INDIAN WAY is an independent feature film from the production company Batea Films (Spain)

"Perhaps destiny is written, but our desire will try to change it".

Indian Way is a “road movie”, a fiction feature film with Indian actors, spoken in Tamil, Hindi, English and Spanish, a drama that will be shot in natural locations in India the next year 2017. The story: two Indian men crossing by feet Tamil Nadu from East to West. The premise: the birth of a friendship between them, helping each other to survive.

Indian Way is the story of two men who have lost everything and decide to travel by foot crossing the country to recover their most appreciated value: human dignity.

Based on a true story

The following video includes several interviews and analyses the content of "Indian Way", from the origin of the film project, the scriptwriting, the soundtrack design, the location scouting and the searching of main actors in South India, showing synthetically the spirit and the whys and wherefores of our cinematic adventure.

Synopsis

"Indian Way" is the story of friendship and survival between Anthony and Rama, two Indians who travel on foot over hostile barren terrain during one week, from the coast of Pondicherry to the big city of Bangalore. Anthony is a ruined peasant looking for work. Rama is running away from his terrible past. Despite professing to different faiths, speaking different languages and being from different castes, they overcome their differences and help each other survive. During their journey a tsunami hits the south of India, forcing them to face a new dilemma.

How the project started out

It was December 2004. For more than two months the filmmaker David Blanco had been travelling through India. He was visiting Vicente Ferrer's Foundation in Anantapur when the tsunami struck. Although the Thailand coasts were the most affected ones, India also suffered lots of material damage and human lost, mostly in the oriental coast. It was then when David decided to undertake a journalistic tour writing articles, which were published during the following weeks in the international section of the journal “El Faro de Vigo”. The director visited remote places and refugee camps, interviewing fishermen and other people affected by the catastrophe in Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. After this personal experience, through the articles he wrote, own adventures and stories people told him, David decided to write the script of “Indian Way”.

Project Development

For several years Batea Films SL works with enthusiasm to find the necessary resources to produce the feature film INDIAN WAY. The current socio-economic situation in Spain and Europe is very complex, and more to produce independent feature films with artistic and social value as our project. However, over the years of work, our enthusiasm has not waned, quite the opposite.

Currently we have part of the funding, the main Indian actors (Virendra Saxena and Vikas Shrivastav), locations in India (Tamil Nadu and Karnataka) and the technical team in India and Spain.

Also we know the details and procedures to take filming permissions in India. So, we have everything ready, we just need the final push to cover the funding we need.

We are convinced that INDIAN WAY will be a special and different film from which everyone will feel proud.

Title: INDIAN WAY

T.R.T: 100 minutes.

Languages: English, Spanish, Hindi and Tamil

Shooting places: South of India (Tamil Nadu & Karnataka).

Genre: Drama & Adventure (road movie / foot movie)

Audience: for all audiences

TECHNICAL TEAM

Producer & Director: David Blanco

Production company: Batea Films SL, Barcelona (Spain)

Scriptwriters (original story): David Blanco & Kiko Moreno

Executive Producer (Spain): Kiko Moreno

Production Manager (India): Darshan Mehta

Art Director: Eva Torres

Transmedia producer: Roi Rodríguez

Community Manager: Ferran Cabré

ARTISTIC TEAM
(Main Actors)

Anthony: Virendra Saxena (India)

Rama: Vikas Shrivastav (India)

Website "Batea Films": www.bateafilms.com

Website "Indian Way”: www.indianwayfilm.com

Blog “Indian Way”: http://indianwayfilm.blogspot.com.es/

Facebook "Indian Way": www.facebook.com/indianwayfilm

TEASER "INDIAN WAY"

How will we invest your donations?

The crowd-funding campaign will not be the only financing resource to produce the feature film "Indian Way", but IT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT SUPPORT, essential to start the pre-production and go ahead with the project.

With the donations from this campaign we will cover the necessary budget for the film, which we plan to complete the next year 2017.

We have proposed an initial amount of 18.000€ in order to ensure the "Verkami" goal during the 40 days we have for this campaign.

How will we get the rest of the funding?

The Feature Film "Indian Way" is a low-budget film in Spain but it is a very worthy budget film for a shooting in India, where the standard of living is five times lower than in Europe.

Currently we are in negotiations with different sponsors, TV broadcasters, international producers and private investors to get the necessary funds for the movie.

Last May we attended the Film Market" in the Cannes Film Festival, where we met Indian investors who have shown strong interest in co-producing "Indian Way".

Furthermore the feature film project has been invited recently to attend the prestigious "workshop" eQuinox 2016, where we met several international producers who are currently studying the feasibility of the project.

The film project “Indian Way” was granted with funds from the Spanish Ministry of Culture *I.C.A.A., from the Media Programme (European Union), and with some financing from two private investors from Czech Republic and Switzerland. These funds have already been invested in the film project development during the last 5 years, improving the script until the 7th version, attending international "workshops", traveling to India looking for actors, locations and international technical team.

Current status of the film project

Everything is ready: we have the main actors (Virendra Saxena and Vikas Shrivastav), the Indian locations (in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka) and the Indian-European technical team. We also have part of the financial funds.

Despite the difficulties to produce Independent Cinema, the team of "Indian Way" is not willing to give up and lock away the project in a drawer after the enormous effort invested to date. We believe strongly in our dream and we want to carry out it with your help. Join our adventure! Support "Indian Way"!

ABOUT OUR REWARDS

The rewards will be handed when each of the production deadlines are completed during each phase of the film project.

SCHEDULE

Feature Film “Indian Way”:
Shooting: February 2017.
First Copy: November 2017.
World Premiere: December 2017.

ASSOCIATE PRODUCER “Indian Way”.

Contact with [email protected] to know the conditions.

“VIP SPONSOR", with an advertising space on the website "www.indianwayfilm.com".

Each VIP Sponsor will benefit from a space for his/her logo with link in the film’s official website. The logos of the 10 VIP sponsors with the largest financial contribution will be also published in the film’s advertising posters. In case the contribution of two or more sponsors would be equal, the logo of the VIP sponsor that has made the payment before (after the date of the donations) will be published.

The producer of "Indian Way" reserves the right to arrange the order, the location and the size of each sponsor's advertisement, at both the official website as in the printed posters. Obviously such VIP advertising on the website will have more relevance than that for the regular sponsors.

INVITATION TO THE PREMIER AND PARTY for the film "Indian Way".

This invitation is an accreditation to access to the party and film premiere.

PARTICIPATION in “THE DRAW INDIAN WAY-", prized with a journey to India during the shooting of the film.

All patrons with this reward will become part of the draw, unless anyone requests not to participate on it expressly.

The prize is for two persons and includes: 2 flight tickets to India (round-trip) + 3 days allowance and accommodation with the film crew + one visit to the shooting location. The winner can decide to stay longer in India, but she/he would have to cover the resulting additional costs.

WHO SUPPORT US

Casa Asia (Spain)

Vicente Ferrer Foundation (Spain)

Media Programme (European Union)

Cannafest (Czech Republic) - Cañamo (Spain)

Sogeosa (Spain) - Tokonoma (Spain).

In addition to the team of "Indian Way", we have the unconditional support of:

Agustín Pániker, historian of India, Kairos Editorial's director (Spain)

Jaume Ripoll, co-founder and commercial director from Filmin & Cameo (Spain)

Elena P. Rumpler, writer (Spain)

Bérènger Barrier, Bioskope Productions (France)

Luis Prieto, filmmaker (USA / Spain)

Sarah Webster, filmmaker and art director (Italy)

Marcelo von Schvartz, director and producer (Thailand)

Lluïsot, illustrator and cartoonist (Spain)

Yves Cohen, filmmaker and producer (France)

Paul Wimberger, actor and singer (Austria)

Pato Pérez, musician (Spain)

Ángela Arrospide, musician (Spain)

Yael Ben-Horin, anthropologist (Israel)

Hossein Ayubi, student (Iran)

Luis Trepat, photographer (Spain)

Ajay Jethy, actor (India)

Daniel Freire, actor (Spain)

The "Indian Way" project has been selected and invited to participate in the following international events:

Locarno International Film Festival (Open Doors Focus India), Switzerland, 2011.

Primexange Europa-India (Primehouse Gmbh, Germany), India 2011.

Latino American Film Festival, Huelva (Co-production Forum), Spain 2012.

FICCI Frames (Co-production Lounge Europe-India), Mumbai, India 2013.

PFM London (Production Finance Market), London, U.K. 2013.

Equinox (Workshop for scriptwriters & filmmakers) Germany, 2016

INDIAN WAY’s TEAM

THE DIRECTOR

David Blanco is filmmaker, scriptwriter, producer and architect, and lives in Barcelona. He has received several international and national awards for his short films, like the first award in the 9TH ANNUAL TWIN RIVERS MEDIA FESTIVAL, USA (2001) with Borsh, the Shelter, the award for Best Director in the WEEK OF EXPERIMENTAL CINEMA OF MADRID (1996) with Voyage to the Moon, or the award for Best Short Film in the 6TH INTERNACIONAL PANORAMA OF INDEPENDET FILMAKERS IN THESSALONICA (2004) with Heart of Darkness. With this short film he participated in an exhibition organized by the CULTURE INSTITUTE OF BARCELONA. In 2002 he was selected to participate in the II SCRIPT’S LABORATORY SGAE/SUNDANCE with the feature film project Circular Paths. He has co-written the short film Bamboleho and the feature films Condom Express and The Fence by Luis Prieto. His short film Machulenco was selected in the 43th INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL OF NEW YORK, the GAY-LESBIC FESTIVAL OF LISBOA and in the FILM FESTIVAL BELO HORIZONTE in Brazil, and more. His short film El Premio (The Prize) was part of the exhibition "THE D-EFFECT BAROQUE", opened at the CCCB of Barcelona in November 2010. In 2011 David Blanco completed La Sombra del Sol (The Shadow of the Sun), his first feature film as director and producer, winner of the Audience Award, Biznaga de Plata, in the MALAGA FILM FESTIVAL 2011. The film “La Sombra del Sol” was also selected in Warsow IFF (International Competition, 2011), in Cinemed, Festival du Mediterranean, Montpellier (International Competition, 2011), in Toulouse, Festival de Cine Español (Panorama 2011), in Pune IFF (India-Word View, 2012), in Pusan IFF (Korea 2011–market), in Tetouan, Festival de Cine Mediterráneo (International Competition, 2012) and more.

Trailer / David Blanco's Filmography:

David Blanco’s Filmography, as director, producer and scriptwriter:

Year 2011. THE SHADOW OF THE SUN. T.R.T: 105’. Feature film.

Year 2010. THE AWARD. T.R.T: 15’. Short film.

Year 2007. LOOKING FOR THE SUN. T.R.T: 35’. Documentary.

Year 2005. CONDON EXPRESS. T.R.T: 100’. Feature film. (Co-scriptwriter)

Year 2004. MACHULENCO. T.R.T: 17’’. Short film. (Director and Co-scriptwriter)

Year 2004. HEART OF DARKNESS. T.R.T: 17’’. Short film.

Year 2001. BORSH, THE SHELTER. T.R.T: 17’’. Short film.

Year 2001. BAMBOLEHO. T.R.T: 15’. Short film. (Co-scriptwriter).

Year 1999. VOYAGE TO THE MOON. T.R.T: 7 ‘. Short film.

Year 1997. FOR A COFFE. T.R.T: 5’. Short film.

Year 1996. CROSSING THE EMPTY. T.R.T: 55’. Documentary.

Year 1997. THE SKIN. T.R.T: 8’. Short film.

Year 1994. COSAS VISTAS DE FRENTE T.R.T: 12’. Experimental short film.

MAIN ACTORS

VIRENDRA SAXENA

He is an Indian theater, film and television actor and an alumnus of the National School of Drama. Saxena is known for his character roles as well as his unique voice. He has acted in films such as Kaaboo (2002), Ghaav (2002), Ek Hindustani (2003), Samay (2003), Fun2shh (2003), Kismat (2004), Bhola in Bollywood (2005), White Rainbow (2005), Tejasvini (1994), Tarpan (1994), Bhagvan Sahib (1985) and more, as well as many television serials. He was born in Mathura, a place Uttar Pradesh in India. He has worked with leading actors like Shahrukh Khan, Amir Khan and others. Virendra Saxena is a famous name in Indian television industry and his acting has always been highly appreciated by viewers.

VIKAS SHRIVASTAV

He is a film and theatre actor. He played in Gangor High School by Italo Spinell -Italian film-, as main villian-italian, Ek Thi Dayan, a Vishal bhardwaj production with Emran Hashmi, No Exit, one of the leading role, Bhaiyaji Superhit, playing villian opposite Sunny Deol. He played in other films as Gangaajal, by Prakash Jha, Chingaari by Kalpana Lazmi, Contract by Ram Gopal Verma, Billu Barber by Priyadarshan, Barahaana by Raja Menon, Money Hai to Honey Hai by Ganesh Acharya, Phoonk- 2 (rvg film as baalu ), Red Alert by Anant Mahadevan, Once Upon a Time in Mumbai by Milan Lutharia, among others. In March 2013 he debuts as starring in the film Beehad, a Bollywood blockbuster, doing lead role of real bandit Nirbhay Singh Gujjar.

Actores Principales / Main Actors INDIAN WAY

TECHNICAL TEAM

KIKO MORENO, Executive Producer / Scriptwriter (Spain).

Screenwriter from Barcelona very experienced in film and television (TV3 and TVE –Spanish Television). He has worked as assistant director and executive producer. Regular collaborator of David Blanco, with whom he co-wrote the scripts of the shortfilm “Machulenco” and the feature film “La Sombra del Sol”, winner of the Audience Award in the Malaga Spanish Film Festival 2011, and selected in many festivals all over the world.

DARSHAN N MEHTA, Production Manager (India).

He has worked in many films as “Virsa” by Pankaj Batra, “Yahi Hai Life” by Kitu Ghosh, “Alexandra David Neel” (French film) by Joel Ferguse, “Nachoaea Kumpasar” by Barddroy Barretto and more. He has collaborated with the most prestigious production companies of India, Apostrophe Films, R.S.Creations, Magic Hour, Saints & Wariors, Pyramid Films. He made the production of Music Video for IFFI 2005 and Wize Mindz Entertainment (Indo-Pak). As production designer has worked for the Common Wealth Youth Games 2008, Pune Opening & Closing Ceremony. His collaborations for Television Shows are “Take One”, produced by Wize Mindz Entertainment Pvt. Ltd., and “Luxury India Show” for Singapore.

EVA TORRES, Production Designer (Spain).

Art Director in films, television and commercials, during more of 15 years. She has worked with prestigious directors as Manuel Huerga in “Operación Malaya”, and “3 metros sobre el cielo” by Fernando González Molina. She was the Art Director in the film “La Sombra del Sol” by David Blanco.

ERNEST PERAL, Sound Designer (Spain).

He is Member of the Catalan Film Academy, ACC (Spain). He has worked for the most prestigious recording studios in Barcelona -Soundtrack Studios, Producer PTV Televideo, General TV, Digital Art Sound & Pol-. He was Sound Director for different events, commercials, theater and television -La Fura dels Baus, Sonar Sound Festival, Cosmocaixa, Forum of Cultures, Channel 33, TV3 (Spain). His most relevant films and documentary are: "Sara" (Bausan Films), "A certain Moliban" (Benece) and "Paco de Lucia" (Alea Docs & films).

MANISH GRAY, Production Assistant (India).

Also actor, model, dancer, he has worked for the short film “Hanki Panki” (2012), a Malhotra production and for “Promotion Movie" (2012), for self-defending classes.

ROI RODRÍGUEZ, Transmedia producer (Spain).

Telecommunications Engineer, he studied at Vigo University in Spain. He started to work in audiovisual industry with his production company “Visual Think”. Before this, he worked for 8 years managing deployment and maintenance phone networks projects in Spain and Brazil. Nowadays he has finished the project: “Transmedia: definition”, a practical guide to execute a transmedia project. As well he develops audiovisual projects for TV and cinema on transmedia experiences.

FERRÁN CABRÉ, Community Manager (Spain).

Most of his works have been selfless collaborations with the Club Kritik Role, playful and non-profit association, making posters, event video recordings, commemoration movies and more. Always he has felt attracted by Dada and Avant-guard movements who bet on the ephemeral and "hooligan" art.

SHOOTING LOCATIONS of INDIAN WAY

“Indian Way” is a feature film which will be shot 90% on natural locations. For this reason, we have scouted those locations in situ. Highlighted in red on the map below you will find, town by town, the route that the main characters in “Indian Way” will cover on foot in Tamil Nadu, the South Indian State where the movie story will take place.

In the following video you can watch the main film locations ordered by scenes, from the beginning to the end, such as they have been set on the screenplay:

o FOTOS / PHOTOS / LOCALIZACIONES / LOCATIONS

o LOCALIZACIONES / LOCATIONS

STORY BOARD of INDIAN WAY

Below some frames from the Opening Scene:

The following video is an animation of how would be the first minutes from the movie of real image:

INDIAN WAY's REFERENCES

In the following video you can watch some film extracts which are visual references for the Indian Way project.

MISSION STATEMENT by David Blanco, filmmaker.

Indian Way is a “foot movie” (a road movie on foot) a story of survival in a country where old rules have been passed from generation to generation. In this crisis that we live today a worldwide social, economic and moral revolution is coming. In this sense “Indian Way” is a metaphor for the search for change in an environment that resists any kind of alteration. As Bertolt Brecht quoted, “The crisis occurs when what is old does not die, and when the new is not just born”, and this is the situation where our civilized world is at present. In Indian Way our main characters fight to believe that this change from old to new is possible (a change in the manner of their own lives).

In this regard, Indian Way is a fascinating story, both from the point of view of content and from the formal point of view. The film raises universal issues: the limit of friendship, the idea of survival as an extreme form of coexistence. The main characters of “Indian Way” have to share the road (which is the road of life) despite their speaking different languages, professing different religions, and having come from different social backgrounds. Their only option for survival is to help one another. Their situation echoes the complexity of the world we live in with a wide range of complex cultural relationships and where coexistence continues to be the main challenge, the outstanding matter.

In India, everyday, the harshness of reality mixes with a certain mysticism and spirituality that pervades everything. This atmosphere of spirituality and harsh reality prevails throughout the film Indian Way.

My desire is to shoot the film with a small international production team. In these conditions is easier to capture the real life, places and people in India, using only natural locations and no fabricated sets. In this sense, one of the references and inspirations for "Indian Way" is the movie "In This World", directed by Michael Winterbottom. This extraordinary film reflects the independent spirit and freshness that I want to transmit for "Indian Way".

But "Indian Way" also takes as reference, from the point of view of form, poetic aesthetics very similar to the films’ spirit from the Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray, for example in the movie "Pather Panchali". I love the point of view of "Ray", his sensitivity, how he approaches the characters, their humanity and lack of prejudice, his creative freedom for shooting, despite the financial constraints he had, especially in his early films.

I strongly believe in this project “Indian Way” and I am eager to tell this beautiful story, full of humanity, poetry and tenderness, an adventure of love, betrayal and destiny. I love the challenge of making a film with these characteristics, and we are therefore putting all the effort into taking the project of “Indian Way” forward.

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL

Teaser (French version):

Teaser B” Indian Way”:

Teaser C “Indian Way”:

Canal Youtube:
Google +:

In addition to the information and materials specified above, your can visit our blog to read the following articles related to "Indian Way" (in Spanish and English):

o PERFIL de PERSONAJES

o PRODUCTION ELEMENTS

o JALLIKATTU & SAN FERMINES

o PLAN COMERCIAL / COMMERCIAL PLAN

o CARTA del Director / Director's LETTER

o CARTA del Productor / Producer's STATEMENT

o EL INTERÉS DE "INDIAN WAY" / THE INTEREST OF INDIA...

o EL SEÑOR DE LOS ANILLOS DE "INDIAN WAY"

o Artículo: "India: Viaje de Viajes"

o DIARIO DE VIAJE / TRAVEL DIARY 2004/2005

o ANTHONY, EL INDIO ERRANTE

o ORIGEN / ORIGIN