The first teaser has been released for Early Days, a Mumbai-set drama about the dangers of influencer culture that will make its world debut at the Red Sea International Film Festival.
An India-Singapore co-production directed by Priyankar Patra, who is making his feature film directorial debut, has been selected for the festival’s New Visions competition, which will be held in Jeddah from December 4 to 13.
The film is a timely exploration of relationships in the digital age, as a young couple competes for love, ambition, and financial survival in India’s most expensive city in the spotlight on social media. Blending the realism of film and the visual language of social media, “Early Days” captures what Patra describes as “what happens when life itself becomes a performance.”
“I wanted to tell a story that was both intimate and universal,” Patra said. Patra’s previous credits include producing several international festival titles under the For Films banner.
The project is executive produced by Aditya Vikram Sengupta, whose film “Love of Labor” won an award in Venice, and “Once Upon a Time in Calcutta”, of which Patra is also one of the producers, premiered in Venice. Co-producers Isabella Sreyashii Sen and Olivier Dok, co-CEOs of Hazelnut Media in Singapore, bring global distribution expertise to the project.
“Priyankar’s voice is clear and urgent,” Sengupta said. “This film captures our times with empathy and keen observation.”
The cast includes newcomers Manasi Kaushik and Sarthak Sharma, along with a creative team including editor/producer/composer Anupam Sinha Roy, sound designer Sukrit Sen and production designer Sayanika Mukherjee. Patra did a movie.
Sen and Dok said they were drawn to the film because it “questions the human cost of online aspirations. It’s a deeply personal story, but also a quietly poignant social portrait.”
Mumbai-based For Films focuses on character-driven films that explore the intersection of technology, emotion and modern Indian life. Hazelnut Media specializes in impactful production with a focus on cross-cultural storytelling.
Watch the teaser here:
