Tasveer Film Market puts $150,000 in grants up for South Asian film-makers
$150,000 in grants will be decided in Seattle next week as South Asian film-makers pitch new work at the third Tasveer Film Market, Variety reported on Oct. 9. The market runs from Oct. 13 to 18 alongside the 21st Tasveer Film Festival. It is a trade event, where makers present unfinished projects to funders, distributors and mentors.
Most of the money sits in the Tasveer Film Fund Pitch, which is supported by Netflix, according to Variety. Nine short-film teams will present live to a jury of producers and film-makers. That jury will award four production grants of $35,000 each. A separate jury will give two $5,000 awards to features in the Market Selects strand.
The Market Selects list holds 12 fiction and documentary features, all in late-stage development. That means scripts and plans are advanced and the films are close to shooting. The titles are "Baraat: The Wedding Horse," "Blood Mountain," "Colours of the Sea," "Her Acre," "Home Before Night," "Kowloon Story," "Ladki Waale," "Mirage," "Mother Tongue," "Rainbow," "Sons of the River" and "Unlisted." The nine Fund finalists are "Friend-for-Hire.com," "Lila," "Lingua Franca," "Lost Kids of K City," "MarMaid," "Paar Channa De," "Planned Parenthood," "The Blue House" and "Very Intelligent Aunties."
All pitches will be held at the Tasveer Film Center in Seattle, as organised by Tasveer and reported by Variety. The venue is the former Ark Lodge Cinema in Columbia City, which Tasveer acquired in 2025. Film-makers will also get one-on-one time with industry mentors.
The wider programme adds training and deal-making. Tasveer EDU will debut this year with a year-round programme of sessions on development, financing, casting, rights and distribution. The Tasveer Producers Lab, a Los Angeles initiative, links South Asian producers with the wider industry. A market panel with exhibitor Greg Laemmle, executive Cathy Ni and producer Lucas Ford will look at how South Asian films reach audiences. "Delhi Crime" producer Apoorva Bakshi will deliver a masterclass.
Companies sending executives include Zero Gravity Management, Aamir Khan Pictures, EST Studios, Netflix, Wieden+Kennedy and Buffalo 8, according to Variety. Tasveer was founded by Rita Meher and has championed South Asian voices in film, art and storytelling since 2002. Tasveer describes its festival as the only Oscar-qualifying South Asian film festival in the world, according to its website Tasveer.
What makes this stand out for newcomers is the structure. Grants, mentors and practical classes sit side by side. For audiences, the names on this year's lists are the projects to watch.
