Insights on India: a cross-cultural partnership
Australian screen practitioners capitalising on the Australia-India cultural exchange share their learnings, advice and experiences from the Indian screen market.
Top L to R: Ana Tiwary, Jodie Bell, Jamie Hilton, Mithila Gupta
As one of the largest cinema-going markets in the world*, and with over one million Indian diaspora in Australia**, the Indian content market presents new potential for audience engagement, creative and cross-cultural collaboration, and business opportunities. Since the ratification of the India-Australia Co-production Treaty in November 2023, interest in Offical Co-productions between the two countries has grown, alongside the cultural and professional knowledge sharing the Treaty fosters. The India-Australia Co-Production Treaty opens doors to a wealth of resources by accessing both markets for creativity, finance and audiences.
And the appetite for cross-cultural stories and cultural exchange continues into 2025 with the global tour of Australian feature film anthology My Melbourne, cinema release of Hindi-Vindi, and recent events such as the National Indian Film Festival of Australia (NIFFA) and the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM).
POCU Advisor (Producer Offset and Co-production) Michele McDonald is assured by the response to the Treaty.
“The interest from India has been very encouraging. As one of the largest cinema-going audiences in the world, and the largest market in South-East Asia, the potential for partnership and collaboration is exciting.”
“Being on the ground in Goa provided a fantastic access point for Indian industry and Australian practitioners to hear more about the possibilities of the Treaty and learn more about business and practices of both countries,” McDonald said.
“Australia has a long history of international collaboration and a rich and diverse filmography of Official Co-productions with a range of partner countries. We’re looking forward to seeing the creative and professional collaborations that evolve in the coming years.”
In 2024, Australia was named as Country of Focus at the year's International Film Festival of India (IFFI). Held annually in Goa, IFFI hosts a diverse program of global film and talent, alongside market screenings, co-production labs, and industry networking at the Film Bazaar, and attracts more than 45,000 attendees each year.
A delegation of over 50 filmmakers, producers, businesses, and industry representatives visited India, and were able to participate in a range of screenings, panels, networking, meetings, presentations, and events, including the Australian Co-Production Day organised by Invest India and Screen Australia. The Co-Production Day offered filmmakers the chance to discuss cross-continent storytelling, collectively explore potential collaboration and co-production models with India, and learn more about Indian audiences and market opportunities.
Four producers who participated in the delegation to India reflect on their experiences, how Indian audiences respond to Australian content, and what filmmakers and producers should consider when approaching the Indian market.
*Marché du Film, World Film Market Trends 2024
**ABS, Australia’s Population by Country of Birth
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Bidjara Kumari - Jodie Bell
For First Nations filmmaker Jodie Bell, being part of the delegation to India was an opportunity to not only research a new market, but gain insight into the industry and production practices and service opportunities available. India features heavily in the narrative and character of her current project-in-development, and filming in India – and the potential for co-production – opened up possibilities for the project – and as Bell puts it, “you can’t do that authentically unless you’ve at least been there.”
“I think it’s key to make sure that we are doing authentic and real partnerships, […] and as a First Nations person, we’re always advocating to tell our stories in our own way authentically, so I need to have that same lens for any work I do in India.”
In the midst of development of a project set in India, one of the highlights for Bell of the trip was attending the industry market. “Each state had a stall and you could see everything about what each state had to offer. Some of the states have incentives to film there, so, as a producer, that was really helpful.”
Her experiences highlighted the possibilities for the project as her team explored the differences of the Indian market and industry. “Seeing how it worked in India, and seeing what we would need to do in our project to make it work in India…[filmmaking] is serious business over there. They’re making these huge blockbusters that cost hundreds of millions of dollars, and they have the audience to watch it.”
All delegates spoke to the value of making connections in the country of collaboration. Relationship building was the key highlight and developing a deeper understanding of the Indian market.
“India is definitely open for business and they want to do business with Australia,” Bell said.
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Home Before Night - Ana Tiwary
Ana Tiwary (right) with Kalani Gacon and Sabin Gnawali at the Film Bazaar co-production market.
Producer Ana Tiwary agrees. She recommends registering early and researching the international delegates to book meetings in advance. “But don’t book too many meetings each day!” she cautions. “Be strategic and decide who the key people you want to meet in person at the market are.”
Her upcoming film Home Before Night was officially selected to participate in the Film Bazaar as part of the Co-productions market, and as the only Australian project in the pitch program, Tiwary believes the Film Bazaar experience was an important way to forge international networks, and “a deeper understanding of what will resonate globally.”
“It was really great pitching Home Before Night to people from around the world and see how deeply the story, themes and characters resonated with everyone. It has given me extra confidence in my belief that this film will appeal to audiences globally,” she said. “And people were super generous in their feedback, sharing tips and strategies on how to make the film a success during the co-production market.”
Eight Australian films were selected to showcase the Australian industry, including domestic box office and family favourite Runt.
The adaptation of Craig Silvey’s beloved best-selling, and very Aussie, novel has generated over $6 million domestically since its September release to become the breakout hit of 2024. Producer Jamie Hilton was in Goa for the IFFI screening and was delighted by the international response.
“The festival crowd wasn’t your typical family audience – there were no kids in sight – but the group laughed in all the right spots, and there were a lot of tears at the end,” he said. “While the type of films we make and enjoy may be different, we’re all dealing with the same things. Cinema is such a wonderful meeting ground.”
Hilton said, “Spending quality time and sharing meals, meeting people I know only by name – it’s hard to quantify that type of value in the development of a relationship.”
Reflecting on the differences between audiences, one of Hilton’s key takeaways was the engagement of Indian audiences with cinema – wherever they are.
“Bollywood movies are very often performing better here [in Australia] than local Australian films. […] The Indian expat community is booming, and taking culture makers and storytellers to India brings them closer to the Australian Indians living at home. And vice versa, sending a busload of rambunctious Australians to an Indian film market can only create positive and creative cultural exchange.”
(L-R) Mithila Gupta, Shahana Goswami, Akshay Ajit Singh and Shahana Goswami.
The Indian diaspora is a shared interest for Indian born and Australia-raised screenwriter and creator Mithila Gupta. Her most recent project, romantic drama Four Years Later was shot in Mumbai, Jaipur and Sydney and told in dual languages. Creator Gupta led a panel discussion with series director Mohini Herse and leads Shahana Goswami and Akshay Ajit Singh during Film Bazaar about the potential of cross-continent production demonstrated in Four Years Later.
“I see many similarities [between Australia and Indian industries] – passion for great craft and hard work, memorable stories, open hearts and a sense of humour,” she said. “There is a lot of good will around future co-productions between India and Australia, but it will be crucial to build projects that genuinely appeal to both markets. It’s not enough to put the two cultures together, we need to find stories that will make noise and cut through to both, that are relevant to both and treat both perspectives as equal, without cynicism.”
“The Indian local market is huge, even a niche is tens of millions of eyeballs – and those eyeballs are so passionate about local content.” So, her advice to filmmakers looking to work in India is to approach the Indian market with a clear vision of what you want to achieve and, like all co-productions, find the right collaborators.
Additional resources
- Find out more about the Australia-India Co-production Treaty here.
- Learn about the Official Co-production program and participating partner countries by visiting the Screen Australia website or contact the Producer Offset and Co-production Unit at [email protected].
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Members of the Australian delegation at the 55th International Film Festival of India
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