J&K filmmaker Shoaib Shawl set to attend 54th International Film Festival of India

Srinagar, Nov 20: National Film Development Corporation Ltd. (NFDC) under the aegis of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, has selected Shoaib Shawl, from Jammu and Kashmir, among the “ 75 Creative Minds of Tomorrow” (75 CMOT) to attend the upcoming 54th edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa and participate in the opening ceremony of the festival as a special guest of the Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Anurag Singh Thakur.

The “75 Creative Minds of Tomorrow”has been launched to identify, encourage and nurture young creative talents from across various aspects of film making, by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

In an invitation to Shoaib the NFDC wrote: “You have been selected among the ‘ 75 Creative Minds of Tomorrow’ to attend the 54th edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa. Your selection was made by an eminent jury composed of the stalwarts of the Indian Film Industry. We hereby invite you to join us for the upcoming 54th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa between 18th to 26th November.”

The NFDC extended an exclusive invitation to Shoaib, being part of 75CMOT, to the opening ceremony of the 54th International Film Festival of India as a special guest of the Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Anurag Singh Thakur. As per a release by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, the “Creative Minds of Tomorrow” is the brain child of Anurag Singh Thakur and was launched to commemorate the celebration of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav at the 2021 edition of IFFI.

Minister congratulated the 75 talented filmmakers and artists, the promising cinematic talents, who have been handpicked from a pool of over 600 from 19 different States and Union Territories of India based on their talent in different crafts of film making across 10 categories like Direction, Art Design, Script writing, Cinematography, Acting, Music Composition, Visual Effects (VFX) etc, as part of “75 Creative Minds of Tomorrow”.

Shoaib Shawl has been selected for “Creative Minds of Tomorrow” under the category “Art Direction” where under only three youths have been selected across the country. Shoaib hails from Jammu region of J&K and graduated in film making from the New York Film Academy, Los Angeles. He was recently selected for Gold Rising Program 2023 by Oscars-awarding Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, USA.

His short film “Beads of Breaths” was recently selected and premiered in Chicago, USA. The 75 CMOT will showcase and exhibit talent of these artists by producing short films as part of “48 Hour Film making Challenge” in group competition.

wThe selection to the “Creative Minds of Tomorrow” will provide an opportunity to meet those associated with the Indian film industry and network with prominent personalities from the world of cinema and to witness and experience the business of cinema at Film Bazaar, IFFI’s Business arm, which encourages collaboration between South Asian and international film communities.

A once-in-a-lifetime, and brilliant opportunity to learn and enter the Film Industry through organisations that excel in the craft and have a proven track record of launching careers of several brilliant minds through the CMOT Talent Camp where participants will pitch their ideas, concepts, skills, and previous work to obtain an employment opportunity with Industry and leading names, says NFDC.

The “75 Creative Minds of Tomorrow” shall be provided opportunity to attend Master classes by industry experts at the 54th IFFI and will be required to “virtually/physically attend the same till the end of the festival.”“This initiative is a crucial pit stop in India’s race to becoming the Content Subcontinent of the World” said the Minister of Information and Broadcasting as per their press release.