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Cannes is not just about the aesthetics, creativity and artistry of cinema, but also about the commerce that propels it. Held parallel to the festival, the Cannes Film Market is the biggest
in the world. This year, it saw the participation of 15,000 professionals from 140 countries, platformed 250 events, 1,500 screenings and 4,000 films and projects. With labs and training
sessions and targeted programmes like Producers Network, Streamers Forum, Investors Circle, Spotlight Asia, and Frontières Buyers Sowcase, it’s not just about striking immediate deals, but
about the interactions and meetings that can lead to partnerships in the future. However, the Indian filmmaking fraternity, comfortable in its age-old ways, is yet to exploit such platforms
to the fullest. To be fair, despite the industry’s humongous size, the presence of Indian films has been too sporadic to catch any steady attention at the Cannes market. The only consistent
engagement has been governmental, through the India Pavilion, now called the Bharat Pavilion. The culture ministry uses it to pitch the International Film Festival of India and now the World
Audio Visual & Entertainment Summit to the world. The ministry has also been aggressively pitching India as a warm, welcoming, easy and viable shooting destination at panels on policies
and cross-sector partnerships. Roundtables with international festivals, market heads and film commissions, and evening networking events are aimed at providing opportunities to upcoming
filmmakers. Ultimately, it can’t just be a government effort, but about individuals down the film value chain—producers, studios, financers, distributors, exhibitors and, of course,
filmmakers—to strategise. Last year proved crucial, with Payal Kapadia’s Grand-Prix winning France-India-Netherlands-Luxembourg-Italy co-production _ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT _snapped by the
Paris-based international sales agency Luxbox Films, leading to sweeping global distribution deals. This year, Neeraj Ghaywan’s Un Certain Regard contender, _HOMEBOUND, _produced by Karan
Johar’s Dharma Productions with Martin Scorsese as executive producer, was jointly boarded by Paradise City Sales and WME Independent. Ad Vitam, a leading Paris-based distribution company,
is releasing the movie in France.