International
BRICS WAVES Bazaar sparks new film and media partnerships across borders
Two-day Mumbai event draws 900 delegates and more than 275 business meetings
MUMBAI: The creative lines are open, and this time the calls are crossing borders. The BRICS WAVES Bazaar 2026 has turned Mumbai into a meeting point for filmmakers, media companies and technology players, with a string of international collaborations announced across film, archives, AI and immersive entertainment.
The two-day event, organised by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting through the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), brought together representatives from 20 BRICS member and partner countries, with more than 900 delegates attending and over 275 curated business-to-business meetings held.
Among the key developments was an exchange of a Letter of Intent between NFDC and Brazil’s RioFilme, aimed at strengthening audiovisual collaboration and facilitating Brazilian participation at WAVES 2027. NFDC managing director Prakash Magdum and Daniel Celli, Head of the Rio Film Commission, exchanged the document at the Bazaar.
The event also pushed archival collaboration further. NFDC and the National Film Archive of India (NFAI) announced their ongoing engagement with Russia’s Gosfilmofond, with the two FIAF-member archives exploring opportunities to formalise cooperation.
The cross-border slate widened further with representatives from South Africa, Russia, Thailand and Kazakhstan announcing the proposed Global South Film Festival 2027, aimed at strengthening cinematic and cultural exchange.
Meanwhile, the Media & Entertainment Association of India (MEAI) and Vietnam’s Cinema Department under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced a Record of Meeting to deepen film cooperation and work towards a formal bilateral agreement.
Technology and talent development also featured prominently. The Indian Institute of Creative Technologies (IICT) and Graphiti Multimedia Pvt. Ltd. signed an MoU covering industry partnerships, content creation, academic programmes, innovation, monetisation and talent development.
Brazil-based media platform The South Global News also announced an initiative focused on communication, media collaboration and cultural exchange across BRICS nations and the wider Global South.
The Bazaar additionally unveiled several international film projects, including the India-Portugal feature film Portuguese Man ‘O War, the India-Russia co-production KOROVA and an international historical film on Tomáš Baťa, involving collaborators from India, the Czech Republic, China, South Africa and the UAE.
AI took a prominent place in the partnership mix, with South Korea’s nCORE Inc. and UAE-based VisionX announcing Calivision AI Studio in India. The studio will focus on AI-first cinematic and immersive storytelling, reflecting the growing overlap between entertainment production and emerging technologies.
Producers also found a new collective platform in the BRICS Independent Producers Alliance (BIPA), which is envisaged as a network connecting producers across BRICS countries through collaboration, investment, education and innovation.
The Bazaar’s content pipeline extended into newer formats as KLIP unveiled its upcoming premium micro-drama slate, ETV revealed the poster for an upcoming Indian anime television series and Vaibhavi Studios announced its anime feature film TRIO.
The country’s AVGC and comics ecosystem also used the event to build international links. The Assam AVGC-XR Development Association signed strategic MoUs with the Game Developers Association of India, MEAI and the Indian Comics Association, while the Indian Comics Association and MEAI signed an agreement focused on international collaboration and intellectual property distribution.
For NFDC, the announcements point to a broader ambition for WAVES to function not merely as an industry showcase but as a marketplace for international co-productions, investment and creative exchange.
The sheer scale of the Bazaar 900-plus delegates, 275-plus business meetings and participants from 20 countries suggests that the BRICS framework is increasingly being used as a creative bridge, with India positioning its entertainment ecosystem as a meeting ground for the Global South and beyond.
