"West Meets East Screenplay Lab,” the mentoring and pitching platform of the Dhaka International Film Festival has announced the names of the top 10 participants.
For the upcoming screenplay lab, 62 projects were submitted from all around South Asia, and from them, 10 projects were selected by the 5-member jury board. The jury members include Gyda Velvin Myklebust (Film Producer, Programme Director (New Nordic Films, Norwegian International Film Festival in Haugesund) from Norway, Dalia Alic (Consultant and Film Producer, 47th Student Academy Awards Finalist, World Academy of Art and Science Junior Fellow) from Croatia, Yana Lekarska (Director, Screenwriter, Journalist) from Bulgaria, Sameer Ahmed, (Filmmaker/editor) from Bangladesh, and N Rashed Chowdhury (Filmmaker and activist) from Bangladesh.
Among the Top 10 projects, 3 are from Bangladesh, 4 from India, 2 from Sri Lanka, and 1 project is from Nepal. The projects are “46 Mondays” by Bavaneedha Loganathan from Sri Lanka, “Samosa” by Nipunika Fernando from Sri Lanka, “Messengers of the Gods” by Nigam Bhandari from Nepal, “The Whispering Fog” by Jasmine Kaur Roy & Avinash Roy from India, Swarnapuchhri by Ritwik Goswami from India, “Hug me If you are Against War” by Upasana Banerjee from India, “Tale of a yellow bird” by Sibasish Roy from India, “Song of Jhinuk” by Afroza Hossain from Bangladesh, “Nacrophile” by Zayed Siddiki from Bangladesh, and “Fables of Forgotten Dreams” by Laboni Ashrafi from Bangladesh.
These 10 participants from 4 countries are going to attend this screenplay lab physically and will be pitching their projects at the South Asian Film Market, Film Haat. They will get the opportunity to meet producers and mentors to develop their ideas and get mentorship, along with opportunities for funding.
The top 3 projects will receive cash prizes as well. The 1st project will get 5000 USD, the 1st runner-up project will get 3000 USD and the second runner-up project will get 2000 USD. In 2021, the first prize went to Kiran Pokhare’s “Putali Ko Sapna” (Nepal), the second prize went to Tasmiah Afrin Mou’s “Fear-y-Tale” (Bangladesh) and the third prize went to Gaurav Madan’s “Kanda Vanda” (India).
The Director of Dhaka International Film Festival, Ahmed Mujtaba Zamal, said: " This Screenplay Lab is going to be a very important International platform for young and independent filmmakers that will get an opportunity to meet the international producers and film professionals from around the world. It will help them to acquire knowledge by sharing their experiences and getting feedback.”
21st Dhaka International Film Festival is going to take place from January 14-22, 2023. The West Meets East Screenplay Lab will take place during the festival from January 15-18. Co-convenors of "West Meets East" AKA Reza Ghalib and Sadia Khalid Reeti will oversee the Screenplay Lab and co-production market, Film Haat.
