The Primexchange co-production workshop (Nov 18-24) is celebrating its fifth anniversary this year with a strong line-up of ten projects, along with guest project In Search Of A Miracle, based on William Dalrymple’s book Nine Lives.

Produced by the UK’s Film and Music Entertainment (F&ME), the docudrama follows four individuals in contemporary India as they pursue their devotion to a higher power. It is one of four UK projects selected for Primexchange this year – along with Rosemilk Productions’ psychological thriller Figments, Aimimage Productions’ Seven Stages and Avatar Productions’ The Importance Of Being Chunky.

Avatar’s project is a comedy about a cab driver enlisted to impersonate a Bollywood star. Thriller Seven Stages was selected in collaboration with Primexchange’s partners at Film London.

A co-production workshop which aims to foster collaboration between Indian and European producers, Primexchange selects ten projects each year – five from India and five from Europe. This year’s European projects also include period drama Remember: Your Name Is Freedom, from Italy’s Hip Film; and black comedy The Hermit from Kamal Musale and Swiss producer Heinz Dill.

Indian projects this year include Sarthak Dasgupta’s The Music Teacher, which won the 2013 Sundance Mahindra Global Filmmaking Award, as well as the inaugural PrimePitch, a video pitching content launched by Primexchange organiser Primehouse.

The Indian line-up also includes drama Sheen Wigne (Snow Fairies), produced by Shazia Khan’s Saffron Films and Onir and Sanjay Suri’s Anticlock Films; Priyanka Dutt’s adventure drama Guide; and coming-of-age dramas Black Salt and Nuclear Hearts.

Launched in 2009 with backing from the EC’s Media Mundus and India’s National Film Development Corp (NFDC), Primexchange involves workshops, pitching sessions and meetings with experts from companies including Wild Bunch, Lee & Thompson media and entertainment lawyers, DAR Media and Viacom18. Projects from previous editions include Nikhil Mahajan’s Pune 52 and Bejoy Nambiar’s youth thriller Shaitan.

“The workshop is focused on assisting the producers, both European and Indian, in two respects: to gain a better understanding of each others’ markets, and then to use this knowledge to set up co-productions and collaboration between the two sub-continents,” said Primehouse CEO Frank Stehling.

Primehouse will be making announcements about new initiatives PrimePitch, PrimeJobs and PrimeSales during Film Bazaar.

Primexchange 2013 projects

Black Salt
Bishnu Dev Halden (Courtyard Entertainment)

Figments
Jules Gladys (Rosemilk Productions)

Guide
Priyanka Dutt (Vyjayanthi Movies)

The Hermit
Heinz Dill, Kamal Muscale (Louise Productions)

The Importance Of Being Chunky
Deep Sehgal (Avatar Productions)

The Music Teacher
Sarthak Dasgupta (White Lotus Films)

Nuclear Hearts
Tanaji Dasgupta (Overdose Art)

Remember: Your Name Is Freedom
Stella Leonetti (Hip Film)

Seven Stages
Atif Ghani (Aimimage Productions)

Snow Fairies
Shazia Khan, Onir, Sanjay Suri (Saffron Films/Anticlock Films)

Guest project
In Search Of A Miracle
Mike Downey (FAME)

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