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Arun Karthick, an Indian director, brings a very personal story to Film Bazaar with his latest effort, “Aanaikatti Blues. ” The film explores adolescent love and gang culture in a small mountain community.

The film follows Gopi, 22, and Vishnupriya, 20, whose live-in relationship becomes more problematic when Gopi joins “The 46 Gang,” a local gang of young men who like drinking, smoking, hunting, and cricket betting.

Karthick crafts the narrative based on his experience. “I was initiated into the sub-culture of small-town gang life, which led to some devastating personal consequences,” he told me. The film seeks to investigate how young people negotiate the conflict between tradition and modern life.

As Gopi’s substance misuse worsens, the story follows his increasing paranoia and its effects on his relationship with Vishnupriya. The rising tensions threaten to derail their future together.

The production company Manvasanai, whose name means “the scent of the earth,” is behind the endeavor.

Director Arun Karthick returns to Film Bazaar with “Aanaikatti Blues,” a story of young love set against the backdrop of rural gang culture in an Indian mountain village.

The film follows Gopi, 22, and Vishnupriya, 20, as they navigate a controversial live-in relationship while Gopi becomes increasingly entangled with a local gang. The narrative follows Gopi’s descent into substance abuse through his involvement with “The 46 Gang,” a group of young men occupied with drinking, smoking, hunting, and cricket betting. As his addiction deepens and paranoia sets in, the story tracks the impact on his relationship with Vishnupriya, culminating in a series of events that threaten their future together.

“I was initiated into the sub-culture of small-town gang-life which led to some devastating personal consequences. The rush of love, the thrill of addiction, and the crushing weight of responsibility is why I want to tell this story,” Karthick tells Variety.

The film...

India’s Film Bazaar market has revealed the 21 feature projects selected for this year’s Co-Production Market.

The invited titles span seven countries including India, UK, Australia and Germany. The projects will be pitched to producers, distributors, festival programmers, financiers and sales agents at Goa’s Marriott Resort from November 20-24.

Titles include The Song Of Flowers from UK-based producer Neeraj Churi whose previous projects include SXSW 2024 audience award winner A Place Of Our Own. The film is directed by Shubham Negi and Sourav Yadav.

Also selected is Payal Sethi’s India-Germany co-production The Disappearing Flower, produced by Thanikachalam Sa...

National Film Development Corporation (Nfdc) Indian project market Film Bazaar has unveiled an ambitious slate for its 18th edition co-production market, with “Baahubali” producer Shobu Yarlagadda among the selection. The market, set for Nov. 20-24 at Goa’s Marriott Resort, showcases 29 projects spanning India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Australia, the U.K., Germany, and Hong Kong.

The market runs concurrently with the International Film Festival of India, which unspools Nov. 20-28 across Goa.

From a pool of 180 feature submissions spanning 23 countries, 21 features made the cut. The projects represent a linguistic mosaic, including Hindi, English, Assamese, Tamil, Marwari, Bengali, Malayalam, Punjabi, Nepali, Marathi, Pahadi, and Cantonese, demonstrating the market’s growing international appeal.

High-profile industry veterans dominate the features section. Abhishek Chaubey teams with Honey Trehan for “Absent,” a psychological drama about two schoolboys whose friendship takes a dark turn. Producer Alan McAlex, who had two films at Cannes this year – “Santosh” and...

After the impressive success of the BAFTA Breakthrough India programme in 2021 and 2022, BAFTA is once again launching the scheme for a third year. Applications open today until 5 July, and the programme is open to creatives from across the film, games and television industries nationally, as well as those working in the UK and the US.

This year also marks Netflix’s third year supporting BAFTA Breakthrough in India and its fourth year in the UK and US.

BAFTA Breakthrough aims to identify and nurture emerging talent from around the world and equip them with the resources they need to develop their skills and progress in their chosen field. First launched in the UK ten years ago, BAFTA Breakthrough is one of the arts charity’s flagship talent schemes, with over 200 careers developed and accelerated to-date.

Through this initiative, BAFTA Breakthrough India will once again identify and celebrate Indian talent by...

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) has named ten emerging talents from across the Indian film, gaming and television industries that will participate in the 2022 edition of its BAFTA Breakthrough India initiative supported by Netflix.

The 2022 contingent includes writer-director Ajitpal Singh; composer Alokananda Dasgupta (“Sacred Games”), writer-director Arati Kadav (“Cargo”), producer Mathivanan Rajendran (“Nirvana Inn”), writer-director Leena Manimekalai, game director Nakul Verma (“In My Shadow”), writer-director Prateek Vats (“Eeb Allay Ooo!”), cinematographer Saumyananda Sahi (“Eeb Allay Ooo!”), writer Shubham (“Eeb Allay Ooo!”) and performer Sumukhi Suresh (“Pushpavalli”).

The talents were selected by a jury consisting of BAFTA-winning composer A.R. Rahman, editor and writer Apurva Asrani, actors Anupam Kher and Ratna Pathak Shah, games producer Charu Desodt, Amazon India head Gaurav Gandhi, Netflix India content chief Monika Shergill, producers Siddharth Roy Kapur and Guneet Monga, BAFTA chair Krishnendu Majumdar, GOQii CEO Vishal Gondal and filmmaker Shonali Bose.

During the program,...

InterviewThis will be the first Tamil film to premiere at Canada's Montreal Festival Du Nouveau Cinema.Anjana ShekarDirector Balaji Vembu Chelli’s Nilanadukkam (The Tremor) will be the first Tamil film to premiere at Canada’s 49th Montreal Festival Du Nouveau Cinema that will be held between October 7 and 18 this year. Previously, Lijo Jose Pellissery’s Malayalam film Jallikattu had premiered in this festival and the only other Indian film to make it to the festival this time is Laila Aur Satt Geet (The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs) by director Pushpendra Singh, originally made in Gojri language. “It was exciting for us to get the invite. The festival has a rich history of independent films. We have been selected under the Temps section which we hear is quite popular with the audience. We are very curious to know about their reaction,” says the 33-year-old filmmaker who hails from Chennai in Tamil Nadu.

CinemaThe film will be the first-ever Tamil film to be screened at this fest.Digital NativeNilanadukkam, a Tamil film directed by debutant Balaji Vembu Chelli, will premiere at one of the oldest and prestigious film festivals in Canada, the 49th Montreal Festival Du Nouveau Cinema. This event is scheduled to happen between October 7 and 18. It is in fact a prestigious honour for the filmmaker as Nilanadukkam will be the first-ever Tamil film to be screened at this fest. According to the film’s director Balaji Vembu Chelli, Nilanadukkam is an experimental film set in Kukkal, a village 40 kilometres away from Kodaikanal. The film delves on a catastrophe and the mystery surrounding it. Speaking about the film in an interview to the Times of India, the director had said, “It revolves around a rookie photojournalist who is trying to get his first major break. The photojournalist is played by Rajeev Anand,...

ReviewThe film, presented by Pa Ranjith's Neelam, has been written and directed by Rajesh Rajamani.Balakrishna GaneshanFilm critic Rajesh Rajamani, who is widely known for his anti-caste writing and strong opinions about Savarna filmmakers, film critics and authors, has made his debut into filmmaking with The Discreet Charm of the Savarnas, a 20-minute short film. The title is inspired from the French film The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, which exposes the hypocrisies of the bourgeoisie class. Rajesh, who looks at issues from a Bahujan perspective, has never shied away from locking horns with established Savarna writers working in the same field. And with the same attitude, he has taken a plunge into direction. Tdcs is written and directed by Rajesh. The cinematography is by Vinay Aravind and the songs and music are by Akhu Chingangbam and Imphal Talkies. The film, which is in English, has been presented by director...

Kolkata– January 7, 2020 – In its fourth edition, Arthouse Asia Film Festival is establishing a reputation as a relaxed, boutique event, with strong focus on independent cinema and a productive industry programme partnered with prestigious ‘Produire Au Sud’ for screenwriters and producers from South Asia.

“Weihai”

The day began with the screening of Chinese film ‘Weihai‘ directed by Liang Huan. The film has been shot beautifully in black and white and tells the story of a film screenwriter who went to a seaside town for ten days.

The day progressed with an insightful discussion about the landscape of independent film production in South Asia. Renowned Bangladeshi producer Arifur Rahman(Live from Dhaka, Kingdom of Clay Subjects) and Chennai based producer Mathivanan Rajendran (Nirvana Inn) have taken part in the session and shared their experience in the film circuit.

The session turned out extremely important and valuable to the film school students and...

Arun Karthick’s second feature explores the life of a Muslim salesman in Tamil Nadu.

Paris-based sales company Stray Dogs has picked up international rights to Arun Karthick’s Nasir, which will receive its world premiere in the Tiger Competition of the upcoming International Film Festival Rotterdam (Iffr).

The Tamil-language drama revolves around the struggles of a Muslim salesman and aspiring poet, living in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, who faces an increasingly toxic society as Hindu nationalism starts to take hold.

Produced by Mathivanan Rajendran’s Chennai-based Stray Factory, the film is co-produced by Reinier Selen and Ibo...

Netherlands production outfit Rinkel Film (“Rafiki”) has reteamed with India’s Stray Factory (“Nirvana Inn”) for Tamil language Western “The Tempest” (aka “Aasaimugam”). It is to be directed by emerging Indian filmmaker Arun Karthick.

The two companies previously co-produced Karthick’s communal bigotry tale, “Nasir,” which benefited from a grant of €50,000 under the Netherlands Film Fund and Hubert Bals Fund co-production scheme, and is currently in post.

Set against the backdrop of the Western Ghats mountains in South India, “Aasaimugam” is the tale of two brothers who are pitted against each other for possession of their ancestral land. Reinier Selen and Ibo Karatay will produce for Rinkel, and Mathivanan Rajendran for Stray Factory. The project is budgeted at $500,000. Rinkel and Stray Factory are seeking partners at India’s ongoing Film Bazaar.

“We are happy to extend this relationship with Stray Factory on “Aasaimugam” and support the uncompromising vision of this...

Diverse selection will present projects from India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, France, Nepal, Singapore and the Us.

Film Bazaar, organised by India’s National Film Development Corporation (Nfdc), has announced the 14 projects that will take part in the Co-production Market at this year’s edition of the annual Goa-based event (November 20-24).

The diverse selection will present projects from India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, France, Nepal, Singapore and the Us. Languages involved in the projects include Hindi, English, Bengali, Malayalam, Assamese, Nepali, Dzongkha (Bhutanese) and Gujarati.

The line-up also includes projects from newcomers and more established talents, such as Indian director Alka Raghuram (Burqa...

India’s Film Bazaar, South Asia’s leading film project market, has revealed a 14-strong slate spanning Asia, Europe and the U.S. for its annual co-production jamboree in Goa. It is a diverse mix of festival favorites and debutants.

From India, producer Shaji Mathew’s Niv Art Movies, whose credits include 2017 Rotterdam winner “Sexy Durga”, returns with the Malayalam-language “The Deathplace” by Jiju Antory (“The Forsaken”). Also in Malayalam is “All Our Loves” by Mehdi Jahan, whose short “Jyoti and Joymoti” has won numerous awards. Heer Ganjwala will produce for Human Trail Pictures. Saurav Rai, winner of Mumbai’s 2019 grand jury prize for “Invitation,” reunites with Sanjay Gulati’s Crawling Angel Films for Nepali-language “Eternity.”

The international projects are also robust. Alka Raghuram (“Burqa Boxers”) will co-produce Hindi-language “The Mirror” via her U.S. outfit Junoon Pictures, alongside Celine Loop’s Traveling Light Productions.

Rubaiyat Hossain, whose directorial venture...

Sci-fi will be center stage at South Korea’s Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, Asia’s largest genre film event. The ten-day film festival will run from Jun. 27 through Jul. 7.

Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner” inspired the festival’s official artwork this year. The film will also play in special program ‘Robots: Future Beyond the Human Race’ along with Steven Spielberg’s “A.I. Artificial Intelligence” and Fred M. Wilcox’s “Forbidden Planet.”

The festival opens, a few weeks earlier than its traditional mid-July slot, with the Asian premiere of Edgar Nito’s “The Gasoline Thieves.” Korean period mystery drama “The 12th Suspect” by Ko Myoung-sung will close the festival, which packs in 288 films from 49 countries.

“BiFan has decided to gear itself for the coming 100 years of Korean cinema, instead of looking back on the past 100 years. We will take the head in nurturing the next NaWoon-gyu, Kim Ki-young, Yu Hyun-mok,...

Singapore-based Aurora Media Holdings, one of Southeast Asia’s leading media companies, has optioned and boarded India-South Korean co-production “The Yellow Jade” as a producer, alongside India’s Stray Factory and India/Singapore outfit Magic Hour Films. The deal was struck at Busan’s Asian Project Market. Aurora group managing partner Justin Deimen, pictured above, will produce with Stray Factory’s Mathivanan Rajendran and Magic Hour’s Samir Sarkar. Vijay Jayapal (“Revelations”) will direct. The companies are meeting potential Korean co-producers at the market.

Aurora has also completed the funding that Stray Factory, Magic Hour, Uncombed Buddha, Stop Whinging and Harman Ventures sought for Jayapal’s “Nirvana Inn” at the Asian Project Market.

“The Yellow Jade” cuts between the past and the present. In the past, Korean King Suro dreamed that the heavens would choose his bride. A South Indian princess sailed across the seas in a red vessel, and...

Adil Hussain will headline the cast of Vijay Jayapal’s psychological horror drama “Nirvana Inn,” one of the 29 projects selected for the Busan Asian Project Market.

Hussain won best actor at Norway’s Amanda awards for “What Will People Say,” and the film is the country’s entry to the Oscars foreign-language category. Also featuring in the cast of the Hindi-language film are Rajshri Deshpande (“Sexy Durga”) and Sandhya Mridul (“Angry Indian Goddesses”).

Joining India’s Stray Factory as co-producers are Magic Hour Films (India/Singapore), Still Whinging (Australia) and Indian outfits Uncombed Buddha and Harman Ventures.

The project has now realized 75% of its $400,000 budget and is looking for post-production support in Busan.

“Nirvana Inn” will follow a boatman who capsizes his boat, killing all his passengers, but he survives. Wracked with guilt, he flees and becomes the caretaker of a Himalayan resort and is shocked to see his victims checking in.