Agenda

9:00 am -
10:00 am
event-agenda

Arrivals and networking

10:00 am -
10:15 am
event-agenda

Welcome Address | Opening Remarks

London already has globally recognised film festivals for Indian-origin content, such as the London Indian Film Festival. Why is a unique space for the Film Conclave and how do we aim to help filmmakers commercialise their creative efforts?

Speakers

Pratik Dattani
Pratik Dattani
10:15 am -
11:15 am
event-agenda

UK-India Co-production success stories and the path ahead

The UK and India are very different film markets. The morning's sessions explore how filmmakers can work across borders, and how Indian content can be taken global. Further details to follow.

Speakers

Shruti Rajkumar
Shruti Rajkumar
Neeraj Churi
Neeraj Churi
Anupam Sharma
Anupam Sharma
Neil Biswas
Neil Biswas
Riffi Khan
Riffi Khan
11:15 am -
12:45 pm
event-agenda

Pre-arranged meeetings

Pre-arranged meetings for filmmakers, funders and service providers.

12:45 pm -
1:45 pm
event-agenda

Lunch and networking

1:45 pm -
2:15 pm
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In Conversation With: Gurinder Chadha OBE

Gurinder Chadha is one of the UK’s most proven and respected film director and producers.

Her award-winning films – Bend It Like Beckham; Bride and Prejudice; Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging, and others – have earned over $300 million. Viceroy’s House released internationally on 3rd March 2017. Her most recent film, Blinded by the Light opened to rapturous reviews and broke sales records at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. Gurinder recently created Beecham House, an epic, returning drama series set in India in 1795 for ITV and Masterpiece/PBS.

Her films have received Nominations from the Golden Globes, BAFTA, European Film Academy, and the Writers Guild of America.

She will be in conversation with a leading entertainment journalist.

Speakers

Gurinder Chadha OBE
Gurinder Chadha OBE
Duncan Carson
Duncan Carson
2:15 pm -
2:40 pm
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Increasing audience access and distribution

This panel explores Indian films in the UK as well as UK films in India. How are these films faring in respective countries? Is there a potential to grow audiences for these films?

We explore the possible barriers for films reaching audiences, including tastes and expectations, language, themes and subject-matter, relevance of the stories told, lack of familiarity with talent behind the titles and more.

As per the British Film Institute Statistical Yearbook Indian films were 30% of all releases in UK cinemas in 2022 – 249 Indian films were released and yet they took only 1.8% of the annual box office. Why this discrepancy? Since India is such a large market, do Indian film makers need to worry about distributing internationally? Can video-on-demand and streaming unlock new audiences?

Speakers

Pranab Kapadia
Pranab Kapadia
Bhavna Mistry
Bhavna Mistry
Raul Niño Zambrano
Raul Niño Zambrano
Agnieszka Moody
Agnieszka Moody
Reshel Shah-Kapoor
Reshel Shah-Kapoor
2:40 pm -
4:00 pm
event-agenda

Pre-arranged meeetings

Pre-arranged meetings for filmmakers, funders and service providers.

4:00 pm -
4:15 pm
event-agenda

Closing Remarks

You've spent a day with us. What happens next? How do we help filmmakers with their journey on an ongoing basis, including throughout the rest of India Week?

Founder of ReelN Aman Dhillon, who is also a producer of educational, film, arts programme, exhibition, community engagement and PR campaigns, will be closing out the Film Conclave. She is a South Asian film consultant to BFI Film Hubs country-wide, currently working with Bradford 2025 City of Culture, is a former jury member for Bradford Council’s large grants apps, is on the film selection jury for the 2025 Bradford International Film Festival, as well as being an artist talent manager, festival strategist and film producer.

Speakers

Aman Dhillon
Aman Dhillon
4:15 pm -
6:00 pm

No programming

6:00 pm -
9:00 pm
event-agenda

Drinks Reception, in partnership with Parent Geenee

This is a separately ticketed event. This is an exclusive drinks reception with over 200 filmmakers, funders, actors and production houses.

It is in partnership with parental controls app Parent Geenee, which includes award-winning Indian actor R Madhavan as one of the investors.

Confirmed guests include producers, directors and actors from Netflix, BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Universal, Bollywood and elsewhere. It will feature some surprise guests and a musical performance.

The evening is hosting by Riffi Khan (Producer, Come Dine With Me, The Only Way is Essex, I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, Hell’s Kitchen and many more) and Aman Dhillon (producer of educational, film, arts programme, exhibition, community engagement and PR campaigns, South Asian film consultant to BFI Film Hubs country-wide).

It willl feature a Q&A between entertainment journalist Anuj Radia and Bollywood's best known casting director Mukesh Chhabra.

Speakers

Mukesh Chhabra
Mukesh Chhabra
Riffi Khan
Riffi Khan
Aman Dhillon
Aman Dhillon
Anuj Radia
Anuj Radia
Taha Shah

About Film Conclave

Discussing the business of entertainment

The UK is a home-away-from-home for Indian film and entertainment opportunities. The Film Conclave is an annual conversation about Indian content, and the business of entertainment, in London.

The Film Conclave is excited to launch its first ever India-focused film co-production market, bringing together filmmakers with funders. It is open to filmmakers all around the world producing content that celebrates India or its diaspora.

It will be followed by an exclusive drinks reception with over 200 filmmakers, funders, actors and production houses. Confirmed guests include producers, directors and actors from Netflix, BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Universal, Bollywood and elsewhere.

About Film Conclave

How our film market works

We are organising this in collaboration with ReelN, the British film network with diversity and inclusion at its core. We aim to provide a platform where the global Indian film industry can find genuine partnerships and financing opportunities for projects in development.

Earlier this year, we invited feature length film and documentaries pitches from the UK, India and further afar, including from the Indian diaspora, to explore investor, producing partnership, festival and buyer possibilities. We’re in the process of selecting 20 submissions to come along on the day, informing successsful film makers by the end of April 2025.

They will get dedicated support from our team to organise meetings with potential investors, producers, studios, broadcast networks, sales agents, distributors, public funds, digital platforms, government and legal experts to help you tap into UK-India Coproduction incentives, specialist accountants and others.

Riffi Khan and Vipul Agrawal

200+

Submissions

20

selected  

7+

Days of impactful
India Week events

Pranab Kapadia at Film Conclave

India Week

Looking back at Film Conclave 2024

The inaugural Film Conclave in 2024 was part of the annual India Week and featured insightful conversations with leading industry figures from Indian cinema, including Pranab Kapadia, the distributor of films like Jigra and Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani, and Sudipto Sarkar, the writer of Chandu Champion. The event also featured Taha Shah Badussha from Netflix’s Heeramandi, who shared insights on his journey and the evolving world of streaming.

Alongside this, we explored opportunities for UK and Indian actors in each others’ industries, the transformative impact of OTT platforms, AI, and VFX on cinema, and strategies for securing OTT deals. We featured the cinematic legacy of filmmaker Vijay Anand and his actor brother Dev Anand through an exclusive exhibition titled The Anand Brothers: A Journey Through Film.

India Week

About India Week

India Week 2025® is the place to engage in high level discussions on the New India. It is the most significant annual celebration of bilateral economic ties.

India continues to lead global economic growth, outpacing other major economies. As the world grapples with the realities of a multipolar world and potential disruption from the new Presidency in Washington. the UK and India stand poised to build a dynamic and mutually beneficial partnership, capitalising on shared opportunities and addressing common challenges.

India Week 2025 is an annual get-together of change-makers, policy and business leaders for high-level discussions on pertinent topics. Find out more about other India Week activities here.

India Week 2024 Education conference
Pranab Kapadia

Initiatives like the Film Conclave are truly captivating and engaging for both the audiences and speakers, especially in today’s dynamic global world where borders are blurred.

Pranab Kapadia

Director, Moviegoers Entertainment Limited

Angela Rayner

It was an honour to speak at the Bridge India conference. I first visited India many years ago and discovered such an incredible, diverse country. The people of the Indian diaspora strengthen our economy, culture and society – but are also at the heart of our communities.

Angela Rayner

Deputy Prime Minister to the UK

Boris Johnson official portrait. Open Government Licence v3.0.

The Awards ceremony rightly recognises the outstanding accomplishments of the British Asian community, and the ongoing work of British Asians across all professions helping our country thrive.

Boris Johnson

Former Prime Minister to the UK

Pankaj M Munjal

Huge Congratulations to Pratik Dattani from EPG for creating such a powerful platform in India week 2024. This forum fosters crucial collaboration between India and the UK, paving the way for the shared future.

Pankaj M Munjal

Chairman and MD, Hero Cycles

“Really pleased to attend and speak at the Ideas for India conference. The UK and India are strong economic and diplomatic partners. The conference showed the close links between our two countries and important work we can do around security and trade.”

Ruth Cadbury MP

Former Shadow Minister, International Trade

“Delighted to speak to friends during India Week and highlight how a free trade agreement can benefit both nations. A UK-India trade deal is a huge opportunity for both sides, and could boost our £38bn trading relationship and pull down barriers to trade.”

Nigel Huddleston MP

Former Minister of State, International Trade

“I have been to multiple domestic and international roadshows accompany our Minister KT Rama Rao, but our most recent trip are unprecedented. The respect and recognition Telangana enjoys makes our hard work all so rewarding.”

Jayesh Ranjan, IAS

Special Chief Secretary of the Industries & Commerce (I&C) and Information Technology (IT) Departments of the Telangana government

Tickets

Attend Film Conclave

£200

+20% VAT

Attendance ticket 

  • 10am-4pm, includes networking breaks and lunch
  • Strictly limited tickets available
  • Aimed at team members from invited submissions, service providers and the general public

Book Now

Attend Film Conclave Drinks Reception

£25

+20% VAT

Attendance ticket 

  • 6-9pm
  • Strictly limited tickets available
  • After the Film Conclave, this Drinks Reception will bring together over 200 filmmakers, funders, actors and production houses
  • Includes canapes, welcome drink and cash bar

Book Now

Across India Week

£500

+20% VAT

General Public

  • 6-9pm
  • Attend Film Conclave, Film Conclave Drinks Reception
  • Attend Drinks Reception with LCCI
  • Attend Ideas for India, Black-tie Celebration Dinner

Book Now

Gallery

Anuj Radia and Taha Shah Badussha
Fozia O’Dowd, Pranab Kapadia, Lesley-Anne Macfarlane and Lee Stone
Riffi Khan, Vipul Agrawal, Brijesh Nair
Asad Ahmad
Deep Rajah, Sudipto Sarkar, Naila Mughal, Kavino Nagulendren and Vaibhav Anand
Deana Uppal
On-going session at Film Conclave
Lesley-Anne Macfarlane and Lee Stone
Dr Seema Anand
Delegates at Film Conclave
Cary Sawhney and Thomas Drachkovitch

SPEAKERS

Gurinder Chadha OBE

Gurinder Chadha OBE

Film director, producer and screenwriter

Mukesh Chhabra

Mukesh Chhabra

Casting Director and Founder,

Mukesh Chhabra Casting Co.

Shruti Rajkumar

Shruti Rajkumar

Vice President and Head Film Facilitation Office,

Invest India

Anupam Sharma

Anupam Sharma

Chair,

Australia India Film Council

Aman Dhillon

Aman Dhillon

Founder,

ReelN

Pratik Dattani

Pratik Dattani

Managing Director,

EPG

Duncan Carson

Duncan Carson

Exhibition Professional,

Independent Cinema Office

Agnieszka Moody

Agnieszka Moody

Head of International Relations,

British Film Institute

Pranab Kapadia

Pranab Kapadia

Founder and Director,

Moviegoers Entertainment

Bhavna Mistry

Bhavna Mistry

Vice President of Sales & Distribution,

Eros International Ltd

Raul Niño Zambrano

Raul Niño Zambrano

Creative Director,

Sheffield DocFest

Reshel Shah-Kapoor

Reshel Shah-Kapoor

Film Producer and Director,

God Children

Riffi Khan

Riffi Khan

TV Producer and Director

Neil Biswas

Neil Biswas

Leading Television and Film Writer, Director and Showrunner

Anuj Radia

Anuj Radia

Entertainment Journalist,

Filme Shilmy

Neeraj Churi

Neeraj Churi

Founder,

Lotus Visual Productions

FAQs

Submitting your film

Who is our film co-production market aimed at?

It is open to filmmakers all around the world producing content that celebrates India or its diaspora.

We aim to provide a platform where the ‘global Indian’ origin film industry can find genuine partnerships and financing opportunities for projects in development. We invite film and scripted TV pitches from the UK, India and further afar, including from the Indian diaspora.

What are the Submission Criteria?

We accept submissions for the following:

  1. ⁠Feature (narrative and documentary seeking investors / producing partners / distribution)
  2. ⁠ ⁠Work-In-Progress projects (unfinished feature films seeking finishing funds / gap financing)

For detailed information on the guidelines for submission visit here.

What are the Evaluation Criteria for submissions received?

We evaluate the projects based on the following: 

  1. Indian origin or connection relevance
  2. ⁠Originality and innovation of the concept
  3. Storytelling quality
  4. Narrative arch / key characters’ journey
  5. ⁠Potential for International production
  6. ⁠Realistic Budget
  7. ⁠Artistic / design value
  8. ⁠Market potential / commercial Value
  9. ⁠Production value
  10. ⁠Track record of studio / production company
  11. Pitch quality
  12. ⁠Gender balance (storyline)
  13. Diversity and inclusion potential (storyline)

For detailed information on the guidelines for submission visit here.

Are there Speaker opportunities available for the Film Conclave?

We have limited speaker opportunities available, so please get in touch with a short bio and we’ll reach out to you shortly. Please let us know your primary reason for wishing to get involved.

Sponsor opportunities

Do you have exhibition opportunities?

For the Film Conclave, we have extremely limited exhibition opportunities avialable.

For India Week, we have some limited opportunities available. Please get in touch for more information.

Do you have sponsor opportunities availbale?

We have very limited sponsor opportunities for Film Conclave available, especially aimed at service providers in the sector, if you are looking to pitch your services to filmmakers, funders or production companies.

We also have several branding opportunities available throughout the India Week, including the curation of pre-arranged B2B meetings for you. If you want to apply to be a Sponsor, please get in touch and we’ll reach out to you shortly. Please let us know your budget and your primary reason for wishing to get involved (e.g. lead generation, business development, market awareness, branding etc).

About India Week

Are there Speaker opportunities available?

We have limited speaker opportunities available, so please get in touch with a short bio and we’ll reach out to you shortly. Please let us know your primary reason for wishing to get involved.

What is India Week?

India Week provides a global forum to share the story of India’s growth with the world. India Week is an annual series of events taking place across the UK, starting in 2023 and providing a gateway for businesses and change-makers to understand the economic, political and cultural nuances of working with India.

 

The ‘India Story’ abroad is often presented through a narrow lens, be it focusing only on business and the economy, society or policy landscape. Given its diversity, everything about India, and its polar opposite, is true in unison. India Week aims to help ‘India watchers’ better understand this, and make high-level business and policy connections.

 

India Week is a registered trade mark, and has expanded from being known as UK-India Week to incorporating not just the bilateral dialogue between these countries, but helping companies have a truly global perspective. Our guests include world leaders, governments, industry experts, innovators, founders, change-makers and investors.

 

But India Week, or UK-India Week as it was formerly known, is not just about business opportunities. Each year, we support a charity that is helping India’s most disadvantaged live better.

How do I apply for a Press Pass?

Please get in touch with your details and we’ll reach out to you shortly.

Visiting from abroad

I am from India and I wish to attend this event. How can I sign up and be a part of the delegation?

We have special Hosted Delegate packages for Indian Delegates, which includes accommodation, travel, meals as well as sight-seeing. Please get in touch and we’ll reach out to you to schedule a call and understand your requirements.

Do you have preferential room rates available?

We have special rates with our exclusive Hospitality Partner Blue Orchid hotels. Visit www.blueorchid.com, select your desired hotel and dates, select any flexible rate (either room-only or breakfast inclusive) and proceed to check out. On the check out page enter the special discount code we’ll share with you once you’ve booked your ticket(s) and click APPLY (the rate will be reduced at that point). Then proceed to check out.

Do you provide visa invitation letters?

Yes, we do for confirmed delegates, once payment is received. Please get in touch with your assigned contact and they can help you further.

My visa didn't come in time. Can I get a refund?

We advise delegates to allow plenty of time for the visa process so as to receive it in time. In case you do not receive your visa in time, we can process a refund, in line with our Terms and Conditions  and minus an Admin Fee.