WAVES Film Bazaar 2025 Concludes with Record International Participation, Strategic MoUs and over ₹1050 Crore Business Leads

Goa:27/11/25:WAVES Film Bazaar 2025, organized alongside the 56th International Film Festival of India (IFFI), concluded on a high note, reaffirming India’s position as a rising global hub for film production, collaboration, and market expansion. This year’s edition witnessed exceptional international participation, landmark partnerships, and unmatched opportunities for content creators, distributors, and industry professionals.

Unprecedented Global Participation

This year, 2,500+ delegates from 40+ countries participated in the five-day market, marking one of the largest international gatherings at a South Asian film market. A total of 320 projects were showcased across the Viewing Room, Co-Production Market, Screenwriters’ Lab, and Market Screenings, representing 15+ countries and demonstrating strong global interest in India’s content ecosystem.

Robust Business Activity and Market Impact

WAVES Film Bazaar 2025 facilitated a dynamic environment for networking, collaborations, and deal-making:

• 1200+ one-to-one closed-door business meetings with 220+ buyers from across the world
• Hundreds of open-ended meetings across various market sections
• Substantive business discussions and negotiations of worth ₹1050 crore, reflecting the growing influence of the platform in enabling global partnerships.
  • over 320 closed door project discussions with a valuation of over  Rs. 750 crores
  • Projects worth over Rs.200 cr discussed in open meetings by the delegates
  • MoUs worth of Rs. 100 Cr signed on the sidelines of the event.
• In a landmark development, WAVES Film Bazaar 2025 facilitated the signing of four key MoUs with Media & Entertainment based in Australia, greatly enhancing bilateral cooperation across education, distribution, talent development, and festival exchanges. This includes MoU between International Film Festival of India, NFDC & Indian Film Festival of Melbourne, and MoU between Deakin University, Film and Television Institute of India (FTII, Pune) & Indian Institute of Creative Technologies (IICT. Mumbai) 
• WAVES Film Bazaar 2025 served as a catalyst for deeper international cooperation, hosting high-level G2G and commission-to-commission meetings with delegations from Australia, South Africa, Spain, Finland, Russia, UK and New Zealand.

These outcomes underline WAVES Film Bazaar’s emergence as one of South Asia’s most influential film markets, offering unmatched access to Indian and international storytellers, producers, distributors, and investors.

Strengthening Indo–Australian Collaboration: Four Major MoUs Signed

In a landmark development, WAVES Film Bazaar 2025 facilitated the signing of three key MoUs with Media & Entertainment based in Australia, greatly enhancing bilateral cooperation across education, distribution, talent development, and festival exchanges:

MoU between International Film Festival of India, NFDC & Indian Film Festival of Melbourne
A strategic three-year partnership to strengthen Indo–Australian screen relations through festival exchanges, producer labs, and a new Waves Bazaar–IFFM Co-Distribution Fund. The collaboration will boost curated screenings, premieres, training programmes, and joint promotion of creative projects across both countries.

1. MoU between Deakin University, Film and Television Institute of India (FTII, Pune) & Indian Institute of Creative Technologies (IICT. Mumbai)
   An academic alliance focused on advancing film education through curriculum partnerships, student and faculty exchanges, specialised workshops, and collaborative learning pathways—aimed at nurturing the next generation of filmmakers and animators.
2. MoU between PVR INOX & Mind Blowing Films, Australia
   A distribution-centric partnership enabling consistent nationwide theatrical releases of Australian films in India through the country’s largest cinema chain. The agreement is expected to generate over USD 5 million annually, expanding market access for storytellers in both the countries.
3. MoU between PTC Punjabi and Temple Film Production Company, Australia

PTC Punjabi has partnered with Australian production company Temple to co-present three punjabi language feature films under the Australia- India Co Production treaty. The estimated valuation of the projects are over 7 million USD

Strong collaboration with other international festivals

WAVES Film Bazaar 2025 also emerged as a vital platform for deepening India’s engagement with major international film festivals. In a significant development, Raindance Film Festival (UK), Tribeca Film Festival Lisboa, and Busan International Film Festival (South Korea)  expressed their interest in hosting India as the ‘Focus Country’ in their upcoming editions.

WaveX Startup Pavilion Showcases 14 Creative-Tech Innovators at IFFI 2025

The WaveX Startup Pavilion marked a significant milestone at the Waves Film Bazaar by featuring 14 emerging startups from the creative, media, and entertainment-technology sectors.

The participation enabled WaveX startups to:

• Present their products and IPs to a global audience
• Engage in B2B networking and strategic corporate meetings
• Explore partnerships with OTTs, production houses, and distributors
• Receive international exposure within the creative economyAbout IFFIBorn in 1952, the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) stands tall as South Asia’s oldest and largest celebration of cinema. Jointly hosted by the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India and the Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG), State Government of Goa, the festival has grown into a global cinematic powerhouse—where restored classics meet bold experiments, and legendary maestros share space with fearless first-timers. What makes IFFI truly sparkle is its electric mix—international competitions, cultural showcases, masterclasses, tributes, and the high-energy WAVES Film Bazaar, where ideas, deals and collaborations take flight. Staged against Goa’s stunning coastal backdrop from November 20–28, the 56th edition promises a dazzling spectrum of languages, genres, innovations, and voices—an immersive celebration of India’s creative brilliance on the world stage.