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Film Bazaar India 2024 opens submissions for features and web series
Mumbai: The 18th edition of the NFDC Film Bazaar has announced an exciting new development: the inclusion of a series in its co-production market and Screenwriters’ Lab. This year, both Feature Films and web series will have the opportunity to shine.
NFDC Film Bazaar is a premier networking hub for South Asian and international filmmakers, producers, sales agents, and festival programmers; fostering creative and financial collaborations. Spanning five days, the event is dedicated to discovering and promoting South Asian talent and content across filmmaking, production, and distribution through various channels. These include the co-production market (CPM), Screenwriters’ Lab, Work-in-Progress (WIP) Lab, Viewing Room (VR), Market Screening, Producer’s Workshop, and a series of informative sessions in the Knowledge Series.
The projects selected in the previous editions of Film Bazaar have done exceedingly well on the global stage. Their participation in the Bazaar has facilitated funding and co-production opportunities, sales and marketing support.
Introduction of Web-Series in CPM and Screenwriters’ Lab
The co-production Market offers a unique platform for filmmakers worldwide to connect with potential national and international co-producers who can provide financial support, location resources, or post-production facilities. The submissions for the Feature Film section for the co-production Market are currently open. Given the popularity of series as a medium, the co-production market has also opened its doors to filmmakers with ideas for a web series. Filmmakers with fiction web-series ideas in the early stages of development are encouraged to apply.
Additionally, the Screenwriters’ Lab has also expanded to include web series. While the Screenwriters’ Lab for Feature Films has already announced its selected projects for the current year, the Screenwriters’ Lab for web series has extended its call for submissions until 10 September 2024. Writers interested in applying must submit either a registered Pilot Episode Screenplay/Script or a detailed Pilot Episode Synopsis.
Opportunities for Global Collaboration
Each year, Film Bazaar has witnessed large submissions from different countries in multiple languages. The Co-Production Market model has been set up to bring together film professionals from across the globe to enhance opportunities for international co-productions and to contribute actively to the dynamism of the South Asian film industry. On the other hand, the shortlisted projects for Screenwriters’ Lab offer screenwriters the opportunity to experiment with and explore their screenplays under the mentorship of acclaimed international script and industry experts.
The curated projects for Co-Production Market, Screenwriters’ Lab and Film Bazaar Recommends get a chance to pitch their projects in front of national and international producers, financiers, festival programmers, distributors and sales agents. The pitch, followed by a short Q&A session, lays the groundwork for further one-to-one meetings and explores potential future collaborations.
A Legacy of Notable Projects
Over the years, Film Bazaar has birthed several notable projects that were a part of one or more verticals. Some of the successful projects from the past editions of Film Bazaar include The Lunchbox, Titli, Dum Lagake Haisha, Thithi, Newton, Bombay Rose, The Storyteller, Bahadur, Schirkoa: In Lies We Trust, Sultana’s Dream, In The Belly of a Tiger, Girls Will Be Girls.
With less than three months to go, Film Bazaar eagerly prepares to unveil another array of captivating stories in the serene setting of Goa from November 20-24, 2024. This edition promises to deliver fresh and extraordinary films and web series that could make a global impact.
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PNB partners Kiwi to launch credit-enabled UPI for users
Targets 180 million customers; RuPay card offers 0.5 per cent to 1.5 per cent cashback
MUMBAI: Swipe, tap, or scan credit is quietly slipping into the rhythm of everyday payments, and Punjab National Bank wants in on the action. The state-run lender has partnered with Kiwi to roll out credit-enabled UPI payments for its 180 million customers, marking a significant push to blend traditional banking with India’s fast-evolving digital payments ecosystem.
At the centre of the collaboration is the launch of the PNB Kiwi Credit Card on the RuPay network. The card is designed with a digital-first approach, offering fully online onboarding and seamless integration with UPI, allowing users to transact via scan-and-pay while accessing credit.
The offering also brings in a rewards layer, with cashback ranging from 0.5 per cent to 1.5 per cent on online transactions, positioning the product as both a convenience play and a spending incentive.
The move comes as UPI continues to dominate India’s digital payments landscape, increasingly blurring the lines between debit-led transactions and credit access. For PNB, which operates over 10,000 branches around 60 per cent in semi-urban and rural areas, the partnership signals a targeted effort to extend formal credit to segments that have traditionally remained underserved.
The collaboration also reflects a broader industry shift, where banks and fintech platforms are converging to embed credit directly into payment flows, reducing friction while expanding access.
With RuPay credit cards gaining traction and UPI evolving beyond peer-to-peer transfers, the PNB–Kiwi tie-up positions both players at the intersection of scale, accessibility, and the next phase of digital finance in India.
