Five of the Red Sea Film Foundation’s honorees for its annual Women in Cinema Gala stepped into Deadline’s studio in Cannes to talk about their current projects and local industries.
Indian actress-singer Tara Sutaria touched on her upcoming period gangster film Toxic, from director Geetu Mohandas. The plan, she said, is for the film to be released worldwide and it’s currently reported to be the most expensive Indian film ever made sitting in the ($65M-$75M range).
“It’s very interesting for Indian cinema,” she said. “I think there’s so much we have attempted in the film that hasn’t really been done before. It’s set in this beautiful place called Goa and it’s just a time period that we haven’t seen visually in film. I think it’s going to be this beautiful spectacle of so many things.”
Nigerian actress-producer Genevieve Nnaji touched on Nollywood’s global expansion and noted that she’s increasingly encouraged by an increase in female filmmakers and execs in the local industry.
“I’ve seen a lot more female producers and filmmakers come up, which is very inspiring to me,” said Nnaji. “The industry is barely forty years old and we’ve achieved so much in such a short time and I just can’t wait to see what the future holds for us. I think we’ve just started and time is still very young and we have a lot more to achieve.”
Indonesian filmmaker Kamila Andani, whose best known for her critically acclaimed debut The Mirror Never Lies, pointed to a boom in Indonesia’s local box office, which is propelling change in the business.
“This is quite an interesting time for the Indonesian industry,” said Andani. “Right now I see that Indonesian people love their cinema. They go to the cinema to see their own films and we have higher box office numbers after the pandemic than before.”
Rwandan filmmaker Marie-Clementine Dusabejambo, whose first feature film Ben’Imana is screening in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard, and Saudi actress and writer Aixa Kay both joined the conversation. Take a look at the video above.
The Deadline Studio at Cannes is sponsored by SCAD.
