Eight South Asian feature film projects have been selected for South Asian Screen Futures, a new industry initiative backed by the South Asian Screen Office of Canada (SASO), IFFSA Toronto and Storiculture. The programme will connect filmmakers with financiers, sales agents, distributors and other industry professionals at Toronto’s inaugural market. The selected slate includes Payal Kapadia, executive producer of Swarnapuchhri; Neeraj Churi, producer of Soma Helang; and Subhadra Mahajan, writer-director of Moh. The selection brings together projects from India, Canada, Saudi Arabia and the Netherlands, offering South Asian filmmakers opportunities to build international connections and explore cross-border financing, collaboration and distribution.
The projects also arrive with notable festival credentials attached to key members of their creative teams. Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light won the Grand Prix at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, while Churi’s Cactus Pears (Sabar Bonda) became the first Indian fiction feature to win the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic at Sundance in 2025. Mahajan’s Second Chance premiered at the 2024 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and subsequently travelled to more than 40 festivals. Their involvement gives the Toronto slate a strong connection to the international festival circuit as the selected projects move towards their next stages of development.
Rather than functioning as a conventional mentorship or filmmaking programme, South Asian Screen Futures is designed around the individual needs of each project. The initiative aims to put filmmakers directly in front of potential partners for financing, sales and distribution, positioning Toronto as an important meeting point for South Asian stories and international industry players.
Among the eight projects, Moh places Subhadra Mahajan at the centre of an intimate relationship drama. The film follows an Indian widow and her late husband’s lover as a shared trip changes their relationship. Mahajan’s previous film, Second Chance, premiered in the Proxima competition at Karlovy Vary in 2024 and later screened at Busan and AFI Fest.
Soma Helang is rooted in the Himalayas. Directed by Shubham Negi and Sourav Yadav, the film follows a woman attempting to hold her polyandrous family together after a hailstorm destroys their harvest. Neeraj Churi’s involvement follows his work on Cactus Pears (Sabar Bonda) and his growing presence in international independent cinema.
Swarnapuchhri, with Payal Kapadia attached as executive producer, follows a mother searching for answers after her son disappears during protests against a nuclear power plant. Directed by Ritwik Goswami and produced by Nidhi Girish Salian, the project brings another socially grounded story to the selection, while Kapadia’s involvement connects it to the wider festival success of All We Imagine as Light.
The remaining projects further broaden the slate. A Varnam in Silence follows a woman who loses her voice after her mother’s funeral, while Pink City Skies centres on a teenager who leaves home after his relationship with his boyfriend is discovered. Lefty follows a young man finding a path towards recovery from anxiety and addiction through cricket. Unbraided follows two childhood friends navigating a changing Saudi Arabia, while A Suitable Wife for Her Husband centres on an Afghan-Canadian salon owner who secretly searches for a second wife for her husband.
The range of projects reflects the programme’s focus on personal dramas, social stories and cross-border narratives emerging from different filmmaking communities. It also supports the initiative’s broader goal of strengthening Canada-South Asia connections and creating pathways for distinctive stories to move beyond their home markets through a focused industry platform in Toronto.
For the selected filmmakers, Toronto offers more than a platform to present their projects. South Asian Screen Futures provides an opportunity to meet industry professionals who can help move films from development towards financing, sales and distribution. With eight projects and several creators already linked to major festival recognition, the initiative creates a focused industry platform for South Asian cinema to find new partners and audiences.
