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Tag: Nagraj Manjule

  • Superstar Xchange to launch NFT for Hindi film ‘Jhund’

    Superstar Xchange to launch NFT for Hindi film ‘Jhund’

    Mumbai: US based Superstar Xchange in collaboration with Tezos India and TZ APAC are set to launch Bollywood industry’s first non-fungible token (NFT) ahead of the theatrical release of Hindi film “Jhund.”

    Superstar Xchange will be dropping two NFTs representing two unique posters from the film “Jhund” on 3 and 4 March respectively and the worldwide NFT drops will happen on Superstar Xchange’s official website on both the days at 5 p.m IST. Each of the buyers of these two NFTs will own a piece of the movie via unique and exclusive movie posters, and these NFTs can then be traded in the secondary market and/or also be shared on social media platforms, said the statement.

    Superstar Xchange is a NFT marketplace co-founded by Andrew Sternlight and renowned film producer Savita Raj Hiremath who has launched the film “Khosla Ka Ghosla.” The platform is dedicated to publishing NFTs on the Indian film industry. The Superstar Xchange platform has been built on top of the Tezos blockchain.

    “We are super excited and honoured to launch premium NFTs on Superstar Xchange for a big-ticket movie like ‘Jhund’ starring the legendary Amitabh Bachchan. Given that film NFTs range from old to new films, both innovation and creativity are critical for this domain; and furthermore, the concept and uniqueness of a digital asset make NFTs stand out as an art form,” said Superstar Xchange founder Savita Raj Hiremath.

    “Through Superstar Xchange, we are crafting new opportunities for fans to connect with, even to participate in, the inspiring stories that stir our imaginations and shape our lives,” said Superstar Xchange co-founder Andrew Sternlight. “From an investment perspective, we expect our new creative digital asset class to offer its collectors strong, diversified returns.”

    “We are delighted and proud to join hands as a supporting partner with Superstar Xchange for the ‘Jhund’ NFT project,” said Tezos India resident Om Malviya. “We truly believe that green NFTs with low carbon footprint are the future, and Tezos is the leader in this space. Being the leading force in terms of promoting the Tezos ecosystem in India, we at Tezos India foresee a huge potential for Tezos-based NFTs in the Indian film industry in the years to come.”

    The film is directed by Nagraj Manjule of “Sairat” fame and features Amitabh Bachchan in the lead role. Produced by T-Series, Tandav Films Entertainment and Aatpat Films and distributed by Zee Studios, “Jhund” is slated for a worldwide release on 4 March. Inspired by a true story, the biographical film revolves around the life of a sports teacher Vijay Barse who took his slum soccer team to represent India in the Homeless World Cup held in Paris in 2015.

  • NFDC Bazaar: Content evolution through socio-eco changes, expanding genres & innovative distribution to be discussed

    NFDC Bazaar: Content evolution through socio-eco changes, expanding genres & innovative distribution to be discussed

    MUMBAI: The 10th edition of NFDC Film Bazaar to be held from 20 to 24 November, 2016, at Marriott, Goa, will have a series of interesting and engaging ‘Knowledge Series’ sessions this year.

    This year a lot of focus is on technology & its impact on narratives, digitalisation and the expanding scope of monetising films (Indie included) and of course New Voices as well as the tried and tested ones — how do they hope to tell their stories and experiment with form, what are these stories as well as how do they propose to build their viewer community and engage them.

    Film Bazaar 2016 will have a Virtual Reality Sidebar and Film Bazaar VR Lounge powered by Samsung GearVR in Knowledge Series. The VR Sidebar will have three Knowledge Series sessions including a presentation by Michel Reilhac (ex-Head of Film Acquisitions at Arte France curated the VR NEXT sidebar at Cannes 2016, and has also directed 6 VR shorts) on Virtual Reality technology.

    Thithi director Raam Reddy, Sairaat director Nagraj Manjule and Kothanodi director Bhaskar Hazarika will be a part of a panel discussion on stories that are being told in Regional and Small Town India. Google, YouTube’s session will be on Building Communities and Icons and Facebook to have a session on Marketing the Indie Film and Building Communities.

    Knowledge Series, which consists of specially curated presentations, lectures and panel discussions with key decision makers and market drivers of the film industry, will have a Virtual Reality Sidebar.

    This year Film Bazaar takes the thought forward with two key Knowledge Series sessions with two of the most engaging and popularly used platforms –

    1. Google YouTube – Building Communities and Icons In Conversation with YouTube India Head of Content Operations Satya Raghavan

    2. Facebook – Marketing the Indie Film and Building Communities Presentation by Facebook Head, Media Partnerships, Saurabh Doshi

    Over multiple sessions during the four days of Film Bazaar, the Knowledge Series covers a wide range of topics including (but not limited to) the evolution of content through changing socio–economic structures, expanding genres, conventional and innovative platforms of distribution, various emerging co-production possibilities, international collaborations and treaties, and the art of navigating various film festivals and markets.

    Among the speakers are business unit heads of major media corporations (studios/producers/distributors etc.), top executives of organizations connected with the film industry, independent aggregators and content providers from across the world.

  • NFDC Bazaar: Content evolution through socio-eco changes, expanding genres & innovative distribution to be discussed

    NFDC Bazaar: Content evolution through socio-eco changes, expanding genres & innovative distribution to be discussed

    MUMBAI: The 10th edition of NFDC Film Bazaar to be held from 20 to 24 November, 2016, at Marriott, Goa, will have a series of interesting and engaging ‘Knowledge Series’ sessions this year.

    This year a lot of focus is on technology & its impact on narratives, digitalisation and the expanding scope of monetising films (Indie included) and of course New Voices as well as the tried and tested ones — how do they hope to tell their stories and experiment with form, what are these stories as well as how do they propose to build their viewer community and engage them.

    Film Bazaar 2016 will have a Virtual Reality Sidebar and Film Bazaar VR Lounge powered by Samsung GearVR in Knowledge Series. The VR Sidebar will have three Knowledge Series sessions including a presentation by Michel Reilhac (ex-Head of Film Acquisitions at Arte France curated the VR NEXT sidebar at Cannes 2016, and has also directed 6 VR shorts) on Virtual Reality technology.

    Thithi director Raam Reddy, Sairaat director Nagraj Manjule and Kothanodi director Bhaskar Hazarika will be a part of a panel discussion on stories that are being told in Regional and Small Town India. Google, YouTube’s session will be on Building Communities and Icons and Facebook to have a session on Marketing the Indie Film and Building Communities.

    Knowledge Series, which consists of specially curated presentations, lectures and panel discussions with key decision makers and market drivers of the film industry, will have a Virtual Reality Sidebar.

    This year Film Bazaar takes the thought forward with two key Knowledge Series sessions with two of the most engaging and popularly used platforms –

    1. Google YouTube – Building Communities and Icons In Conversation with YouTube India Head of Content Operations Satya Raghavan

    2. Facebook – Marketing the Indie Film and Building Communities Presentation by Facebook Head, Media Partnerships, Saurabh Doshi

    Over multiple sessions during the four days of Film Bazaar, the Knowledge Series covers a wide range of topics including (but not limited to) the evolution of content through changing socio–economic structures, expanding genres, conventional and innovative platforms of distribution, various emerging co-production possibilities, international collaborations and treaties, and the art of navigating various film festivals and markets.

    Among the speakers are business unit heads of major media corporations (studios/producers/distributors etc.), top executives of organizations connected with the film industry, independent aggregators and content providers from across the world.

  • ‘Fandry’ honoured with top feature award at IFFLA

    ‘Fandry’ honoured with top feature award at IFFLA

    NEW DELHI: The Marathi film Fandry by Nagraj Manjule centering around a romance between two people of different castes has been chosen for the grand prize of the best feature film at the Twelfth Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles which concluded in Hollywood this week. 

     

    The Grand Jury Prize for best documentary went to Powerless, directed by Fahad Mustafa and Deepti Kakkar. 

     

    The prize for best short, which included a cash grant from HBO, was presented to Alchemy, directed by Pranay Patwardhan, Shivangi Ranawat and Janmeet Singh. 

     

    Honourable mentions were awarded to the narrative feature Siddharth directed by Richie Mehta, and the short film Love.Love.Love directed by Sandhya Daisy Sundaram. 

     

    Audience awards were given to Richie Mehta’s Siddharth, the documentary Faith Connections by Pan Nalin’s and the short film Kush. 

     

    “All of the films were a pleasure to watch,” the jury said in a statement. “We are in awe of and inspired by the stories that the filmmakers brought to us. Many of the films dealt with the exploitation of children, such as child labour. The film we chose – Fandry – features stunning cinematic quality and powerful story-telling, capturing the inner life of its young hero, and providing a detailed and intimate illustration of the social power structure of his village.” 

     

    The jurors were Variety critic David Chute, Crackle and Sony Pictures Television head of digital development John Orlando along with actresses Shohreh Aghdashloo and Meera Simhan. 

     

    Powerless is about India’s struggle to get electricity to its people. “For its portrayal of a community faced with a power struggle over limited resources and its complex web of stories, the jury gives the documentary award to Powerless,” the documentary jury said. 

     

    Filmmaker Brian Knappenberger, festival programmer Dilcia Barrera and producer Chris Salvaterra served on the documentary jury. 

     

    The short Alchemy.received the award for being “Culturally rooted and formally inventive, this film used mixed media to create a one of a kind film-going experience,” said the jury comprising HBO’s Gena Desclos, festival programmer Heidi Zwicker, and filmmaker Kamal K.M. 

     

    The Festival had concentrated on films made outside the Bollywood studio system to Hollywood. The six-day event screened 33 feature films, documentaries and short films by filmmakers from nine countries exploring Indian stories. 

     

    Festival director Jasmine Jaisinghani said the IIFLA aims to be “the Sundance of Indian cinema”, with films that contrast Bollywood’s often glamorised escapism with vivid realism. “A lot of our filmmakers are interested in telling stories of people that are not represented,” Jaisinghani added, “The films we curate are dealing with touching on various aspects and concerns of the filmmaker’s own society.”

     

    The festival began with Sold, a gritty drama by director Jeffrey D. Brown about a 13-year-old girl sold into prostitution in India. Brown said he wanted the film to be a call to action globally for people to take a stand against child prostitution and slavery, which as of 2013, involved 115 million around the world, according to the United Nations. 

     

     Sold, starring young actress Niyar Saikia who turned 13 while filming explores the harsh, terrible reality of child prostitution in India, but with a pinch of song-and-dance to “get the audience through” the dark themes, Brown said. 

     

    Brown, who won an Oscar in 1986 for best short live-action film, said India is experiencing a “golden age” as filmmakers from the subcontinent breakout into the wider film industry. “It’s a new wave of Indian cinema,” he said. “This is really mainstream, global cinema. It’s not art house exclusively.” 

     

    Others included Liar’s Dice about a rural village woman who sets off to find her missing husband. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah in January, the largest gathering for the independent film community in the United States. 

     

    In Siddharth, a father and mother go in search of their 12-year-old son who disappears after leaving home to find work in Delhi. 

     

    Bombay Talkies is an anthology of short films from four celebrated Indian directors, exploring love stories of ordinary people. The Auction House: A Tale of Two Brothers is a documentary of two Kolkata brothers who own one of the oldest auction houses in the city.

     

    The festival’s closing night film was Jadoo by British director Amit Gupta, a light-hearted comedy about a British-Indian family, and two food-loving brothers torn apart over the sale of a recipe. Set in Leicester, a city in the East Midlands of England, Gupta mined his own experiences of growing up in a family-run restaurant to tell “a simple story” about family and cuisine. 

     

    Jadoo, starring Amara Karan as the daughter trying to repair the rift between her father and her uncle, works as both a glimpse into the British-Indian community of Leicester, and the bigger theme of family feuds and culinary traditions, which the director believes will resonate with a larger audience.