The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting announced through its National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) that the project 'Yayavar – The Migrating Bird,' developed under the WAVES Film Bazaar Screenwriters' Lab 2025, has signed a Letter of Intent for international collaboration. The project has entered into a partnership with iRoller Media & Entertainment (India) and Norse Key Productions (Finland) to jointly develop, finance, produce, and position the film for international audiences. Under the agreement, iRoller Media & Entertainment will serve as Lead Producer responsible for financing, production planning, and execution, while Norse Key Productions will lead and facilitate post-production activities in Finland and support the project's international outreach and festival positioning.
NFDC Managing Director Prakash Magdum stated that the Screenwriters' Lab was designed to give original Indian voices the craft, mentorship, and market access needed to travel internationally, noting that this outcome represents exactly what the program was designed to achieve. The writer, director, and producer of the project, Dr. Darshan Ashwin Trivedi, expressed gratitude to NFDC Screenwriters' Lab and excitement about the collaboration with both production companies.
The announcement highlights the growing impact of the WAVES Film Bazaar Screenwriters' Lab in nurturing promising Indian screenwriting talent and creating opportunities for global collaboration. The Lab, instituted in 2007, is a flagship talent-development initiative of NFDC's WAVES Film Bazaar where selected writers work on feature screenplays through an intensive, multi-stage program under acclaimed Indian and international mentors, culminating in a pitch at the Film Bazaar. Previous successful screenplays developed at the Lab include The Lunchbox, Lipstick Under My Burkha, Dum Laga Ke Haisha, Titli, A Death in the Gunj, and Ullozhukku.
NFDC also announced that the Call for Entries for the WAVES Film Bazaar Screenwriters' Lab 2026 will open shortly, with details to be announced on WAVES Film Bazaar and NFDC platforms. The 20th edition of WAVES Film Bazaar is scheduled for 20-24 November 2026 in Goa, alongside the International Film Festival of India (IFFI). NFDC, incorporated in 1975, functions under the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting as the nodal agency for the promotion and development of Indian cinema.