Five-day long Ladakh Screenwriters Fair 2022 concluded on September 16 with great fanfare at Shangrila Hotel, Leh.  Noted filmmakers and film personalities from Bollywood trained 20 local filmmakers during the 5-day event.

The first-ever Ladakh Screenwriters Fair 2022 was organized by the Department of Information and Public Relations (DIPR), Ladakh in collaboration with Film Companion.

CEC, LAHDC, Tashi Gyalson attended the valedictory ceremony as the Chief Guest. In his opening remarks, he stated, “Overwhelmed to know the positive responses from the participants including veteran local filmmakers on the Screenwriting workshop. I congratulate the entire team of the Information Department and Film Companion for successfully conducting the Screenwriter’s fair in Leh. I am glad that things are changing for good after the formation of Union Territory as we are witnessing a number of good initiatives and platforms for Ladakhis.”

He said that Hill Council, Leh and UT Administration are making good efforts in nurturing young talents in the creative industry. “We have initiated a theatre workshop in collaboration with NSD which would further assist our youths to identify their talents in the creative fields. I look forward to seeing good films produced by our filmmakers in Ladakh soon”, he added.

Commissioner/Secretary, Higher Education and Skill Development, Padma Angmo expressed her pleasure to observe the enthusiasm of the participants throughout the fair and lauded them for their sincerity of efforts. She thanked the Film Companion for providing proficient resource persons who successfully maneuvered the Ladakh Screenwriters Fair for five days with the participants. Comm/Secy, Padma Angmo opined that even though the film community in Ladakh is small at present, soon the talented filmmakers will grow into a vibrant and successful industry. She further stated that a long-duration course can be organized in the future for those who are interested to pursue a longer course.

President, Film and Television Federation of Ladakh, Rigzin Gurmet expressed gratitude to the Administration of UT Ladakh and Film Companion for organising this fair. He said that the trainees were fortunate to be able to absorb the lifelong experiences of the experts through their sincere guidance in just a few sessions.

He applauded the Comm/Secy, Padma Angmo for her relentless efforts in bringing great opportunities for the people of Ladakh. He added that such an innovative fair with prominent film personalities from Bollywood to train the local filmmakers and creative fraternity of Ladakh was beneficial beyond expectations.

Tashi Dawa (Filmmaker) spoke on the importance of this fair for him and exhorted that he shall incorporate this newfound knowledge and make even better films in the future. He stated that though late, it’s a new beginning for all the trainees of the fair.

The five-day Ladakh Screenwriters fair was graced by esteemed filmmakers and film personalities from Bollywood fraternity who shared their invaluable wisdom on major topics viz. Shakun Batra: Fundamentals of filmmaking, How to set beats for your film; Satyanshu Singh: Fundamentals of feature screenwriting, Developing characters for your story, Writing episodic series; Shakun Batra and Ayesha DeVitre: Secrets of character building; Abhay Pannu: Intro to the world of series filmmaking, The dos and don’ts of breaking into the industry; Raj Nidimoru: Understanding the viability of a series topic; Nikhil Advani: The rise of OTT, Topics of OTT From the POV of a showrunner; Avinash Arun: How to adapt your style to match OTTs; Shaunak Sen: The new age of the Indian Documentary landscape, the structure of a documentary: Deepti DCunha: Navigating film festivals; Leena Yadav: Emergence of Docuseries and episodic structure; Tanvi Gandhi: Portfolio building and PPM Decks; Guneet Manga: The hustle for the top; Arjun Mogre: How to pitch: Shirley Abraham and Amit Madheshiya: Protagonists in documentary cinema; Harshil Karia: What to shoot to market better and Neeraj Ghaywan: An intro to practical filmmaking.

The sessions were moderated by Anupama Chopra (Author, Journalist, Film Critic) and Prathyush Parasuraman (Film Critic).

The participants were awarded certificates and felicitated by CEC Tashi Gyalson along with Comm/Secy, Padma Angmo.