker from Ukraine, now Mumbai

For Women,

by Woman

Kiev-born Daria Gaikalova, who adopted the abbreviated professional name in order to disguise both her gender identity and her nationality, has helmed two remarkable Indian independent films, Teen Aur Aadha and Namdev Bhau – In Search of Silence, in quick succession. The first title has travelled around the globe and picked up many awards.

The latter has just begun its journey but is already making waves.

As much at home in India as she is in her native Ukraine, Dar Gai is set to start filming a new Hindi feature soon.

This time around, it will be a feminist film cast in the Bollywood mould and set in the heart of Uttar Pradesh.

And that isn’t the only Indian story she has in the pipeline – hers is a career that is poised to go great guns.

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Reality Strikes Born and raised in a remote village in Ri Bhoi district of Meghalaya, Dominic Sangma learnt the ropes of filmmaking at the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute in Kolkata. His first feature film, Ma’Ama (Moan), was the only Indian film to make it to the International Competition section of the recent MAMI Mumbai Film Festival. Steering clear of overtly dramatic methods, he turns his camera’s gaze upon his own family, his father to be precise. In a village on the Meghalaya-Assam border, a remarried octogenarian has, every single day of the last 30 years of his life,dreamt of reuniting with his deceased first wife, the filmmaker’s mother. Ma’Ama is an intense probe into mourning and the process of coming to terms with bereavement.

Filmmaker from Meghalaya

Rite Lane

JAICHENG JAIDOHUTIA Filmmaker from Assam

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DOMINIC SANGMA

Independent Guwahati-based filmmaker Jaicheng Jai Dohutia has provided evidence of his skills in his very first film, Haanduk – The Hidden Corner, made in the Moran language. It fetched him a National Award as well as a Grand Jury Prize of the 2016 Mumbai Film Festival. His next project features in the 2018 Film Bazaar C0-Production Market.

Filmed on real locations and with non-actors, Haanduk, inspired by a true story, delves into the effect of militancy on ordinary lives. It tells the story of a mother, who performs the last rites of her bullet-ridden son, a member of an extremist outfit, only to be told that the body is probably someone else’s.

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Mind of a Man

SANGE DORJEE THONGDOK Filmmaker from Arunachal Pradesh

Sange Dorjee Thongdok’s first film, Crossing Bridges (2013), about a man who returns to his village in Arunachal Pradesh after losing his job, was the first even made in the language of the Sherdukpen tribe to which the director belongs. Thongdok, also the first film school alumnus from his community of a film school, shot the film in his own village, Jigaon in West Kameng district. It probes the mind of a man who returns home and gradually begins to reconnect with his people and culture, a process that forces him to have a relook at his life and career choices. The filmmaker’s second feature River Song premiered in the International Indian Film Festival in Stuttgart this year.

He is now working on his third film.

Married to Movies A self-taught filmmaker who quit his corporate job to be closer to cinema, Chennai-based Vijay Jayapal has learnt the art and craft of the medium from voraciously watching world cinema and the works of Indian greats like Satyajit Ray and Adoor Gopalakrishnan. He started off with short films and corporate videos. In 2016, he made his first feature, Revelations, a low-key drama about marriage, infidelity and loneliness set in Kolkata.

The film stood out for its sustained restraint, a trait that owed no debt to commercial Tamil cinema. Jayapal is currently filming a paranormal thriller set in Kerala and the hills of northern India.

His work represents a revolt against the insularity of much of the cinema in his home state, an exercise that can only be strengthened by his third film – an Indo-Korean co-production titled The Yellow Jade.

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VIJAY JAYAPAL Filmmaker from Tamil Nadu

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From Bengal with Love Independent Kolkata filmmaker Arjunn Dutta’s Abyakto (The Unsaid), a mother-son drama, is competing this year for IFFI’s Centenary Award for the Best Debut Film. Although he is a selfavowed Rituparno Ghosh votary, the film has touches of Satyajit Ray’s Charulata thanks in no mean measure to a marvelous central performance from lead actress Arpita Chatterjee. Dutta, who honed his skills with award-winning short films before making Abyakto, is a Bengali director worth watching especially against the backdrop of the disappointing dearth of truly world class cinema from the eastern India state, which not all that long ago was in the forefront of providing Indian cinema its global thrust. How far Dutta on the map of outward looking Bengali cinema will depend on which creative lodestar he tilts more towards – Ray or Ghosh.

Speaking with Scenes ARUN KARTHICK Filmmaker from Tamil Nadu

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Coimbatore-based Arun Karthick is going places with his proposed second film, Nasir, which has won a grant under the co-production scheme of the Netherlands Film Fund and Hubert Bals Fund.

Thanks to the development, the film, based on a short story by eminent Tamil writer Dileep Kumar, already has a Dutch co-producer, Rinkel Film, on board. The film, to be shot entirely on the streets and alleys of the director’s home town, is about an amiable salesman whose life is disrupted by communal riots.

Karthick’s first film, Sivapuranam (The Strange Case of Shiva), was a single-character drama about a fashion designer completely immersed in his own world. A film without dialogues and songs, it demonstrated the director’s ability to deliver cinematic experimentation couched in a truly global sensibility.

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ARJUNN DUTTA Filmmaker from West Bengal

A RIDER: The above list is by no means exhaustive. There are numerous other Indian filmmakers working in the alternative cinema space that we will be keeping our eyes on. Among them are award-winning production designer Vandana Kataria, who has completed her first feature film Noblemen and is prepping for her second; Megha Ramaswamy, a maker of acclaimed shorts whose first feature project is in the Film Bazaar CoProduction Market; and Jatla Siddhartha (Love and Shukla), a cinematography grad from FTII who is now developing In the Belly of a Tiger, a look at rural lives subsisting on the edge of the India’s development story.

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FILM OFFICES AT FILM BAZAAR, GOA

India, with its endless diversity of physical features and cultural patterns, offers an excellent canvas to film-makers to satiate their creative pursuits which can be translated into high points for tourism in the country. Here are some of the top shooting locales from various states of the country that can form the backdrop of some of the greatest stories in world cinema.

To promote shooting locations of India, the government has set up the Film Facilitation Office (FFO) in the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) with a view to promote and facilitate shootings by32 foreign filmmakers in India.

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Goa

GOA

This little state is a panacea for filmmakers exploring locales that offer the lethal combination of beaches and booze. The region with its colonial architecture is a feast for anyone with an eye for details. Goa, with its vibrant culture, is a theme waiting to be taken up

by Western cinema.

This little state is a panacea for filmmakers exploring locales that offer the lethal combination of beaches and booze. The region with its colonial architecture is a feast for anyone with an eye for details. Goa, with its vibrant culture, is a theme waiting to be taken up by Westernwww.picklemag.in cinema.

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The capital of India, with its unique historical and cultural heritage, has formed the backdrop of many iconic films. Sprinkled with ruins that exist alongside modern infrastructure, Delhi is undoubtedly a cinematic delight embracing two contrasting worlds. The city is home to three World Heritage sites -- Qutub Minar, Red Fort and Humayun’s Tomb. Besides availability of new talent, lower production cost, international connectivity and better infrastructure, there are more than 200 locations to shoot at.

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DELHI

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Uttar Pradesh (Lucknow)

Taj Mahal in Agra, the symbol of love, has attracted filmmakers to Uttar Pradesh since the black and white era.

The temple town of Varanasi offers a never-seen-before cultural experience for the international viewer, while the Buddhist relics at Sarnath and Lucknow are other places that could double up as props for a film catering to a wide audience.

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Maharashtra (Mumbai)

Home to Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood, Maharashtra is a director’s delight, as his/her search for locations ends right here. It boasts of a huge variety of options, seeking to be dissected with a camera. www.picklemag.in 38 pickle entertainment biz guide

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Gujarat (Gandhinagar)

Winner of Indian government’s national award for the ‘Most film-friendly state’ in 2016, Gujarat is increasingly becoming the most preferred spot for the tinsel world.

Filmmakers wishing to offer the audience an ‘eastern’ experience can land in Gujarat.

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Jharkhand (Ranchi) Jharkhand is a nature lover’s paradise. It is home to countless waterfalls -- Hundru Falls, Lodh Falls and Johna Falls. The State’s locales include forests, hills, valleys, waterfalls, wildlife, history, culture, charming towns and vibrant cities.

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Lakshadweep Beautiful Lakshadweep was in limelight after Sinjar, a feature film by Malayalam short film director Sandeep Pampally won big at the 65th National Film Awards recently. The Union Territory is a paradise in itself and the simplicity of life here is what can make it a wonderful backdrop of some of the unique stories that need to be told.

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Rajasthan (Jaipur) This princely state is the top choice for royal tales. With its imposing palaces and forts, the cities of Rajasthan might very well pass of as international destinations, thanks to its foreign tourists.

The stories of Hawa Mahal, Mount Abu and the haunted forts in Alwar are waiting to be told on celluloid.

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Telangana (Hyderabad) Telangana is going all out to woo international filmmakers to shoot in the state, especially in various beautiful locations like Jodeghat, Gandhari Killa (fort), Mitta waterfall (Satha Gundu), Manikguda caves, Kerameri Ghat Road and Shivaram, all in Adilabad district, which is over 300 km away from the state capital Hyderabad.

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Karnataka (Bangalore) This state has the Silicon City of India and a whole array of health spas. A range of architecture depicted through its palaces, temples, mausoleums, monuments and ruins.

Sanctuaries, national parks and waterfalls, along with endless beaches, scenic hills and modern cityscapes are abundant here.

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Madhya Pradesh (Bhopal)

Winner of Indian government’s national award for the ‘Most filmfriendly state’ in 2017, the ‘heart of India’, Madhya Pradesh, offers a wide variety of locales, eliminating the role of a set designer. From famous forts, marble rocks of Bheraghat, to the green hills of Pachmarhi, the options are rich and many. The temples of Khajuraho are UNESCO heritage sites.

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THOUGHT LEADER

CINEMA AS AN ART FORM WILL SURVIVE We are living in times of dramatic changes – and I guess the only way to move forward is to analyze changes without fear, analyze regional and cultural specifics of filmmaking and audiences, says Dorothee Wenner, delegate and South Asia programmer to the Berlin International Film Festival International Film Festival of India (IFFI) is marching towards 50th anniversary in 2019. What has been your experience at IFFI? It is a highly important meeting point for international and Indian film professionals alike, and I really enjoyed the Goan flair whenever I attended in past years. However, the timing of IFFI is tough for us Berlinale programmers, as main selection screenings are ongoing at home and most of our research needs to be done before IFFI takes place – our deadline is October end.

For over a decade, year after year Berlinale has been on a discovery spree of Indian films and directors and you are part of discovering talent. Your views...

My Bombay-based colleague Meenakshi Shedde and I work nearly the entire year, trying to get an overview of what is under production. It is an extremely work-intense enterprise trying to get a picture of what

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is going on. In India, only very few official organizations exist which support our work in comparison to countries like Korea or Argentina. The effects can be frustrating, but also very rewarding, as I’m discovering every year a number of films by filmmakers I have never heard of; I see films about topics, areas I never knew they existed… The bottomline is that the tremendous passion for cinema and filmmaking in India is what drives me. To my knowledge, it is unsurpassed by any other region in the world.

Do you see visible changes in the independent Indian cinema? What are your views on new narratives among the current generation of filmmakers?

Yes, I do see changes. Presently, many more independent films deal with political and social changes ongoing in India; the remote areas are coming to the fore in terms of attention. Violence, the class divide and religious tensions are depicted in many more movies than a few years ago.

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Berlinale is not a last-minutedestination: usually it works much better if you make your schedule in advance.

Define what you want to achieve at the festival and make a strategy accordingly before you leave Also, I noticed that the new generation seems to be more at ease, more daring in experimenting with new cinematographic languages and expressions.

There are 2,000 films that are produced in over 20 languages in seven film markets in India. What needs to be done to bring structural changes in the Indian cinema ecosystem to identify cinemas of India?

That is a big question and a proper answer would fill a book. To start with, I think cinemas in India should be supported by a cultural understanding and a force that allows looking at filmmaking not solely as a commercial business. There’s a need for non-commercially (or: not solely commercially oriented) niches to develop and prosper new ideas, formats and new audiences. Especially, the current distribution system is suffocating and would need structural support to become more diverse.

Do you think India needs to create institutions equivalent of what other countries have in film space?

What I’m desperately waiting for are alliances of independent filmmakers which create official bodies strong and big enough to represent their impact and voice their demands in the larger field. If the new institutions would be modelled accordingly – yes, that could make a difference.

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India has co-production treaties with 14 countries in audio visual space. This tool has been rarely used and less than 10 films have been co-produced in last one decade. How do we change this?

Do you think the new generation of filmmakers can make use of this if the scope of co -production is expanded to news screens (mobile, OTT)?

Looking at the production realities of Indian filmmaking, it is the smaller and medium budget productions which are most likely to venture into successful international coproductions. And yes, I do think this model could have a very stimulating effect on the Indian industries overall. To get there, screenplay writing and project development would need to get more attention; more support. And often: simply more time.

With companies like Amazon, Netflix and Google driving cinemas across geographies, how do you see the future for cinemas?

I’m a cinephile and convinced that cinema as an art form will survive. Having said LIKE PICKLE IN FACEBOOK

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that, I’m very aware that we are living in times of dramatic changes – and I guess the only way to move forward is to analyze changes without fear, analyze regional and cultural specifics of filmmaking and audiences. It is a political, cultural and economic responsibility to keep local, regional cinematographic infrastructures intact – not only by protecting existing realities, also by being inventive in looking for new forms of collaboration, innovative financing, by experimenting with films’ exhibition and of course: new models of audience building. Amazon, Netflix and Google have become extremely powerful players, initially only due to their financial capacities – but it is not money alone which creates good cinema. Until very recently, I think a lot of people in the industry were in kind of a shell-shock by the pace the Silicon valley or digitization are transforming the industry – I’m not excluding myself.

But over the past few months, I’m very pleased to see that the awareness to come to terms with the new realities, mainly by developing counter-strategies to the new capitalist super-powers has gained momentum. Not to be misunderstood: I’m

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full of admiration for some of the films, series of lately produced by Amazon, Google, Netflix. It’s just their tremendous strive for a total market domination which I detest – and which in my view needs to be tackled.

This is crucial time for Indian filmmakers and producers planning to attend Berlinale and European Film Market. Please give few dos and don’ts on preparing for Berlinale?

Berlinale is not a last-minute-destination: usually it works much better if you make your schedule in advance. Define what you want to achieve at the festival and make a strategy accordingly before you leave. Team up with colleagues, friends who’ve been to Berlinale before. Book your accommodation now. Bring warm clothes and shoes; go to the gym to be fit once you arrive. If you don’t have a next project to take care of: Berlinale is a perfect destination for film buffs eager to see as many films as your body/brain allows in 10 days – it can be totally rewarding and time of your life!

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The independent filmmakers are as resilient as they are nimble in their business approach

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LESSONS FROM AFM 2018

AFM: A MECCA FOR INDEPENDENT FILMMAKERS Over the years the American Film Market (AFM) has emerged as a big international platform where independent filmmakers can find all the relevant industry people at one place to discuss business of creating, selling and distributing films Seeing changes As thousands of industry professionals from 28 countries descended upon the Loews Hotel in Santa Monica for the 39th American Film Market there was one thing everyone could agree on, our industry is constantly seeing changes and shifts in the business of making and selling independent film. Currently, we’re talking about evolutions in technology or marketplace access, but we can also agree that the independents are as resilient as they are nimble in their business approach.

The independent film business has always been a competitive industry and marketplace, but it is also a business that is populated by passionate, creative, goal-oriented people. It is encouraging to hear that they see a professional community committed to craft and open to exploring ways to push against these perceived headwinds to foster a more robust market. Thankfully, exploring ways to adjust business practices and overcome challenges seems to be in the DNA of those who choose to work in this industry.

Charles Darby and Tim Werenko founders of New York-based 3Beep

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Face to face AFM and its contemporary film markets are essential to bringing industry people together in one concentrated place where they can sit down

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Chris Lo, Director, Los Angeles, Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), Jean M. Prewitt, President & CEO of IFTA & Jonathan Wolf, Executive Vice President and Managing Director of the American Film Market -- on Hong Kong Day at AFM 2018 face to face and focus on the business of creating, selling and distributing films while hearing first-hand what’s happening in different territories, especially in the era of platforms and evolving consumer preferences.

“AFM has always been the big market,” said Millennium Media President Jeffery Greenstein. “You have Cannes in the spring and AFM in the fall. AFM is the market at this end of the year where everyone scrambles to bring their projects.

At AFM I’m basically selling morning to night, from dusk to dawn.”

Film business practices Producers and sales executives agree that AFM is critical for the continued growth and health of the independent film market. Nat McCormick, EVP at The Exchange saw the people at AFM looking to evolve independent film business practices, “Amongst a certain amount of buyers, people are exploring more types of co-productions.

Buyers who would have before just been licensing a territory, there’s more exploration, and maybe they can come in and also be an equity financier on a picture. Maybe they can be a coproduction partner.”

“Filmmakers looking for money for their next project can come to AFM and find international film companies interested to jump in and help sell the movie so that filmmakers can borrow the necessary funds to get the film produced,” said Mudbound producer Cassian Elwes. “Keeping in mind, of course, that a project must have the right elements attached to it and offer value at the right price point”.

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VOD is here to stay Consumers have also made themselves clear that VOD is here to stay. While streaming hasn’t fully replaced the gap left by DVD sales in the market more companies are starting to feel positive and hopeful as new platforms and established VOD providers become embedded in the viewing habits of international consumers of all demographics.

Production and distribution company The Asylum has evolved a sales strategy based on the changing demands by consumers, “The way consumers are viewing our product: Over Video-on-demand platforms. We’ve seen a growth in all types of VOD and buyers seem to be very interested in acquiring titles, including library titles, for these new venues”, said Paul Bales, Partner and COO.

Expanding knowledge Over the years, AFM has evolved into something larger than a film market to buy and sell independent film. The film production community from around the world are drawn here to AFM. It’s an opportunity for them to expand their knowledge about the business. Writers and producers also have the rare opportunity to access 400 film company offices in one place with the prospect to land meetings with financiers and sales agents. Potential for success relies on presenting carefully curated projects that present value and are tailored to the specific tastes of each company.

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to compare war stories, to hear about opportunities you didn’t know about; soft money in foreign countries or hearing about a star that people are excited about in France that you weren’t aware of. When your next project comes around you are already aware of what you can do with that movie in terms of putting the financing together to make it happen.”

Key stop for deals For international film producers and sales agents AFM can be a key stop to secure a deal within the ambivalent U.S. territories. UniFrance’s Adeline Monzier puts it this way, “Getting a U.S. distribution deal for a French Film still carries a lot of symbolic weight and can trigger other world sales but the economic reality of the market is very difficult and it is getting harder and harder for a French foreign film to cross the symbolic million-dollar threshold at the box office.”

The European Film Promotion group (EFP), a 20-year veteran of AFM, is seeing buyers from North and South America, “showing more interest in clearly defined genre films especially suspense, horror, action, and a little bit of comedy, because the market for these films is so much stronger in their territories”.

State of transition Independent filmmaking is still largely a relationship business so the opportunity to sit down face to face and expand the conversation about your company, talent or country beyond what has been written in the press is invaluable to everyone working in this industry.

If you feel it is a challenging time in our industry. Heed a word of advice from Bales of The Asylum, “As the market is in a state of transition. It is more important than ever to understand the market and make and buy films that will work in the current environment.”

It will be exciting to see the deals and information that manifest in Santa Monica as a sign for what 2019 has in store.

State of the union AFM Organizer Jean Prewitt said, “Our industry is increasingly under threat, in one way or another. People seem to think that anything we can or do produce can be handed off so why does it matter? In many cases, we are not the favorite child anymore in terms of government legislatures. We have found that it is important that we [IFTA] and the MPAA stand together wherever we can, as one industry, one community. We need each other, and it is important as a group that everyone

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sees this. We may disagree on how to solve certain issues but we work together to address people’s needs in the best way possible.”

Charles Rivkin, Chairman & CEO, Motion Picture Association of America, said, “IFTA and the MPAA address so many common issues around the world, and when the MPAA and IFTA stand side by side there is truly nothing we can’t accomplish together, on behalf of creatives around the world.”

According to CR, “Something has to change. The MPAA self-regulated as an industry 50 years ago by rating our own movies, to avoid that regulation going through the government. Before we rated our own films sayings like hold your hat could not be used in film, women could not show displeasure during child birth as it would look like they did not want to start a family, and if there was a kiss one foot had to remain on the floor. We needed to self-regulate and we did.”

Producer & financier perspective Milan Popelka, COO, FilmNation Entertainment said, “We are a long term-looking company; we are thinking about how to be a platform for storytellers, as the lines between different forms of content bleed…and we become an engine that powers those stories” “The danger and biggest risk is seeing something happening and not paying attention to it. The lifeblood of any company is always the creative. It doesn’t matter what you want to do if you don’t have the creatives coming to you you’re probably not going to succeed.” According to Arianne Fraser, CEO, Highland Film Group, “A lot of the sales agents are becoming more hybrid...with all these various elements sometimes Netflix is the perfect partner for it [the project].” “I love to find new talent. We cast Margot Robbie and brought her to Berlin and no one knew who she was.”

Future of the industry John Friedberg, President, International Sales, STX Entertainment said, “There are going to be so many ways to consume content – immediate – on every device – How do you curate your time and what stands out?”

On the emerging Chinese marketplace, he said, “So there is a lot of attention focused on innovative ways to approach the territory in a way that is reliable. If you build somewhere where it is a huge part of your business plan – it can pose a risk.”

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Talking about the power of talent, he said, “We are looking for strong stories that can reach an audience. We do make films with hugely valuable actors. Distributors are wanting to have a marketable element to their film.”

The buyer perspective Syrinthia Studer, EVP, Worldwide Acquisitions, Paramount, said, “There’s many films that we might look at in the marketplace. Book Club - the conversations that were happening in social was so exciting.

That movie was drawing people to theatre because it had a communal feeling with it.”

“Although my focus and role is to acquire films that are complementary to our theatrical slate, we also engage in acquiring content for a multi-platform approach.”

Sasha Buhler, Head of Acquisitions, Constantin Film, said, “There’s a lot more specialty material out there and that is what we’re looking for the content that gets audiences off their couches and into the theatre together. We’re being more discerning about what can play theatrical now.”

Large volume of pitches Tobin Armbrust, President, Worldwide Production & Acquisitions, Virgin Produced, said, “I would say the largest volumes of pitches that I hear now are on the phone, which is a very difficult scenario...

You can’t read the room, you almost feel as though you have less time… But I do get a lot of my pitches on the phone because it is almost impossible for people to continually get physical meetings, hear pitches, have people come in and out.”

“I have to take whatever that idea is, whether it is in script or it is in pitch form, I have to take that idea and I have to get it down to a kernel, because now we are talking agents. The result of however I pitch that is going to get that script or that idea or whatever that is, going to get it from number 20 in the pile to maybe number 5 or 4, so it’s incredibly important.”

Producing Successful Content William Feng, Head of Greater China & Vice President, Asia Pacific, MPA, said, “More than 80% of co-productions film in China. Hollywood movies used to dominate the top 10 in China, now it is Chinese films” Belle Avery, Producer, The MEG, said, “You are going to be very surprised if you shoot there… They have been wonderful… We had 2000 people on set and everything went

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smoothly. Some Chinese films are not getting proper distribution… We need to see more of these films in broad distribution” Bennett Pozil, EVP, East West Bank, said, “[The] new generation of directors have great exposure to Hollywood… Every year, in the top filmmakers there are 20 to 30 Chinese filmmakers.”

Studio films with independent budgets Jeffrey Greenstein, President, Millennium Media, said, “I think the value proposition is definitely the right way to hit the nail on the head… talking about how to get money to make your film, I think the first question is what kind of film is it and where are people going to see it.”

“I would describe foreign sales as an understanding of what the revenues will be worldwide on the worst case basis.”

Ashok Amritraj, Chairman & CEO, Hyde Park Entertainment, said, “There’s always been a certain amount of equity out there… it’s just that, whether you’re making a million-dollar film or a 20 million dollar film, you’ve got to put the investor in a place where he’s got a shot of getting his money out.”

“From the word ‘go’ you have to be passionate about what you’re going to make because it’s a long road… Today I think, more than ever, is the day of the producer.

You really have to want to make your movie, you really have to understand what movie you’re going to make and you have to execute at a high level.”

From script to screen Tamara Birkemoe, President & COO, Foresight Unlimited, said, “You have to make sure you have the right talent attached and in general you have to make sure that

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Networking at its best: Carousel cocktails at AFM the foreign and the domestic [distribution sales] is enough in addition to whatever equity you have to make the movie.”

“Find the right sales agent for your movie.

You want to find the ones that are going to sell your movie the best, the ones that know the buyers they’re going to sell to.”

According to Anthony B. Beaudoin, Managing Director, Union Bank, “Once you get into budgets that exceed 5 million, you want to have a distribution plan in place before going to the bank.”

Gender diversity Alison Thompson, Co-President, Cornerstone Films, said, “The BFI has brought in a set of diversity standards… if you want to apply for funding through the BFI, you have to comply with these standards, otherwise you won’t get funded.”

Janet Yang, Producer, said, “There’s more than just talk. There’s a lot more data out there that is so much more sophisticated than what had come out previously. There is simply no reason any longer not to make diverse content.”

Jonathan King, President of Narrative Film & Television, Participant Media, said, “In some ways, I think the big companies are better positioned to prioritize that (diversity inclusion) because of the structure and the kind of product they make; it’s a machine. They can say ‘I’m going to take a chance on someone…

Whereas each independent film is its own operation.”

“We place a high priority on crew on our movies. Everyone’s focused on how many movies were directed by women, but often men graduate from other positions on the crew to directing and the pipeline isn’t really there [for women], so we focus on trying to diversify crew.”

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Sales perspective Lisa Gutberlet, EVP, International Sales & Acquisitions, Blue Fox Entertainment, said, “We really try to create a global strategy, so we also have a U.S. Distribution arm… If we are the U.S. distributor as well, that will help us place the film internationally at the right markets.”

“We really want to be a worldwide partner and create a global strategy early on, to maximize returns in the film.

Spain has, for a number of years, been a relatively more difficult territory to sell and they’ve come back recently and so has Russia.”

Basil Iwanyk, Founder, Thunder Road Pictures, said, “The market is really smart. If I want 15 million dollars out of foreign and the market says [the film] is worth nine million, the market is probably right.”

“Of course it’s hard; it’s the movie business, it’s always been hard. Shockingly, the movies that are supposed to get made, get made. It’s exhausting to constantly hear everybody complain… we’re making movies. This is a great gig and yeah, it’s tough, but so what?”

Future of video on demand John Orlando, SVP, Programming & Development, Sony Crackle, said, “We’re very careful about making shows and building things that are relevant to our audience.

Genre really works well for casual viewers and for people looking to settle down and escape.”

“In this time when there are 450 drama TV series out there, and hundreds of movies being made and acquired by Netflix and Amazon, we are able to make things specifically for an audience and then we’re able to market them with specificity.”

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POWER 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL IN INDIAN MEDIA AND SHOWBIZ. WATCH OUT FOR PICKLE 2019 NEW YEAR ISSUE. Pickle’s goal is to help you buy, sell and distribute content from overseas territories, find co-production partners, offshore with best of the Indian service companies and track media and entertainment business in India.

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FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK

W

e are delighted to present the latest issue of Pickle on the special occasion of the 49th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) at Goa. IFFI promises to be just as exciting and wide-ranging as any of the editions that have gone before.

Over the past two decades, several other international film festivals have sprung up across India, notably in Kolkata, Kerala, Chennai and Mumbai, and they all contribute meaningfully to the collective task of taking quality cinema to the people.

IFFI 2018 will showcase 212 films from over 68 countries which reflects diversity of taste. International Competition section has 15 films out of which three are Indian. Competition section itself represents films produced and coproduced by 22 countries.

But IFFI’s preeminence has not diminished one bit. What separates it from the other festivals in India are its size, scope and vintage.

Festival Kaleidoscope section carries 20 critically acclaimed international films that have been to major film festivals and majority of them being multiple award winners. This is one of the most sought after sections of the festival that showcases best and top films of the year.

IFFI has been constantly engaging film and media students from Pune, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi in professionally and creatively organizing the festival. With this, IFFI not only promotes current filmmakers but also upcoming talent. IFFI 2018 promises enlightened conversations with masterminds and thought leaders.

IFFI serves a dual purpose. One, its Indian Panorama section showcases the diversity of the country’s multilingual cinema. Two, the festival assembles the year’s finest films from around the world.

At the same time, a new ecosytem has to be created to add an IFFI Film Market that would boost Indian Panorama films showcased at the festival. The footprint of the Panorama films has the potential to travel to may markets around the world.

All the established global festivals have a flourishing market that brings a sales agent to every film screened in the festival.

With IFFI marching towards 50th anniversary next year it's time to shift gears to make the festival to become a marketplace too.

n vidyasagar

pickle media nvidyasagar@picklemag.in, www.picklemag.com

Pickle Volume XII 4th edition Published by Pickle Media Private Limited Email: natvid@gmail.com l Mumbai l Chennai No.2, Habib Complex Dr Durgabhai Deshmukh Road RA Puram CHENNAI 600 028

Printed by : Dotarts Pvt. Ltd., Kodambakkam Chennai-600 024

Senior Editor : Vivek Ratnakar Editorial Coordinators : M Sai Email: natvid@gmail.com Design Editor : Jose J Reegan Photo Editor: K K Laskar

For advertising: natvid@gmail.com

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