Alia Bhatt's production venture, "Difficult Daughters," has been selected for the Asian Project Market (APM) at the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF). The film, directed by Soni Razdan, is produced by Alia Bhatt and her sister Shaheen Bhatt, in collaboration with veteran Indian indie producer Alan McAlex.
The Asian Project Market is an integral part of the Asian Contents & Film Market (ACFM), which serves as the industry platform for the Busan International Film Festival. The 28th edition of the APM is scheduled to take place from September 20th to 23rd, 2025. This year, the APM has selected 30 projects, showcasing a diverse range of cinematic endeavors.
The Asian Cinema Fund (ACF) supports filmmakers from Korea and across Asia by backing script development, post-production, and documentary filmmaking. For the 2025 edition, the ACF received a record-breaking 850 submissions, marking a 23% increase from the previous year. From these submissions, 14 projects were selected for funding.
Besides "Difficult Daughters," the BIFF lineup includes other notable projects. Kani Kusruti, who starred in the Cannes Palme d'Or-winning film "All We Imagine As Light," is collaborating with the director of that film, Payal Kapadia, to produce "The Last Of Them Plagues," directed by Kunjila Mascillamani. Indian director Pradip Kurbah, a recipient of the 2019 Jiseok Award, will present his new project, "Moon". Bangladeshi filmmaker Biplob Sarkar, previously invited to BIFF New Currents, returns with "The Magical Men," a project with LGBTQ+ themes.
The Busan International Film Festival is set to hold its 30th edition from September 17-26.