Asia Society India Centre announces the 3rd edition of New Voices Fellowship for Screenwriters

Asia Society India Centre announces the launch of the 3rd New Voices Fellowship for Screenwriters (NVFS) 2015 – 2016. The programme is designed to identify, encourage, mentor and support seven talented independent screenwriters in India, helping them find their own creative voices, enabling them to incubate their ideas and refine their craft.  By working in collaboration with and taking guidance from eminent screenwriters and filmmakers, the initiative seeks to nurture the diversity of contemporary Indian writing, while providing screenwriters a platform to develop powerful, nuanced and well-crafted scripts while exploring new approaches to the art of writing for cinema.

This year NVFS ask contestants for scripts with a difference. It seeks stories that are gender sensitive, women centric AND driven by well-defined women characters. By Making Heroine the New Hero, the theme aims to expose new writers to the experience of writing from a female character’s point of view and increase the number of women-oriented scripts in the film industry.

NVFS invites writers from across India to submit an original story for consideration between May 1 – July 31, 2015.

Speaking on the launch of the third edition, Bunty Chand, Executive Director of Asia Society India Centre said, “The third edition of NVFS boldly steps forward and invites women centric, gender sensitive stories into the spotlight. Made possible by Time Warner Foundation and coordinated by Asia Society’s offices in New York and India, this fellowship represents Asia Society’s commitment to fostering creativity, nurturing new talent, building knowledgeable communities, addressing shared challenges, and bringing fresh perspectives to the age-old art of storytelling.”

Anjum Rajabali, Head of the Advisory Council of NVFS and noted screenwriter, added that "NVFS is indeed a very worthy and important initiative that Asia Society India Centre has undertaken. It offers so many wonderful things to amateur screenwriters - full creative freedom, continuous mentoring by knowledgeable seniors, intensive workshops, no copyright lien of any kind, and a healthy fellowship amount!! It's a win-win process for them. And, this year’s brief is important and exciting: Scripts with multi-dimensional women characters who are individuals in their own right and whose issues and energy drive the story. The time has come for these stories to flood the film industry!"

NVFS has been made possible by a grant from Time Warner Foundation.

“Our mission is to find innovative and powerful ways to discover, nurture and celebrate the next generation of storytellers,” said Lisa Garcia Quiroz, President of the Time Warner Foundation. “Asia Society is an important, globally recognised partner who continues to help us further our reach in talent development.  We are excited to expand this groundbreaking programme in India.”

This year one additional fellowship is supported by Laadli, a media advocacy initiative of Population First, sponsored by UNFPA.