The National Film Development Corporation’s Screenwriters Lab at WAVES Film Bazaar has established itself as an important launching pad for independent filmmakers in India, providing rare development support in a market where such resources remain scarce.
Developing eight projects each year, the Lab provides screenwriters with four to six months of intensive mentorship from international script consultants, filling what filmmaker and Lab mentor Vikas Mishra describes as a critical gap in the Indian film ecosystem.
“There is no other kind of development assistance. There is certainly no other development assistance in India and very little in South Asia,” said Mishra, who made the film Chauranga through the program. “Independent filmmakers are expected to take a well-written script to a producer and pitch it. But there is no financial support or professional support at this critical stage of the narrative journey, when a story develops from story to screenplay.”
The program has had notable successes, including “The Lunchbox” and Ajit Pal Singh’s “Fire in the Mountains,” which premiered at Sundance. Most recently, Diwa Shah’s project ‘Kyab’ secured a slot in the Cannes La Residence program, where she spent six months in Paris before winning the Cannes Film Festival’s Pitching Forum.
Claire Dobbin, a script consultant who has worked with the institute for several years, highlighted the program’s unique position in India’s film industry infrastructure. “People recognize that the Screenwriters Lab is an important development program,” Dobbin said.
The Lab brings together projects from across India and intentionally seeks voices beyond traditional urban film centres. Participants work one-on-one with expert mentors selected from international development programs. The framework for this lab was established by Marten Rabarts, who previously headed the Binger Film Lab.
After completing the program, filmmakers pitch their projects to international collaborators, producers, festivals, and funding bodies at Film Bazaar. Mishra secured the coin from the Gothenburg Film Festival’s ‘Chauranga’ Development Fund, which was the first funding for his project.
“It meant a lot. This was the first money that flowed into the account of the ‘Chauranga’ project,” Mishra said.
Mr. Dobbin noted the evolution of the program in recent years, with stronger projects coming into the pipeline as understanding of the development process increases within the industry. “Initially, many of the projects were not of a sufficiently high standard because the history of development in the industry was not very long,” she said. “But we’re attracting attractive projects right now, and we’re attracting filmmakers with really strong projects.”
This lab includes three sessions over the course of its duration, with lectures on screenwriting alongside individual instruction. Topics range from technical aspects such as opening sequences to broader questions about when to challenge established screenwriting conventions.
Dobbin contrasted Labo’s approach with mainstream Bollywood productions, suggesting it suffers from an echo chamber effect. “We don’t create the future by looking at the past. We create the future by coming up with new ideas,” she said. “The world was completely struck by lightning with ‘All We Imagine as Light’ because it was the most powerful, poetic, imaginative world.”
This year’s mentors include New Zealand-based Dobbin’s Christina Andreef and Indian filmmaker Umesh Kulkarni, and each writer will receive guidance from one or two mentors throughout the program.
With a focus on distinctive regional voices, the Lab is positioned as what Dobbin called “the diamond in NFDC’s crown,” helping filmmakers prepare for international markets while developing their own unique artistic perspectives.
“What the filmmakers are developing here is their voice,” Dobbin said. “Nothing is more important than the voice of the filmmaker.”
WAVES Film Bazaar is a part of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) market in Goa.
