Guwahati, Oct 30: Basanta Kumar Baruah and Bobby Sarma Baruah's Assamese film 'Deoka' (Walking in the Air) has been selected for co-production market of National Film Development Corporation of India's (NDFC) Film Bazaar.
This year, 20 projects from 11 countries have been selected to participate in the market. The line-up is an eclectic mix of stories in Assamese, Bengali, Dari, English, German, Hindi, Kannada, Konkani, Malayalam, Marathi, Nepali, Portuguese, Sinhala, Tamil, and Telugu.
"This is a great opportunity for me to work with some of the best in the business from across the globe," an elated Baruah told The Assam Tribune.
"It means a lot to me and I'm eagerly looking forward to start my work."
The selected filmmakers will be pitching their projects virtually to international and Indian producers, distributors, festival programmers, financiers, and sales agents at open pitch online.
On the first day of Film Bazaar Online, the pitches will be played out virtually and made available for delegates to watch in different time zones.
Film Bazaar, created and organised by the NFDC, is a platform exclusively created to encourage collaboration between the international and South Asian film fraternities. The market aims at facilitating the sales of world cinema in the region.
In 2020, due to the unprecedented situation of the COVID-19 pandemic, the decision to conduct Film Bazaar virtually was taken. A total of 315 delegates logged in from 37 countries.
Bobby Sarma Baruah is an award-winning filmmaker, film researcher, producer, and screenwriter. Adomya, her debut feature, was adjudged as the best film in the spiritual category at the 13th Dhaka International Film Festival. Her second venture, Sonar Baran Pakhi, won the audience choice award at the 15th Dhaka International Film Festival and the Grand Jury Award at the 15th Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles. Her third feature, Mishing, won the Silver Lotus Award in the 66th National Film Awards.
"This has been one of the projects which is close to my heart and we have been working very sincerely for a long time," said the director.
Sulakhyana Baruah of Imaging Media is the producer. Adomya is Baruah's first feature film as an actor. In Maj Rati Keteki, directed by Santwana Bordoloi, Baruah was the protagonist with Adil Hussain.
Incorporated in 1975, the NFDC was established by the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, with the primary objective being the promotion of a good cinema movement.
