Los Angeles, CA Sundance Institute and Drishyam today announced the artists and creative advisors selected for the inaugural Drishyam | Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab in Goa, India April 12-16. The Lab supports emerging filmmakers in India, as part of the Institute's sustained commitment to international artists, which in the last 25 years has included programs in Brazil, Mexico, Jordan, Turkey, Japan, Israel and Central Europe.The Lab is a five-day writers workshop that gives independent screenwriters the opportunity to work intensively on their feature film scripts in an environment that encourages innovation and creative risk-taking. The Lab is centered around one-on-one story sessions with the creative advisors. Screenwriting fellows engage in an artistically rigorous process that offers lessons in craft, a fresh perspective on their work and a platform to fully realize their material.
Leading the Lab in India is Srinivasan Narayanan, former director of the Mumbai Film Festival. He said, Our aim and aspiration is that the seven selected Indian projects, after passing through the intensive one-on-one mentoring by renowned Creative Advisors from India and abroad, will move to the production stage quickly and make their mark globally. The awards and acclaim these projects achieve and the interest and distribution channels they open up for more Indian films will be the fittest tribute for this initiative, driven by passion and pure love for cinema of the team led by Drishyam founder Mr. Manish Mundra.
Paul Federbush, International Director of the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program, said, We are thrilled to be collaborating with Manish, Narayan and the Drishyam team, who have a proven interest in supporting an exciting new generation of independent cinema. This partnership allows Sundance Institute to continue developing creative voices and inspired stories in India. We're also thankful for the opportunity to have such acclaimed Indian and international creative advisors working with us to support these seven promising projects.
Creative advisors for this year's Lab represent a diverse mix of Indian and international filmmakers, including: Srdan Golubovic (Circles), Erik Jendresen (Band of Brothers), Rose Troche (The Safety of Objects, The L Word), Habib Faisel (Do Dooni Char), Sriram Raghavan (Badlapur, Ek Haseena Thi), Shridhar Raghavan (Yennai Arindaal) and Kasi Lemmons (Eves Bayou, Talk To Me).
The Institute's support of Prashant Nair's Umrika, winner of the Audience Award: World Cinema Dramatic at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, is an example of the sustained commitment to emerging filmmakers in India. The Institute has enthusiastically supported a new generation of independent cinema in India at all stages of production through its Screenwriters Labs in India and Utah, the Sundance Institute Global Filmmaking Award, as well as targeted post-production grants. Recently completed films supported by the Institute include: Ritesh Batra's The Lunchbox, winner of the Grand Rail d'Or at its premiere at Cannes, Shonali Bose's Margarita With A Straw, winner of the NETPAC award at the 2014 Toronto Film Festival and Masaan by writer-director Neeraj Ghaywan. Between the Utah-based and international Labs, the Institute has supported international artists from over 60 countries, including Guillermo del Toro, Walter Salles, Alfonso Cuaron, Lynn Ramsay, Ritesh Batra, Andrea ArnoldandHaifaa Al Mansour.
The projects and fellows selected for the 2015 Drishyam | Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab are:
Geetu Mohandas / Mulakoya
From the Lakshadweep Islands of the Arabian Sea, a young boy sets off on an adventure to the mainland in order to find his older brother.
Geetu Mohandas' debut feature Liar's Dice, premiered in competition at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. Liar's Dice has currently played 35 film festivals and won 5 international awards for best film and 2 National Awards, the highest honor in India. It was also the official Indian entry for the 2015 Oscars. Mohandas, along with filmmaker Rajeev Ravi, formed the production company Unplugged in 2009, which produced her short film, Kelkkunnundo? The film premiered at Rotterdam International film festival and won 3 International awards for Best International Short Film and the National Award for the Best actor in India.
Raj Rishi More / Pirates
Amidst the economic downturn, a young illustrator struggles to balance supporting his struggling family with his dream of becoming a professional cartoonist.
Raj Rishi More started his film career as an assistant director on Ritesh Batra's Sundance Institute-supported The Lunchbox (winner of Grand Golden Rail, Cannes Film Festival 2013, nominated for BAFTA 2015). He worked as First Assistant Director to Ritesh Batra on his short Masterchef, a commission by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. Currently Raj is working with Ritesh Batra on the feature film Khoya, while developing Pirates, his first feature as director.
Atanu Mukherjee / Unknown Faces
When eighteen year old Dhruv returns home from boarding school, eager to reunite with his family and friends, he instead finds that his father has disappeared after a bankruptcy scandal. While his mother attempts to protect him from discovering his familys hardships, Dhruv decides to find his father himself.
Atanu Mukherjee is an alumnus of Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute Kolkata. He has worked as Editor on four feature films: Achal (The Stagnant), Blemished Light, Shortcut Safari and Monsoon Shootout, the last of which premiered at Cannes in 2013. He has directed the documentary My House Is Not So Far, and has also written, directed and edited short films Ekanko (The Monologue), The Gatekeeper and Stray Dogs, which w
