Writers and Creative Advisors Selected for Drishyam | Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab in Udaipur, India April 4-8

Los Angeles, CA - Sundance Institute and Drishyam Films today announced the artists and creative advisors selected for the second Drishyam | Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab in Udaipur, India April 4-8. 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, Cuba, Israel and Central Europe.

Now in its second year, the four-day Lab is a creative and strategic partnership between Drishyam Films and Sundance Institute, and 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 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 Drishyam founder, Manish Mundra. He said, A beautiful heritage city in my hometown of Rajasthan, Udaipur forms an ideal writers retreat, and is the perfect environment for a diverse group of emerging writers and renowned mentors to have a refreshing and productive exchange. Our goal is that the six selected Indian projects, after undergoing a comprehensive mentoring process, will quickly move from script to screen and make their mark globally. All six projects harbor immense potential, and the success they go on to achieve and the distribution channels they open up for more independent Indian films will be the fittest tribute to this joint initiative, driven by passion and pure love for cinema.

Paul Federbush, International Director of the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program, said, We are excited to collaborate with Drishyam Films for the second year of the Screenwriters Lab. This partnership allows us to continue discovering and developing new and exciting voices in India. With experimentation and exchange at the core of our work, we hope to inspire an exciting new generation of independent film.

Creative advisors for this year's Lab represent a diverse mix of Indian and international filmmakers, including: Thomas Bidegain (A Prophet, Dheepan, Rust and Bone), Pubali Choudhari (Kai Po Che!), Naomi Foner (Running on Empty, Losing Isaiah), Malia Scotch Marmo (Hook, Once Around, Good Morning Karachi), Rose Troche (Go Fish, The Safety of Objects, The L Word), , and Prasanna Vithanage (With You, Without You).

The Institute has enthusiastically supported 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, winner of the FIPRESCI and Promising Debut Feature award in the Un Certain Regard at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.

The Institute's longstanding international Labs offer targeted support to independent artists in countries around the world. Building on the Institute's renowned Lab model that encourages creative innovation and incorporates one-on-one project guidance from creative advisors, the Institute aims to work with local and regional partner organizations to identify independent artistic communities and movements to support, actively contributing to local capacity for development or production. After seeding Labs in Brazil, Mexico, Central Europe and around East Africa, the Institute currently hosts Labs in Jordan, Turkey, India, China, Japan and Morocco. The Institute also invites international filmmakers to participate in its signature Labs in the U.S.

The projects and fellows selected for the 2016 Drishyam | Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab are:

Nandita Das / Manto

The controversial writer Saadat Hasan Manto takes us through the glorious days of 1940s Bombay and Bollywood movie sets, to the partition of the Indian subcontinent, and his downward spiraling life in Lahore.

Nandita Das has acted in more than 40 films in 10 different languages. Her directorial debut,

Firaaq, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2008. She was twice on the jury of Cannes Film Festival among others and was conferred the Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters' by the French Government. Nandita is a strong advocate of social issues, a columnist and a former Chairperson of Children's Film Society.

Gaurav Bakshi / Reincarnation

A gun for hire needs to neutralize the threat posed by a delusional old man, hailed as Mahatma Gandhi's reincarnation, before the common masses enamoured by him rise up in rebellion against the corrupt regime.

After 15 years as a marketing professional, Gaurav Bakshi, an IIM-Bangalore graduate, left the corporate world to pursue his passion. Following a course for filmmaking at NYU, he worked as an Assistant Director with reputed directors including Dibaker Banerji (Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye) and Abhishek Chaubey (Ishqiya) and developed his skills further by making several short films. His short films have been selected and screened at leading film festivals such as the International Film Festival of India, the Indian Film Festivals in Chicago and Boston amongst others, and have garnered close to three million views on YouTube. He is currently in the process of preparing for his first feature-length film.

Batul Mukhtiar & Vivek Shah / Shame, Shame, Puppy Shame

Shame, Shame, Puppy Shame' is the story of a young girl, Seema, whose life unravels after she i

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