WAVES Film Bazaar Builds Connections

By Pickle November 8, 2026

WAVES Film Bazaar returns November 20-24 with a new Goa venue, connecting South Asian filmmakers with international partners and buyers.

The market’s 20th edition will run through Novemberr 20-24 at Taj Cidade de Horizonte, bringing producers, sales agents and festival programmers together around projects seeking creative and financial partnerships. Held alongside the International Film Festival of India, the five-day event focuses on the business of getting films developed, completed and seen.

Its programs span feature and documentary co-production markets, market screenings, a Viewing Room, a Work-in-Progress Lab, screenwriting and producing labs, and the Knowledge Series. That range gives filmmakers at different stages a reason to attend, whether their projects are still taking shape or ready to seek audiences.

The distinction between the programs matters. The Work-in-Progress Lab is a closed workshop for unfinished films, not a public showcase, while the Viewing Room allows industry participants to discover completed and unfinished work and explore its prospects.

The co-production markets put potential partnerships at the center of the event. Screenwriting and producing labs address development, while screenings and the Viewing Room connect films with professionals involved in their onward journey.

That focus on the work surrounding a film echoes a concern raised by IFFI director Ashutosh Gowariker at Cannes earlier this year. He called for stronger international business expertise around Indian filmmaking, alongside creative ambition.

Artificial intelligence will also be part of the market’s offering, with the CinemAI Hackathon listed among its programs. The National Film Development Corporation has advocated responsible adoption, emphasizing intellectual property, artists’ rights and the continuing importance of human creativity.

Ashutosh Gowariker has welcomed AI’s technical possibilities while drawing a distinction between assistance and authorship. “I’ll say best friend,” he said of the technology at 2026 Cannes Film Festival , while maintaining that stories should remain the work of human writers and directors.

For visiting professionals, the calendar creates two distinct opportunities: five days of market activity followed by further festival screenings and events through Nov. 28. Planning meetings around the Nov. 20-24 window will be essential for those attending primarily to find partners.

At its new venue, WAVES Film Bazaar’s central proposition remains practical: bringing filmmakers and prospective collaborators into the same room.