The 31st Busan International Film Festival has added two Indian independent features to its 2026 programme, with both selected for A Window on Asian Cinema and both set for world premieres.
Birds on Ice, directed by Sahil H. Shah, is a Ladakhi-language coming-of-age film set in Ladakh’s ice-hockey community. The film stars Indian national ice-hockey player Padma Chorol in her acting debut. She plays Paami, an ice-hockey coach and national-team player whose character draws on her own experience.
The film was shot over two months in sub-zero conditions in Ladakh, with a predominantly Ladakhi cast and crew. Its world premiere at Busan gives the independent feature an international launch centred on a community and sporting culture rarely represented in Indian cinema.
The second addition, About an Intimate Matter, is directed by Sandeep Kumar Paul and is an India–US–UK co-production. The Bengali-language feature, produced by Apoorva Bakshi, will also have its world premiere at Busan.
The project had previously appeared in Film Bazaar 2024’s Viewing Room, where it was presented as a project seeking festival and distribution support.
The final Busan programme now confirms six Indian films in A Window on Asian Cinema: Not A Hero, Lovers in the Blue Light, The Soul Whisperer/Chevittorma, Khoriya, Birds on Ice and About an Intimate Matter.
India also has two features in Vision Asia: Selvi and Birds in the Dark. Paromita Dhar’s Salt Electric is selected for Wide Angle: Asian Short Film Competition.
The final programme consequently gives Indian independent cinema a substantial presence across Busan’s Asian-focused sections, with Birds on Ice and About an Intimate Matter adding two world premieres to the country’s 2026 representation.
