Ladakhi-language debut 'Kakthet' wins new India co-production fund
A first feature film set in Ladakh has won the inaugural feature co-production fund run by Humans of Cinema and Safarnaama Pictures, Variety reported on 28 October 2026.
The winning project is Kakthet (Idiot), the debut feature of director Stenzin Tankyong. It is made in Ladakhi, the language of the high-altitude region of Ladakh in northern India. Variety reports that the fund chose it from nearly 400 entries.
The prize is 40 lakh rupees, about $42,000. A co-production is a film made by partners in more than one country, who share the costs and the credit. The fund is designed for emerging filmmakers with a distinct voice and a fresh approach to storytelling.
The fund was launched by Harshit Bansal, founder of Humans of Cinema, and Nazim Momin, founder of Safarnaama Pictures. Filmmakers Vishal Bhardwaj and Shaunak Sen are attached as mentors. Sen is also executive producer of Kakthet. The jury included actor Imran Khan, filmmaker Arati Kadav, Aman Mann, a producer of the Oscar-nominated documentary All That Breathes, and festival director Aseem Chhabra.
The film is produced by Ritu Sarin and Rajesh Thanickan, with French co-producers La Belle Affaire Productions. It has already gathered support on the international circuit. It won the Co-Production Features Grant at WAVES Film Bazaar in 2025, and it was picked as one of 30 projects for the 2026 Asian Project Market, held alongside the Busan International Film Festival.
Tankyong is not new to film. He directed the short films Sekool (2019) and Last Days of Summer (2023), according to Variety.
For readers outside the industry, the story is about how films get made before anyone sees them. Project markets at festivals are where financiers, sales agents and buyers meet filmmakers who still need money, partners or a finished script. A project that wins a prize or a place in a market can take a long time to reach a cinema, often two years or more. Nothing in the announcement sets a release date for Kakthet.
The fund's first winner now moves into production with its partners. The next public milestones will be set by the film's producers and their co-producers, not by the fund itself.
