Six Indian/India-related films have been selected at the Berlin Film Festival, and 8 South Asians at the Berlinale Talents
Illustration/Uday Mohite
This is a landmark year for the Berlin International Film Festival, being its 75th year, a huge milestone. This is also a personal milestone for me, as it is the 27th year that I have been working with the Berlinale, as it is called, in Indian and South Asian film programming, now as South Asia Delegate. Six Indian and India-related films have been selected at the Berlinale that runs from February 13-23, 2025. In addition, at least eight film talents have been selected by the Berlinale Talents from India/South Asia/South Asian Diaspora, bringing the total number of selected films and talents to 14. This is an amazing achievement, given that each film was selected from about 8,000 film submissions in 2025, and the talents from 3,836 submissions from 123 nations this year.
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The six films include Tanushree Das and Saumyananda Sahi’s Baksho Bondi (Shadowbox, Bengali and Hindi), in the new Perspectives section for first fiction features; Arjun Talwar’s Letters from Wolf Street (Listy z Wilczej, Polish) in the Panorama section; Natesh Hegde’s Vaghachipani (Tiger’s Pond, Kannada) in the Forum section; Rima Das’ Village Rockstars-2, Assamese, in the Generation 14plus section for older teenagers and adults; Kush Badhwar and Vyjayanthi Rao’s Beneath the Placid Lake (English), in the Forum Expanded section; and Rhea Shukla’s Ruse, a short film (Hindi, English) in the Generation K Plus section for children and everyone else.
In real life, couple Tanushree Das and Saumyananda Sahi’s Baksho Bondi (Shadowbox), set in a Kolkata suburb, Tillotama Shome gives her all as the devoted wife of Chandan Bisht, a former soldier suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, who becomes a suspect in a murder investigation. The film has a diverse range of backers from the mainstream and indie film industries: the producers include Naren Chandavarkar, Shaunak Sen, Aman Mann (both of All That Breathes) and Saumyananda Sahi, and the Executive Producers include Vikramaditya Motwane, Nikkhil Advani and Jim Sarbh. Delhi-born filmmaker Arjun Talwar, who moved to Poland 10 years ago, has directed Wolf Street (Listy z Wilczej), a documentary feature set in Warsaw, in Polish, that offers a witty and personal portrait of Poland, revealing the contradictions of a nation often perceived as homogenous, unwelcoming and politically right-wing. In Vaghachipani (Tiger’s Pond, Kannada), Natesh Hegde’s second feature after Pedro, starring Dileesh Pothan and Achyut Kumar, a ruthless businessman in a small South India town tries to win a local election, but an outcaste stands up to his intimidation and sets the wheel of karma in motion. Powerful film shot in 16mm.
In Rima Das’ Village Rockstars-2, in Assamese, sequel to her Village Rockstars (2017), Dhunu, played by the lovely Bhanita Das, now a young teenager, continues to dream of becoming a musician, but is forced to contend with harsh realities, in a deeply moving film. Beneath the Placid Lake, a projection-based installation by Kush Badhwar and Vyjayanthi Rao, explores the aftermath of displacement following the creation of a massive dam in Telangana, South India. Badhwar’s film Blood Earth was in the Forum Expanded in 2014. In Rhea Shukla’s 10 min short film Ruse, in Generation Kplus, three adolescent girls,Kavya and Tara and Revati, rehearse a dance that triggers a sense of desire, that will remain a secret between them.
At least eight Indian and South Asian/Diaspora film talents have been selected by the Berlinale Talents. These include Subhadra Mahajan, Director and Screenwriter, India; Maksud Hossain, Director, Screenwriter, Bangladesh; Subarna Dash, Director and Animation Director, India; Sushant Shrestha, Producer and Audience Designer, Nepal; Ishita Sengupta, Film Critic and Journalist, India; Udit Duseja, Sound Designer and Composer, UK; Sushan Prajapati, Cinematographer and Director, Nepal; and Sitikantha K, Editor, Sound Designer, India. Huge congratulations to all those selected. In addition, Bidhan Ribeiro, critic from Bangladesh, has also been selected for the FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics) Jury at the Berlinale 2025.
Altogether, these films and talents reflect a portrait of vibrant film talent and resistance across India and South Asia.
Meenakshi Shedde is India and South Asia Delegate to the Berlin International Film Festival, National Award-winning critic, curator to festivals worldwide and journalist.
Reach her at meenakshi.shedde@mid-day.com
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