Paban Kumar's Joseph Ki Macha make it to Film Bazar
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, October 05 2016: Haobam Paban Kumar's feature film Joseph Ki Macha (Joseph's Son), a short story penned by National Sahitya Akademi awardee Sudhir Naoroibam, has been selected among the 18 projects under the Co-Production Market of Film Bazar 2016 announced by the National Film Development Corporation recently.

The film tells, "In the backdrop of the infamous Kuki - Naga ethnic clashes in 1992 in Manipur, Joseph is forced to take a journey to identify a dead body at the morgue as his son has gone missing.

"Joseph and Mary are eagerly waiting for the coming of their only child who has not returned home for the last many days.

Finally someone brings a message of an unclaimed body lying in the morgue.

Today, Joseph is forced to take a journey that no parents or human being would dare or want to take.

But Joseph has no option as his son has gone missing.

And today is the last day for identification as they are going to dispose the body if unclaimed.

Joseph reluctantly starts his journey during the course of which he encounters different situations which seem to remind us of being humans.

How time and situation has planted hatred in our peaceful coexistence.

And finally for the first time in his life Joseph faces a strange situation where his old friend asks him to identify weather he is a Kuki or a Naga" .

The Co-Production Market provides a platform for carefully curated projects with South Asian themes to find financial, artistic and creative support.

Every year, filmmakers with selected projects get numerous avenues to connect with Indian and International producers, distributors, sales agents, film festival programmers and film commissions, among others.

In the 10th year of edition, the Co-Production Market will kick-start with Open Pitch where selected filmmakers will pitch their projects to a curated audience of National and international producers, financiers and sales agents.

The NFDC has chalked out the schedule for the programme.

On November 20 an Orientation Session is being held to familiarize the selected filmmakers with the tools of pitching, presenting and navigating the co-production market.

At the Open Pitch on November 21, participants will present their projects to an audience of industry professionals.

The Open Pitch ensures that participants can optimise their time at the market, and focus on project specific details and goals during the one-on-one meetings.

From November 21 to 24, one-on-one meetings are scheduled for each Selected project.

The 18 projects selected are : Abu Shahed Emon's A Foolish Man (Bengali, Bangladesh), Devashish Makhija's Bhosle (Hindi, India), Eisha Marjara's Calorie (English, Canada), Ankit Kothari's Dastaan-e-Awaargi (Hindi, India), Pratim Gupta's Ink (Bengali, Hindi, India), Geetu Mohandas's Insha'allah (Malayalam, Hindi, India), Haobam Paban Kumar's Joseph's Son, (Manipuri, India), Soumitra Ranade's Man From Kabul (Animation, Hindi, India), Ravi Shankar's Punyakoti (Animation, Sanskrit, India), Abinash Bikram Shah's Season of Dragonflies (Nepali, Nepal), Rajdeep Paul and Sarmishtha's The Biryani Seller (Bengali, India), Aboozar Amini's The Cineaste (Persian, China, Netherlands), Bishnu Dev Haider's The Dragonfly (Hindi, India), Asad Hussain's The Return (Hindi, India), Rezwan Shahriar Sumit's The Salt in Our Waters (Bengali, Bangladesh), Leena Manimekalai's The Sunshine (Tamil, India) Pooja Kaul's Pooja Kaul (English, Hindi, India, Sweden), and Renuka Shahane's Three Curve Bent (English, Marathi, India) .

A Swama Kamal awardee, Haobam Paban Kumar is a Manipuri filmmaker whose debut fiction feature Loktak Lairambee (Lady in the Lake) was selected for world premiere at Busan International Film Festival 2016.The film was a part of the Film Bazar Work-in-Progress Lab 2015.Paban's documentary Floating Life was nominated for the Leipziger Ring award at the 58th DOK Leipzig 2015 .

His films have been screened in various festivals and have won awards including the FIPRESCI prize at Mumbai International Film Festival 2006 .

His film company-Oli Pictures was established in the summer of 2005 in Imphal, Manipur.

The company has notable productions to its credit namely - Kangla, Orchids of Manipur, A Cry in the Dark, Mr India among others.

Oli Pictures' latest production is the fiction feature film, Loktak Lairambee (Lady of the Lake) .

Film Bazar is the largest South Asian film market.

It encourages creative and financial collaboration between the South Asian and International film communities.

Created and organized by the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), Film Bazar has evolved into South Asia's global film market from its humble beginnings in 2007.Every edition witnesses increased National and international participation.

Over the years, films such as Lunch Box, Margarita With A Straw, Chauthi Koot, Qissa, Ship of Theseus, Titli, Court, Anhe Ghode Da Daan, Miss Lovely, Dum Lagake Haisha, Liar's Dice and Thithi have been through one or more programmes of the Bazar.

Over the course of five days, Film Bazar has become the converging point for film buyers and sellers from all over the world.

The focus is on discovering, supporting and showcasing South Asian content and talent in filmmaking, production and distribution.

The Bazar also facilitates the sale of world cinema in the South Asian region.

Film Bazar is held every year at the Marriott Resort, Goa, India, between November 20 and 24 during the International Film Festival of India.

Talking about the Film Bazar, Haobam Paban Kumar said, "Film Bazar is the one and only platform for Indie Cinema in India" .

Kanu Bahl, the filmmaker of Titli once remarked, "The Film Bazar is one of the best platforms a filmmaker could hope for.

Titli went through the Screenwriters' Lab, the Co-Production Market and the WIP Lab.

Each step added immeasurably to the film, giving me key insights and helping get closer to the final film.

The Mentors at every Lab are collaborators for life" .

Comment