India’s premier film market concluded its five-day run in Goa with a closing ceremony on Nov. 24 that celebrated emerging voices in independent cinema and groundbreaking achievements in artificial intelligence filmmaking. The National Film Development Corporation’s annual event distributed cash grants, post-production services and distribution deals valued in the millions of rupees to projects spanning features, documentaries and experimental works. Ladakhi-language project “Kakthet” (Idiot) claimed the top prize in the Co-Production Features category, receiving a $10,000 cash grant. Directed by Stenzin Tankong and produced by Ritu Sarin, Tenzing Sonam and Rajesh Thanickan, the India-France co-production explores themes through its regional perspective. The second-place honor went to “Ulta” (Madam), a Hindi-language India-France-Canada collaboration directed by Paromita Dhar, which earned $5,000. Netflix, serving as a co-partner of the market, presented a special $5,000 documentary grant to “Simhastha Kumbh,” directed and produced by Amitabha Singh. Filmmaker Sriram Raghavan presented the award. The Red Sea Fund extended its international reach with two grants: $2,500 for development project “The Manager” by director Sandeep Sreelekha, and $5,000 split between Work in Progress titles “Azhi” and “Ustad Bantoo.” Emad Eksander, head of Red Sea Fund, presented both honors. Platoon One Studio awarded its Script Development Grant of INR2, 00, 000 ($2,235) to “Nazma Ka Tadka” (Nazma’s Tadka), written by Sapan Taneja, with founder Shiladitya Bora presenting the prize as part of the Screenwriter’s Lab Project initiative. Casting director Mukesh Chhabra’s company offered free casting services to two projects: “Teacher’s Pet,” directed by Sindhu Sreenivasa Murthy and produced by Aishwarya Sonar, Shuchi Dwivedi and Vikramaditya Motwane from the Co-Production Market, and “White Guy” by writer Niharika Puri from the Screenwriters’ Lab. The UNESCO City of Film award, presented in collaboration with Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and NFDC, recognized “7 to 7,” directed and produced by Nemil Shah alongside Rajesh Shah. Chanda Jadhav presented the distinction. Post-production support dominated the awards roster. Nube Studio offered services worth up to INR6 lakh ($6,730) for DI and color grading to “Khoriya,” directed by Vishwendra Singh. Prasad Corporation provided extensive 4K DI services: 50 hours of free work to “Azhi (Estuary) by Hessa Salih, similar support to Film Bazaar Recommends title “The Ink Stained Hand and the Missing Thumb” by Yashasvi Juyal, and special mentions with 50% discounts to “Ustad Bantoo” (Arsh Jain), “Chevittorma” (Leo Thaddeus) and “Yarsa Gambu” (Mohan Belwal). Director Garth Davis presented the Prasad awards. Moviebuff distributed three awards worth INR3 lakh ($3,365) each for post-production, DCP and trailer promotion to “Born Yesterday” (Raj Rajan), “Khamosh Nazar Aate Hain” (Tejas Shankar Shukul) and “Aakkaatti” (Jai Laxmii). Actor Rachel Griffith presented the honors. Matchbox GAP awarded its most substantial prize to “Echoes of the Herd” by Dipanker Jain, providing up to INR20 lakh ($22,430) in soft financing for post-production plus mentorship and festival strategy guidance. A special jury award went to “Like a Feather in the Wind” by Chahat Mansingka, covering complete post-production to first print and festival mentorship. Additional industry support came from M5 Global Film Fund INR4 lakh ($4,485) for festival strategy and marketing to “Soul Whispers” by Leo Thaddeus; Reborn India Film Distribution, theatrical release across 10 screens valued at INR7 lakh $7,850 for “Chingam” directed by Abhay Sharma, presented by Rohit and Rahul Agarwal; and the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies, INR50, 000 ($560) in facility credits to “Azhi”. IICT also announced a 35% tuition scholarship for all Work in Progress Lab participants across its courses. The ceremony featured a major focus on artificial intelligence in filmmaking, with LTIMindtree sponsoring the AI Film Festival and CinemAI Hackathon. Sujay Sen, executive VP and global head of interactive services at LTIMindtree, joined chief growth officer Krishnan Iyer and IFFI festival director Shekhar Kapur to present awards drawn from submissions spanning more than 18 countries. The Craft Honor Awards distributed INR6 lakh ($6,730) total: “Kyra” by Meta Puppet won Best AI Animation, “The Cinema That Never Was” by Mark Wachholz took Most Innovative Use of AI, and “Nagori” by Guillaume Hurbault claimed Best AI Short Film. Special jury mentions recognized “The Last Backup Final Part” by Sreerithanya M and “Miracle on the Kachua Beach” by Shivanshu Nirupam. The 48-hour CinemAI Hackathon distributed INR9 lakh ($10,090) across five categories: Best Sound Design to “Final Monsoon Echo” (Rajesh Bhosale), Best Visuals to “Being” (Wonderwall Media Network and Indywood), Best Storytelling to “Lost and Found” (Samresh Shrivastava), Most Innovative Use of AI to “Remory” (Atomeist), and Best AI Film to “The Red Crayon” (Kalpanik). The Student Producer’s Workshop recognized emerging talent across multiple categories. Kaashviy Ommkaar received the Outstanding Pitch award for “Tengina Nadu,” presented by NFDC Managing Director Prakash Magdum, who also honored “Homework” director-producer Aniket Joshi with a special jury mention and Aditya Maheshwari (producer of “Shambho The Eggman Cometh”) for active engagement. CEO Sreerag Mukundan of WAVES Film Bazaar presented Outstanding Project Development to Radhika Kinare for “Baba Aani Ti,” Outstanding Producer Talent from SRFTI to Riya Varghese for “Madakkam,” and Outstanding Producer Talent from Whistling Woods International to Sakshi Mishra for “Demigods.” Present at the ceremony were Ajay Nagabhushan MN (Joint Secretary, Films, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting), K. K. Nirala (Joint Secretary, MoIB), Prakash Magdum (NFDC managing director), Jerome Paillard (WAVES Film Bazaar Advisor), Kapur, Griffith, Raghavan, filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani and Vineeta Mishra, head of WAVES Film Bazaar. Partners supporting the market included Netflix, LTIMindtree, Marriott Resort Goa, Expro, ESG, technical partners Jio, Harkness, Pulz and Qube Wire, and media partner Variety. WAVES Film Bazaar is the market component of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), Goa.
https://variety.com/2025/film/markets-festivals/waves-film-bazaar-2025-awards-1236590714/
WAVES Film Bazaar 2025 Wraps With Awards for ‘Kakthet,’ ‘Ulta’ and AI Filmmaking Innovation
