WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM FILMY FRIENDS

Established filmmakers are stepping up to help first-timers with creative feedback, production, distribution, and outreach. The help is particularly appreciated in the documentary and indie film circuits

- NAMRATA JOSHI

HE most radical of creative efforts are often the quietest. Like the first edition of a pioneering creative producing lab for South Asian documentary filmmakers, Doc Producing South, that took place in early September in Delhi.

Co-founded by Anirban Dutta and An-upama Srinivasan, the makers of Sun-dance-winning Nocturnes, it aims to nurture young documentary talent through peer-driven mentorship. Eight selected projects went through an intensive workshop that covered the gamut—proposal development, budgeting, financing, distribution strategies, contracts and rights negotiation—with guidance from celebrated documentary names like Shau-nak Sen (All That Breathes, Cities of Sleep), and Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh (Writing With Fire). The collective also includes Payal Kapadia, cinematographer Ranabir Das, filmmakers Arya Rothe and Arun Bhattarai, and producer and programmer Anu Rangachar.

“It’s like how in academics you send a paper for peer review,” says Dutta of the model that is all about sharing, supporting, and generosity. “The established makers came with an open heart, to give back whatever they had got from their journeys,” he says.