At the Berlinale Talents programme as part of the prestigious film festival, India sees sizable representation

Of the 255 up and coming international film industry talents selected to participate in an intense six-day programme called Berlinale Talents, India gets a sizable representation of seven this year. Berlinale Talents is designed to bring filmmaking talents from around the globe together for collaborations, networking and knowledge sharing. The program features close to 100 events, “with internationally renowned experts and acclaimed Berlinale guests holding workshops and talks, many of which are open to the public,” a press release stated. Filmmakers Prantik Basu, Ivan Ayr, Varun Sasindran, Mukul Haolai, Dominic Sangma, theatre artist and actor Geetika Vidya and cinematographer Acharya Venu populate the Indian talent list this year.  “The theme of the Berlinale Talents this year is ‘collectives’ and this is of great interest to me,” said Prantik Basu whose film Rang Mahal premiered at the Berlinale last year in the Shorts Competition Section, followed by stints at various festivals worldwide including the International Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) and ZINEBI (Bilbao). Basu, who is in the process of providing final touches to his upcoming documentary, said he wanted to take this opportunity to reestablish professional connections he made in the previous years. “At the Talents, I am looking forward to finding collaborators and co-producers for my upcoming feature film Dengue and sales/festival distribution for Bela, a documentary that I just finished,” he added. Basu’s sentiments were echoed by Varun Sasindran, who is also seeking to make professional connections at the event. Sasindran’s short film Omarska records the memories of war survivors at the Omarska concentration camp in Prijedor in BiH and premiered at Berlinale last year. “My project is shortlisted for the Short Form Station 2020 among other 10 projects, where I will be working with a dedicated mentor to further develop the project,” Sasindran wrote in an email. Moreover, the geographical proximity to the subject of his documentary provides additional context in Sasindran’s case. “Berlinale Talents means a lot to me, mainly because my film takes place in Eastern Europe.” Dominic Sangma, director of the first Garo language film MA•AMA (Moan) said he is looking forward to meeting professionals in various aspects of filmmaking. “It’s one of the best meeting places for film industry talents from around the world,” said Sangma. Sangma is currently in Rotterdam attending the film festival’s Cinemart section to evoke interest in his upcoming film Rupture, a psychological social commentary set in a village in Meghalaya. “I already have Dutch and French co-producers. At Berlinale I look forward to finding German co-producers and some assistance with regard to the sales of the film,” he said. Sangma will have the company of his cinematographer from MA•AMA (Moan) Acharya Venu at the program. Berlinale Talents program will run concurrently with the film festival from 22-27 February, 2020.