Page No. 23

Melbourne, August 20 (Australia India News Newsdesk)

Melbourne played host to a vibrant new initiative in the film and entertainment world with the launch of the World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit (#WAVES Bazaar), a digital B2B marketplace designed to connect filmmakers and industry leaders.

The summit brought together over 50 Indian and Australian filmmakers, facilitating more than 465 one-on-one meetings. These exchanges opened fresh opportunities for co-productions, global distribution partnerships, investments, and the sharing of creative expertise, setting the stage for deeper collaboration between the two countries.

Adding to the significance of the event, the National Film Development Corporation of India and the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia signed a letter of intent, focusing on cooperation in film presentation and archival exchange—an important step in preserving and showcasing shared cinematic heritage.

The summit also honoured the creative energy of trailblazers who are shaping cross-border storytelling. Among them were Bagavathi Perumal, Sharad Mittal, Parveen Saini, Abdul Aziz, Sanju Surendran, Pausali Sengupta, Abhilash Sharma, Chintan Parekh, Mandar Shankar Apte, Amandeep Singh, Rahul Shetty, Tamseel Hussain, Rajdeep Choudhury, along with many others whose work continues to build bridges in the India–Australia creative partnership.