Three Indian feature projects — Moh, Soma Helang and Swarnapuchhri — have been selected for South Asian Screen Futures, a new initiative designed to connect South Asian filmmakers with financiers, sales agents, distributors and other industry partners at the Toronto International Film Festival’s inaugural market.
The initiative has been launched by the South Asian Screen Office of Canada (SASO) and IFFSA Toronto, in collaboration with Storiculture. The eight-project selection was announced on August 28.
Unlike a conventional development lab, South Asian Screen Futures is structured as a market-facing programme. The organisers say projects will receive tailored introductions to potential commercial and industry partners, depending on the needs and opportunities associated with each film.
Moh
Written and directed by Subhadra Mahajan, Moh is an Indian project about a widow and the lover of her late husband, whose relationship changes during a journey they undertake together.
Mahajan’s debut feature, Second Chance, premiered in the Proxima competition at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in 2024 and subsequently travelled to more than 40 festivals, including Busan and AFI Fest, before its Indian theatrical release in 2025.
Mahajan previously co-wrote Pan Nalin’s Angry Indian Goddesses and worked as second-unit director on Last Film Show, India’s 2023 Oscar submission.
Soma Helang
Shubham Negi and Sourav Yadav co-write and co-direct Soma Helang, with Neeraj Churi and Beesham A. Seecharan producing.
The film follows a woman attempting to hold together her polyandrous Himalayan family after a hailstorm destroys their harvest.
Negi’s short Hills Don’t Dance Alone received a Netflix TakeTen grant and premiered at BFI Flare, while Yadav’s Malwa Khushan won the Kashish QDrishti Grant and screened at the BAFTA-qualifying Iris Prize.
Producer Neeraj Churi produced Cactus Pears (Sabar Bonda), which became the first Indian fiction feature to win the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic at Sundance, in 2025.
Swarnapuchhri
The third Indian selection, Swarnapuchhri, comes from writer-director Ritwik Goswami and producer Nidhi Girish Salian.
The film follows a mother searching for answers after her son disappears amid protests against a nuclear power plant. Goswami’s screenplay previously won the West Meets East Screenplay Lab at the Dhaka International Film Festival.
Payal Kapadia is attached as executive producer. Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light won the Grand Prix at Cannes in 2024, while her documentary A Night of Knowing Nothing won the Golden Eye at Cannes in 2021.
A market route, not another lab
The three projects are part of an eight-film South Asian selection, but the organisers have positioned Screen Futures differently from a conventional project-development or mentorship programme.
The focus is on financing, sales and distribution: connecting projects with sales agents, distributors, financiers and other potential partners during TIFF’s new market.
For Indian independent cinema, the significance lies not simply in the selection of three projects, but in the creation of a dedicated South Asian market pathway around TIFF. The inaugural slate brings together emerging filmmakers with producers and creative figures who already have international festival and industry credentials.
