India’s Worldwide Movie Market of Kerala has unveiled its choices for the Venture Market 2025, together with the inaugural Curator’s Decide from its newly launched Video Library section, set to happen Dec. 13-16 in Thiruvananthapuram.
The market obtained submissions from all over the world, finally choosing 12 tasks representing 11 international locations for its Venture Market. The lineup options movies in 13 languages, together with Hindi, English, Spanish, Bengali, Marathi, Maithili, Nepali, Assamese, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Bangla and Bhojpuri.
Chosen producers and filmmakers will pitch their tasks to worldwide and Indian producers, distributors and financiers in the course of the four-day occasion.
Among the many Venture Market choices is “Apodartho” (A Silly Man), a Bangladesh-Taiwan co-production in Bangla directed by Abu Shahed Emon, whose debut function “Jalal’s Story” grew to become the primary Bangladeshi movie to premiere in Busan’s New Currents Competitors in 2014. The challenge is produced by Patrick Mao Huang, Tahrima Khan and Emon.
India-Nepal co-production “Bagh Chal” (4 Tigers & Goats) shall be offered by director Saadgi Gupta, with producers Nila Madhab Panda and Akshay Kumar Parija. Panda’s earlier work consists of “I Am Kalam” and climate-fiction net collection “The Jengaburu Curse.”
Devashish Makhija, whose movies “Joram,” “Bhonsle” and “Ajji” have screened at Busan and Rotterdam, will pitch “However First, The Burning,” a Hindi-Marathi challenge produced by Anshuman Jha. Makhija gained an Indian Nationwide Movie Award for “Bhonsle” in 2021, whereas “Joram” earned two Filmfare Awards in 2024.
Different notable choices embrace “Error#404,” directed by two-time Indian Nationwide Movie Award winner Farha Khatun and produced by Bauddhayan Mukherji and Monalisa Mukherji; and “Kathakali Diva: A Ritual of Transformation,” directed by Indian Nationwide Movie Award-winning editor Bina Paul, who has beforehand served as director of the Worldwide Movie Pageant of Kerala.
Sanju Surendran’s “Kothiyan” (Fishers of Males) marks one other Malayalam-language challenge within the lineup. Surendran’s latest function “If on a Winter’s Night time” premiered on the Busan Worldwide Movie Pageant, profitable the HyLife Imaginative and prescient Award.
The Australia-India co-production “Mongoose,” directed by Indian Nationwide Award winner Nikhil Mahajan and produced by Suhrud Godbole, joins the roster alongside “Sukoon” (Solace), directed by Movie and Tv Institute of India graduate Gul Dharmani, who lately directed episodes of Netflix’s “Class.”
Further choices embrace “Calf-Umir Ladikaiyan” in Bhojpuri and Hindi, directed by Balaka Ghosh; Kenny Deori Basumatary’s “Native Bhoot” (Native Ghost) in Assamese and Hindi; Armenia-India co-production “The Day of the Feast” in Telugu, directed by Di Sica Ray; and “Vilai: The Value Paid” in Malayalam and Tamil, directed by Menon Krishnadev.
The market has additionally unveiled 13 movies chosen for the inaugural Video Library Curator’s Decide. These tasks, spanning numerous phases of manufacturing and post-production, are in search of distributors, hole financing and pageant visibility.
The Curator’s Decide choice represents India, Bangladesh and the U.S. The whole lineup consists of Anuradha Bansal’s documentary “A Good Spouse” in English, Hindi and Marwari; Abhay P’s Malayalam brief movie “Aadhunika Mithyabhasam” (Burning Roots, Blooming Fireplace); Gridaran MKP’s Tamil documentary “Dalit Subbaiah – Voice of the Rebels,” produced by Manoj Jahson; and Sandeep Paul’s “Ekanto Byaktigoto Bishoy” (About an Intimate Matter), an India-U.S. co-production in Bengali produced by Apoorva Bakshi.
Additionally chosen are Rahul Pawar’s “Golu Gappi Aur Charkhi Chor” (Golu Gappi And Charkhi Thief) in Bhojpuri and Hindi, produced by Anurag Kumar Mourya; Thanvir Chowdhury’s Bengali function “Kaffarah” from Bangladesh, produced by Barkat Hossain Polash; Aayushman Pandey’s Hindi brief movie “Kamathipura,” produced by Wasim Khan and Priya Sreedharan; and Chahat Mansingka’s “Like A Feather In The Wind” in Chinese language and Hakka, produced by Sanjay Mansingka.
Rounding out the choice are Vignesh Kumulai’s Tamil function “Neela Aththi Kili” (Blue Fig Parrot), produced by Jeyachandran Karthikadevi; Sanchay Bose’s Hindi function “Phas Gayi Jal Machri” (The Golden Catch), produced by Wafa Refai; Shreekara Bhat’s Kannada function “Purushaavathara” (Shades of Males), produced by Prakash Raj; Sreekanth EG’s Malayalam function “The Judgement,” produced by Adith US; and Siddharth Kalkal’s “The Author’s Inn” in English and Hindi.
“The Worldwide Movie Market of Kerala has turn into a dynamic ecosystem that brings collectively creators, traders, and trade professionals,” mentioned Priyadarsanan P.S., managing director of Kerala State Movie Improvement Company (KSFDC). “This yr’s curated choice displays our dedication to nurturing numerous cinematic voices and positioning Worldwide Movie Market of Kerala as a major hub for international movie enterprise and artistic collaboration.”
Okay. Madhu, chairman of KSFDC, added: “In simply three years, the Worldwide Movie Market of Kerala has grown into a reputable, forward-looking trade discussion board. The chosen tasks and movies display the great inventive potential and we’re proud to host a platform that permits significant engagements and alternatives for filmmakers.”
IFMK is designed as an integral part of the Worldwide Movie Pageant of Kerala, one in every of India’s most artistically revered festivals. Whereas IFFK celebrates cinema as a cultural power, IFMK provides a enterprise dimension targeted on co-production infrastructure, financing and market entry.
