Five Indian independent filmmakers have been selected for Platform BUSAN 2026, the networking and professional-development programme for emerging Asian filmmakers held alongside the Busan International Film Festival and the Asian Contents & Film Market (ACFM).
The Indian cohort comprises Garima Pura, Megha Krishnatrey, Utkarsh Chaturvedi, Koustabh Mukherjee and Sourav Yadav. ANI reported their selection on September 3, with the filmmakers set to attend the programme in Busan from October 10 to 13.
For the five Indian filmmakers, the Busan opportunity comes with projects in different stages of development.
Garima Pura, co-writer of the Oscar-winning documentary The Elephant Whisperers, is taking her feature project Pitching Nose Bone, described as a dark comedy about an 18-year-old orphan seeking an abortion in Punjab. She will also present her short Kosi Sardi in the hope of exploring festival distribution.
Utkarsh Chaturvedi will present his coming-of-age feature Ready 1...2..., seeking potential co-producers, while also introducing his short FlowerMan to international sales agents and programmers.
Koustabh Mukherjee is taking two projects: the children's coming-of-age short BulBul and the horror-comedy feature The Woman With Two Names.
Sourav Yadav will pitch his debut feature fiction project Soma Helang (A Song of Flowers), co-written and co-directed with Shubham Negi and produced by Neeraj Churi. The project is seeking financing and international co-production partners.
Megha Krishnatrey, producer and cinematographer of FlowerMan, will present the short alongside a slate of feature projects and use the programme to develop international industry relationships.
The selection also gives the filmmakers access to the Asian Contents & Film Market, including its industry sessions and networking opportunities.
The organisers say the 2025 edition of Platform BUSAN brought together 148 filmmakers from 23 countries. The 2026 programme will take place at BEXCO's Exhibition Center 2 from October 10–13.
The five filmmakers will use the programme to present projects and build connections with producers, sales agents, programmers and potential international co-production partners.
