The Knowledge Series consists of specially curated presentations, lectures and panel discussions with key decision makers and market drivers of the film industry.
Over multiple sessions during the four days of WAVES Film Bazaar, the Knowledge Series covers a wide range of topics including (but not limited to) the evolution of content through changing socio–economic structures, genre expansion, traditional and innovative distribution platforms, various emerging co-production opportunities, international collaborations and treaties, and the art of navigating various festivals and film markets.
Among the speakers are business unit heads of major media corporations (studios/producers/distributors etc.), top executives of organizations connected with the film industry, independent aggregators and content providers from across the world.
| Timings | Topic | Moderator |
| 10:00AM - 10:30AM | Open Pitch : Co-Production Market Documentary Projects | Emcee and WFB team |
| 10:45 PM - 01:00 PM | Open Pitch : Co-Production Market Feature Projects | Emcee and WFB team |
| 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM | Lunch | Emcee and WFB team |
| 02.15 PM - 03:00 PM | Open Pitch : Screenwriters' Lab Projects | Emcee and WFB team |
| 03.00 PM - 03:30 PM | Break | Emcee and WFB team |
| 03.30 PM - 05:30 PM | Open Pitch : Waves Film Bazaar Recommends Projects | Emcee and WFB team |
| Timings | Topic | Moderator | Panelist 1 | Panelist 2 | Panelist 3 | Panelist 4 |
| 9:45 AM - 11:00 AM |
AI and Cinema: Between Creative Possibility and Ethical Boundaries |
Wonsun Shin |
Sten Saluveer |
Sanjay Ram |
Maciej Zemojcin |
- |
| 11:15 AM - 12:00 PM | The Creative Boom: Inside India’s Film, AVGC & OTT Revolution |
Ashish Kulkarni |
Nimish Raut |
Nick Tripodi |
Sanjay Jaju |
- |
| 12:15 PM - 01:00 PM | Preserving the Past: Film Restoration and Archives |
Shivendra Singh Dungurpur |
Prakash Magdum |
Muzzafar Ali |
- |
- |
| 1:15 PM - 02:00 PM | “Cinemascape Uttarakhand: Stories in the Mountains” |
Yashasvi Juyal |
Dr. Nitin Upadhyaya |
Priyanshu Painyuli |
Arfi Lamba |
- |
| 02:00 PM - 2:45 PM | Lunch | |||||
| 3:00 PM- 3:30 PM | Light, Camera, Culture: IGNCA’s Visual Pilgrimage across India |
Namita Sachdeva |
Dr. Chandra Prakash Dwivedi |
Dr. Sachchidanand Joshi |
Anurag Punetha |
Abhay Mishra |
| 3:45 PM - 4:30 PM | Beyond Borders: The Economics of Filming in New Zealand |
- |
Annie Murray |
Chris Payne |
Phillipa Mossman |
Te O kahurangi WAAKA |
| 4:45 PM - 5:30 PM | Designing the Future: The Evolving Skillset of the Creative Workforce |
Mr. Vijay Vikram Singh |
Mr. Ajay Nagabhushan, Joint Secretary – Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MoI&B) |
Ms. Hena Usman, Joint Secretary – Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE) |
Ms. Mahima Kaul, Director of Public Policy – Netflix |
Ms. Charuvi Agrawal, Founder| Creative Director- Charuvi Design Labs (CDL) |
| 5:45 PM - 6:15 PM | Meet the World’s Happiest People and Explore Finland’s Film & Games Industry |
Dr Abhay Kumar Sinha |
Vesa Jutila, CEO, Return Entertainment |
|
Alisha Hasan, CEO, Helsinki Film Lab |
Jani Joenniemi, Program Director, Europe-Asia Roundtable Sessions (EARS) |
| Timings | Topic | Moderator | Panelist 1 | Panelist 2 | Panelist 3 | Panelist 4 |
| 10:00 AM - 10:45 AM | “India and the World: New Frontiers in Co-Production Finance” |
Illan Girard |
Anil Arjun |
Guneet Monga |
Gitika Aggarwal |
 Ravi Kottarakkara
|
| 11:00 AM - 11:45 AM | From Local Stories to Global Screens: Madhya Pradesh – India’s Next Film Destination |
Naman Ramchandran |
Juan Manuel |
Shiv Shekhar Shukla |
- |
- |
| 12:00 PM - 12:45 PM | Maharashtra as Film Destination: Opportunities and Insights” |
Santosh Pathare |
Umesh Kulkarni |
Smt. Swati Mhase Patil, Managing Director, Film City, Mumbai (MFSCDCL) |
Shri. Prashant Sajanikar, Joint Managing Director, Film City, Mumbai (MFSCDCL) |
Suhrud Godbole |
| 1:00 PM - 1:45 PM | LUNCH | |||||
| 2:00 PM - 2:45 PM | The Future is Watching: Youth Audiences, Media Literacy & Ethical Storytelling (HOSTED BY UNICEF) |
Smriti Kiran |
Prithul Kumar |
Unicef Ambassador Cynthia McCaffery |
Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari |
- |
| 3:00 PM - 3:45 PM | Rooted in Region: Bihar's Emerging Cinema |
Komal Nahata |
Akhilendra Mishra |
Vineet Kumar |
Vikas Kumar |
- |
| 4:00 PM - 4:20PM | Japan Presentation |
- |
Mr. Takashi Suzuki, Chief Director General, Head of JETRO |
- |
- |
- |
| 4:30 PM - 5:00 PM | Bringing AI and Creativity together to CRAFT stories that inspire’ - In conversation with Dr. Sujay Sen and Shekhar Kapoor. |
Dr. Sujay Sen |
Shekhar Kapur |
- |
- |
- |
| Timings | Topic | Moderator | Panelist 1 | Panelist 2 | Panelist 3 |
| 10:45 AM - 11:45 AM | Cinematic Foundations: A Dialogue Between India’s Film Schools |
Sreerag Mukundan |
Shri. Dhiraj Singh - FTII |
Shri. Vishwas -IICT CEO |
Meghna Ghai |
| 12:00 PM - 12:45 PM | The Micro Drama Economy: One of the fastest-growing content categories worldwide |
Naman Ramachandran |
Manas Malhotra |
Vijay Koshy |
Dennis Ruh |
| 1:00 PM- 1:45 PM | LUNCH | ||||
| 2:00 PM -2:30 PM | J&K Policy (J&K Presentation) |
- |
Mr. Nitish Rajora, IAS, Director Information, J&K. |
- |
- |
| 2:45 PM - 3:30 PM | Changing Windows: Redefining the Future of Film Distribution |
Mayank Shekhar |
Devang Sampat - Cinepolis |
Ashish Singh - Redchillies |
Manish Menghani-Prime Video |
| 3:45 PM -4:45 PM | Imagining Tomorrow: India’s VFX Revolution |
Rajiv Chilka |
Ashwin Kumar Baluja |
Nitesh Tiwary |
Prasanth Varma |
| 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM | Closing Panel | TBC | |||
| Awards Evening |
| Timings | Topic | Moderator |
| 10:00AM - 10:30AM | Open Pitch : Co-Production Market Documentary Projects | Emcee and WFB team |
| 10:45 PM - 01:00 PM | Open Pitch : Co-Production Market Feature Projects | Emcee and WFB team |
| 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM | Lunch | Emcee and WFB team |
| 02.15 PM - 03:00 PM | Open Pitch : Screenwriters' Lab Projects | Emcee and WFB team |
| 03.00 PM - 03:30 PM | Break | Emcee and WFB team |
| 03.30 PM - 05:30 PM | Open Pitch : Waves Film Bazaar Recommends Projects | Emcee and WFB team |
| Timings | Topic | Moderator | Panelist 1 | Panelist 2 | Panelist 3 | Panelist 4 |
| 9:45 AM - 11:00 AM |
AI and Cinema: Between Creative Possibility and Ethical Boundaries |
Wonsun Shin |
Sten Saluveer |
Sanjay Ram |
Maciej Zemojcin |
- |
| 11:15 AM - 12:00 PM | The Creative Boom: Inside India’s Film, AVGC & OTT Revolution |
Ashish Kulkarni |
Nimish Raut |
Nick Tripodi |
Sanjay Jaju |
- |
| 12:15 PM - 01:00 PM | Preserving the Past: Film Restoration and Archives |
Shivendra Singh Dungurpur |
Prakash Magdum |
Muzzafar Ali |
- |
- |
| 1:15 PM - 02:00 PM | “Cinemascape Uttarakhand: Stories in the Mountains” |
Yashasvi Juyal |
Dr. Nitin Upadhyaya |
Priyanshu Painyuli |
Arfi Lamba |
- |
| 02:00 PM - 2:45 PM | Lunch | |||||
| 3:00 PM- 3:30 PM | Light, Camera, Culture: IGNCA’s Visual Pilgrimage across India |
Namita Sachdeva |
Dr. Chandra Prakash Dwivedi |
Dr. Sachchidanand Joshi |
Anurag Punetha |
Abhay Mishra |
| 3:45 PM - 4:30 PM | Beyond Borders: The Economics of Filming in New Zealand |
- |
Annie Murray |
Chris Payne |
Phillipa Mossman |
Te O kahurangi WAAKA |
| 4:45 PM - 5:30 PM | Designing the Future: The Evolving Skillset of the Creative Workforce |
Mr. Vijay Vikram Singh |
Mr. Ajay Nagabhushan, Joint Secretary – Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MoI&B) |
Ms. Hena Usman, Joint Secretary – Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE) |
Ms. Mahima Kaul, Director of Public Policy – Netflix |
Ms. Charuvi Agrawal, Founder| Creative Director- Charuvi Design Labs (CDL) |
| 5:45 PM - 6:15 PM | Meet the World’s Happiest People and Explore Finland’s Film & Games Industry |
Dr Abhay Kumar Sinha |
Vesa Jutila, CEO, Return Entertainment |
|
Alisha Hasan, CEO, Helsinki Film Lab |
Jani Joenniemi, Program Director, Europe-Asia Roundtable Sessions (EARS) |
| Timings | Topic | Moderator | Panelist 1 | Panelist 2 | Panelist 3 | Panelist 4 |
| 10:00 AM - 10:45 AM | “India and the World: New Frontiers in Co-Production Finance” |
Illan Girard |
Anil Arjun |
Guneet Monga |
Gitika Aggarwal |
Ravi Kottarakkara
|
| 11:00 AM - 11:45 AM | From Local Stories to Global Screens: Madhya Pradesh – India’s Next Film Destination |
Naman Ramchandran |
Juan Manuel |
Shiv Shekhar Shukla |
- |
- |
| 12:00 PM - 12:45 PM | Maharashtra as Film Destination: Opportunities and Insights” |
Santosh Pathare |
Umesh Kulkarni |
Smt. Swati Mhase Patil, Managing Director, Film City, Mumbai (MFSCDCL) |
Shri. Prashant Sajanikar, Joint Managing Director, Film City, Mumbai (MFSCDCL) |
Suhrud Godbole |
| 1:00 PM - 1:45 PM | LUNCH | |||||
| 2:00 PM - 2:45 PM | The Future is Watching: Youth Audiences, Media Literacy & Ethical Storytelling (HOSTED BY UNICEF) |
Smriti Kiran |
Prithul Kumar |
Unicef Ambassador Cynthia McCaffery |
Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari |
- |
| 3:00 PM - 3:45 PM | Rooted in Region: Bihar's Emerging Cinema |
Komal Nahata |
Akhilendra Mishra |
Vineet Kumar |
Vikas Kumar |
- |
| 4:00 PM - 4:20PM | Japan Presentation |
- |
Mr. Takashi Suzuki, Chief Director General, Head of JETRO |
- |
- |
- |
| 4:30 PM - 5:00 PM | Bringing AI and Creativity together to CRAFT stories that inspire’ - In conversation with Dr. Sujay Sen and Shekhar Kapoor. |
Dr. Sujay Sen |
Shekhar Kapur |
- |
- |
- |
| Timings | Topic | Moderator | Panelist 1 | Panelist 2 | Panelist 3 |
| 10:45 AM - 11:45 AM | Cinematic Foundations: A Dialogue Between India’s Film Schools |
Sreerag Mukundan |
Shri. Dhiraj Singh - FTII |
Shri. Vishwas -IICT CEO |
Meghna Ghai |
| 12:00 PM - 12:45 PM | The Micro Drama Economy: One of the fastest-growing content categories worldwide |
Naman Ramachandran |
Manas Malhotra |
Vijay Koshy |
Dennis Ruh |
| 1:00 PM- 1:45 PM | LUNCH | ||||
| 2:00 PM -2:30 PM | J&K Policy (J&K Presentation) |
- |
Mr. Nitish Rajora, IAS, Director Information, J&K. |
- |
- |
| 2:45 PM - 3:30 PM | Changing Windows: Redefining the Future of Film Distribution |
Mayank Shekhar |
Devang Sampat - Cinepolis |
Ashish Singh - Redchillies |
Manish Menghani-Prime Video |
| 3:45 PM -4:45 PM | Imagining Tomorrow: India’s VFX Revolution |
Rajiv Chilka |
Ashwin Kumar Baluja |
Nitesh Tiwary |
Prasanth Varma |
| 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM | Closing Panel | TBC | |||
| Awards Evening |
Knowledge Series has become a platform that brings together a diverse section from the global film fraternity including writers, directors, producers, distributors, sales agents.
