NFDC’s ISLAND CITY directed by Ruchika Oberoi wins FEDEORA award for the Best Young Director

ISLAND CITY starring Vinay Pathak, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Amruta Subhash, Chandan Roy Sanyal premiered at the 72^nd Venice Film Festival, Italy

  

Mumbai, September 12, 2015: Ruchika Oberoi, the debutant director of “Island City”produced by the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) won FEDEORA award for the Best Young Director at the recently held 72^nd Venice Film Festival.

The Hindi feature which is produced under the Ministry of I&B’s 12^th Five Year Plan Scheme on film production made its world premiere on September 8^th n the competition category of the Venice Days sidebar.

The jury that awarded the director praised the film in their citation - Island City stood out for its surrealistic vision of a quasi-modern world, which is also rooted in the realities of everyday life.

The film starring Vinay Pathak, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Amruta Subhash and Chandan Roy Sanyal in the lead roles, opened to a packed house in Italy who cheered and applauded the film with a standing ovation.

Vikramjit Roy, Head of Sales & Marketing at NFDC, says, “We are delighted at the acclaim won by Island City at the Venice Film Festival and celebrate Ruchika's recognition at such a prestigious festival. Island City's success can be attributed to NFDC's value chain that starts with training and development and transcends in our endeavor to promote the Cinemas of India across the world.”

About Island City

The film follows three comic-dramatic stories set in Mumbai. The first one is about a middle-aged man who wins the office ‘Fun Committee Award’, which entitles him to a whole day full of fun. He is most reluctant to leave the safety of his cubicle, but he has to. Prescribed fun modules have to be completed and non-compliance is not an option.

The second story begins with an autocratic man whose family brings home a television set when he is critically ill and away in a hospital. Now, every night the family plugs into a popular soap whose hero is a man ideal in every way.

While the third story centers on Aarti whose repetitive existence is slowly making her more and more mechanical and numb. Deep inside ferments a disconnect and unease that she is unable to articulate to anyone. Then one day there arrives a most intimate letter and everything changes.

About NFDC

Incorporated in the year 1975, the National Film Development Corporation Ltd. (a Public Sector Enterprise under the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting) was formed by the Government of India with the primary objective of planning, promoting and organizing an integrated and efficient development of the Indian film industry in accordance with the national economic policy and objectives laid down by the Central Government from time to time. NFDC was reincorporated in the year 1980 by merging the Film Finance Corporation (FFC) and Indian Motion Picture Export Corporation (IMPEC) with NFDC. With more than 300 films in 18 regional languages, many of which have earned wide acclaim and won national and international awards, NFDC's architecture aims towards creating a domestic and global appreciation of the Cinemas of India.

NFDC Co-production Market deadline extended

Mumbai, MH (3 August 2015) --- Owing to an overwhelming number of entries Film Bazaar now in its 9^thedition has extended the deadline for Co-production market 2015 until 20 August 2015.

A platform for filmmakers with compelling South Asian stories seeking co-production, financial and artistic support from attending co-producers, sales agents, distributors and financiers from the world over, Coproduction Market is a main segment of Film Bazaar.

20 remarkable South Asian stories will be selected this year. Projects will get to pitch their film to the Indian and international film community that attends Film Bazaar with a focus on fiction features. 

The pre-requisite of submission states that a film project must be an original story with a South Asian connect and must have a producer attached with 25% of the finance in place. In addition to the above the project must have scope for international co-production, distribution and sales.

Starting this year, the program has gained added leverage with the inclusion of an open forum on pitching. This activity has been introduced based on industry feedback with the intention that filmmakers should not be required to make multiple pitches during meetings.

The forum will be organised a day prior to the start of the Co-production Market and will allow selected participants to pitch their projects to noted industry professionals attending the market. This enables participants to effectively use their time during the one-on-one meetings for more in-depth discussions focused on project specific needs and negotiations.  

Qualified filmmakers can submit their entries by filling out an online application here.

Film Bazaar is organised to discover, support and showcase South Asian talent and content. The aim is to boost collaboration in the realms of filmmaking, production and distribution between the South Asian and film fraternities of the world.

Further queries can be addressed to – coproduction@filmbazaarindia.com