Indian documentary on Kota coaching centres wins Asian Pitch

An Indian project about three IIT aspirants studying at coaching centres in Kota, Rajasthan, against the backdrop of the Indian education system, has won The Asian Pitch 2016.

The Asian Pitch is an initiative through which four public broadcasters from Japan, Korea, Singapore and Taiwan, give independent directors from Asia an opportunity to tell original stories about the region.

The broadcasters NHK (Japan), KBS (Korea), MediaCorp (Singapore) and PTS (Taiwan) select and commission the winning stories for primetime slots. They also market and distribute the programmes in international markets.

The Asian Pitch is aimed at creating new high definition documentaries and finding new talent in Asia.

Of the three winners this year, filmmaker Hemant Gaba's documentary "Kota Coaching Factory" is the only project from India to win the funding. The other two are from Bhutan and South Korea.

The Asian Pitch went through 136 proposals between August 4 and August 6 before finally narrowing down on these three.

"India also has a significant appetite for creative documentaries but Indian TV channels are reluctant to invest in cultivating new habits for the audiences," Gaba said in a statement, adding that he is optimistic that the scenario will change in the near future and the country will have more platforms for documentaries.

Previous documentaries that won the Asian Pitch had received international recognition for creative and production excellence.

--IANS

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