MUMBAI: Alongside the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) beginning on 23 November, 2007, the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) will be organizing the Film Bazaar from 24 – 26 November, 2007.

The Film Bazaar is aimed at providing an interactive platform between prospective buyers and sellers of film rights from India and abroad. The international participants, among others, for the Film Bazaar are, Global Film Initiative, Back Up Films, Onoma International, Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation, Shanghai Film Group, China Film Co-production, Arclight Films Malaysian Broadcasting Corporation, Astra and Miriam Arab of Cannes Market. Sales agents and financiers including Fortissimo Films and Paris based Memento Films, and Germany’s Pandora are set to attend the three-day event.

As part of the Film Bazaar, 15 pre-selected projects drawn from all over India will be presented to the participants. These projects are at different stages of development.

The NFDC is also organizing a Script Development Workshop, Screenwriters Bloc which is scheduled to begin in Goa on Sunday as a run up to the IFFI. The Workshop pairs six mentors with the writers of eight pre-selected screenplays. Danis Tanovic, Bernd Lichtenberg and Olivia Hetreed are among the high-profile writers who will mentor eight students.

Tanovic wrote as well as directed No Man’s Land, while Lichtenberg’s credits as writer include Goodbye Lenin! And Hetreed scripted Girl With A Pearl Earring. The three European writers will join India’s Shaji Karun (Nishad), Anjum Rajabali (Legend of Bhagat Singh) and Ashwini Malik (Clever And Lonely) as mentors at the six-day workshop. In addition, writer-director Mani Ratnam (Guru) will participate as a guest mentor and hold a master class.

Participating projects include English-language scripts such as Pubali Chaudhuri’s Happy Ever After, along with scripts in Hindi and other Indian languages.