EXCLUSIVE: Anand Ramayya’s Karma Film is set to produce Maya Bastian’s The Devil’s Tears alongside Canada’s Blackout Media, while Shant Joshi’s Fae Pictures has also come on board to executive produce.
Karma Film and Fae Pictures are both South Asian-Canadian owned production outfits, with recent feature film credits including Donkeyhead and Cannes Directors Fortnight title In Flames, respectively.
Written and to be directed by Bastian as her debut feature, The Devil’s Tears is an ensemble horror film set in a remote Sri Lankan jungle village that has been ravaged by war. A red rain begins to fall in the village at night, leading to a dismantling of the villagers’ societal order.
The project is currently in development with financing expected to begin late 2024 and production to take place in 2025-2026 in India. Development is financed by Creative Saskatchewan, and the project has been selected for the 1497 Mentor Lab and as a finalist for the Breaking Through the Lens Chopard Action Grant.
Producers on the film include Karl Janisse of Blackout Media (Tigress), and Anand Ramayya and Kelly Balon of Karma Film (Donkeyhead, Our Big Punjabi Family), while executive producing are Shant Joshi, Lindsay Blair Goeldner and Abdul Malik of Fae Pictures (In Flames, Framing Agnes).
Coming off their successful launches of South Asian-Canadian titles Donkeyhead and In Flames, the producing partners aim to set the production up as a Canadian international co-production, raising a sub $15M budget with an ensemble Tamil cast. The film is being aimed at arthouse festival, South Indian commercial and global genre audiences.
“The Devil’s Tears is a story like no other. I’m proud to be supported by these incredible companies who all have a strong track record of bringing unique South Asian voices to audiences worldwide,” said Bastian.
Ramayya said: “Maya’s background in conflict journalism combined with her deep personal connections to the community have added layer upon layer of subtle complexities that fill this incredibly original script with the potential to be a truly ground-breaking film. The Devil’s Tears and its filmmakers are the reason we exist as producers and we are thrilled to help bring this to fruition.”
Joshi added: “The recent box office successes for distinct and unique writer-director voices like Gerwig, Nolan, Atlee and Nelson, and the wave of sold out theatres for socially relevant arthouse cinema with a genre bent gives us confidence to face the market with a dynamic project like this.
“We are excited to continue to decolonize cinema with The Devil’s Tears, pointing our lens towards the oppression and genocide of ethnic minorities, an increasingly universal theme given the rise of fascism in many parts of the world.”
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