Female director Tribeny Rai once took on hard labor in her native Sikkim, India, in order to prove that women are not weak. But she found that even those drastic efforts did not solve the problems of patriarchy and long-standing traditions that favor male decision-making, male children and even how women view their own roles […]

Indian technology startup Vireza is developing a new mobile application that aims to revolutionize the theatrical movie-watching experience by allowing audiences to interact with films in real-time, founder Arjun Nittoor revealed at Film Bazaar. The technology, developed entirely in-house at the company’s Bengaluru R&D facility, enables moviegoers to participate in key story decisions throughout the […]

Prasar Bharati, India’s public broadcasting heavyweight, rolled out its streaming platform Waves at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa, marking the state broadcaster’s entry into the country’s competitive streaming space. The platform launches with a slate spanning 12+ languages and 10+ genres, featuring everything from video-on-demand content to free gaming, radio streaming, […]

India’s National Film Development Corporation’s (NFDC) Film Bazaar market has expanded into series development and attracted robust registrations ahead of its 2024 edition, running alongside the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa. The market has selected several series projects in its co-production market, following the introduction of an OTT [streaming] award at IFFI […]

Celebrated Indian filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, who serves as festival director of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), Goa, has outlined his vision for the 2024 edition, emphasizing a shift away from comparing Indian cinema to Western standards. “For a long time, at every festival, we’ve kind of looked down upon ourselves as though Indian […]

“Star Wars: Visions,” a Lucasfilm anthology series of animated shorts from around the world celebrating the mythology of Star Wars through different cultural perspectives, will return for a third season, Marvel Studios’ president Kevin Feige said on Wednesday. Feige was a surprise guest at the annual Walt Disney Company Asia Pacific Showcase held in Singapore.“Star […]

It is close to a decade since “Baahubali – The Beginning” shifted the paradigm for how a South Indian film should have been made and might normally have performed – the Telugu and Tamil-language fantasy actioner achieved nationwide distribution, broke records for international performance, supercharged the stardom of its leads and, naturally, sparked a sequel […]

Ana Tiwary’s Sydney-based production company indiVisual films – international is bringing “Home Before Night,” a cross-cultural drama with sci-fi elements, to India’s Film Bazaar’s co-production Market. “It is such a hauntingly beautiful story that mixes drama with elements of science fiction and authentically represents the experiences of migrants in Australia,” says Tiwary (“Terra Incognita”). Written […]

Former Netflix producer Dimpy Agrawal’s production banner Gubbara Entertainment has unveiled a slate of six projects at India’s Film Bazaar, including a project starring Anasuya Sengupta, who made history as the first Indian actor to win best performance at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard for “The Shameless.” Sengupta will headline short “Ma,” penned by Columbia University […]

SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers for “Rivals,” now streaming on Hulu/Disney+. British author Jilly Cooper is synonymous with sex. In the U.K., the 87-year-old has long reigned as the queen of “bonkbusters” (a.k.a. romance novels), with titles like “Riders” and “Tackle” usually accompanied by saucy jacket covers (one edition of “Riders” features a woman […]

Jour2Fête has acquired French distribution rights to Max Keegan’s “The Shepherd and the Bear” out of IDFA and is planning to release the film theatrically in 2025. “The Shepherd and the Bear” will have its world premiere as the closing night film of the 2024 Camden International Film Festival in Maine. The documentary feature had […]

Judging by the shocked faces on the European buyers and sellers attending the recent American Film Market in Las Vegas, the U.S. election didn’t end the way they had hoped. On the morning after, the most common reaction heard around the Palms Casino, where the conference took place, was “WTF” (or a variation of) along […]

“Quinografía,” a portrait of the famously timid Mafalda cartoonist Quino, and “Habana Libre,” a take on rebellious youth in Cuba, look like potential standouts at Ventana Docs, a selection of 12 doc features from across Latin America and Spain.   A notable number have been developed at prestigious labs, whether Sundance Festival programs (“Bleeding Heart,” “Violent-House-Fiction”) […]

Three documentary projects took top honors at this year’s Cairo Film Connection, with Ager Oueslati’s “You Don’t Die Two Times” winning the post-production prize as development laurels went to Khaled Al Swidan’s “Amal” and Eliane Raheb’s “The North Wind.” Marking his first year at the head of the Cairo Film Festival’s development and postproduction showcase, […]

The opening ceremony of the 55th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa on Wednesday crammed in several Bollywood-style performances. But it also took some time to deal with the business of cinema, as well. The spectacle came from “The Perfect Couple” breakout star Ishaan Khatter dancing to a medley of Bollywood hits and […]

Global IP powerhouse Superprod Group and international media group and rights owner Coolabi Group are teaming to develop and produce a trans-media universe based on the best-selling children’s high fantasy book series “Beast Quest” that will include video games and an animated series. There aren’t many IPs the size of “Beast Quest” that haven’t already […]

Over three years after the accidental on-set death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, Alec Baldwin’s Western film “Rust” received a polite response during its controversial premiere Wednesday at the EnergaCamerimage festival in Toruń, Poland. The audience clapped through the film’s closing credits, strengthening their applause when a dedication to Hutchins appeared. However, a fair amount of […]

Logan Paul sent a lookalike to answer questions from the BBC about his cryptocurrency dealings and accusations that he profited from misleading fans. In the documentary “Logan Paul: Bad Influence?,” which the BBC is airing on Wednesday, filmmaker Matt Shea investigates allegations that the social media personality — whose YouTube channel alone has more than 23 […]

Cannes Film Festival general delegate Thierry Frémaux will be heading to Saudi Arabia in December to attend the Red Sea Film Festival to support his new documentary “Lumière! The Adventure Continues,” which takes a deep dive into the origins of cinema. Frémaux’s sequel to “Lumière! The Adventure Begins,” which premiered at Red Sea’s inaugural edition […]