Indian filmmaker Payal Sethi's feature project Babak has been selected for the Script Development Fund of the 2026 Asian Cinema Fund (ACF), the production support initiative of the Busan International Film Festival's Asian Contents & Film Market (ACFM). The project is one of just three fiction features chosen for script development this year from 495 submissions.
Babak, a Germany-India co-production, follows the life of an Afghan refugee living in Germany and explores themes of survival, identity, care and responsibility. According to the ACF, the selected projects were recognised for grounding their stories in specific regional realities while addressing universal questions of migration, family, identity, loss and survival. As part of the programme, Babak will receive a KRW 10 million (approximately US$7,300) script development grant and will be invited to the Asian Project Market (APM) at Busan, where it will meet international producers, financiers and industry professionals.
Sethi is an Indian writer-director based in Germany whose work spans fiction and documentary. Her acclaimed short film Leeches won India's National Film Award and the International Grand Prix at the Brussels Short Film Festival before screening at more than 70 festivals worldwide. A graduate of Vassar College and New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, she has participated in major international development programmes including Berlinale Talents, Produire au Sud and Cine Qua Non Lab.
The Asian Cinema Fund supports emerging filmmakers across Asia through programmes for script development, post-production and documentary production. This year's edition selected 12 projects from 798 submissions across its three funding categories, representing seven countries and five international co-productions. Selected projects receive financial support as well as opportunities to connect with the international film industry through the Busan International Film Festival and the Asian Contents & Film Market.
