Global South Film Festival Announced at BRICS WAVES Bazaar, Mumbai

India to host first edition; Brazil confirmed for second, Kazakhstan expresses interest in future editions

A new international film platform focused on the cinema, stories and creative economies of the Global South — the Global South Film Festival (GSFF) — was announced at the BRICS WAVES Bazaar in Mumbai by an international consortium representing Brazil, Russia, China, India, Kazakhstan, South Africa, Thailand and the UAE.

 

 

Conceived in India as an annual travelling international film festival, GSFF aims to create a new collaborative platform connecting filmmakers, producers, film institutions, cultural organisations, investors, distributors, platforms and audiences from across the Global South, while remaining open to participation and collaboration with the wider world.

Its positioning captures that ambition:

“Born in India. Travelling across the Global South. Open to the world.”

The first edition has been confirmed for India in 2027, while Brazil is confirmed as the destination for the second edition. Kazakhstan has also expressed interest in hosting the third edition, reflecting the Festival’s ambition to travel across Global South countries rather than remain anchored to a single location.

At the launch event, Ms Nadira Akhonova, Media & Tourism Ambassador of Kazakhstan, underlined the need for a platform such as GSFF. 

“More than 80% of humanity lives in the Global South, yet only around 25% of global film revenues are generated by these markets. There is a clear need for stronger platforms that connect our stories, talent and markets. Kazakhstan would also be keen to host an edition of GSFF in the coming years.”

She said GSFF could help create greater visibility, collaboration and market access for filmmakers and creative industries across the Global South, while also building stronger cultural and tourism linkages between participating countries.

The Indian host city for the first edition is presently being finalised and is expected to be announced shortly. The Festival is envisioned not merely as a five-day cultural event, but as an opportunity for the selected city and State to build sustained international relationships across cinema, tourism, culture, education, technology and the creative economy.

The organisers confirmed that Bhopal, Kochi, Nashik and Udaipur are currently among the cities under consideration. They also indicated a preference for India’s Tier-II cities, noting that the larger Global South story is rooted not only in major global capitals, but equally in emerging cities, communities and cultural centres where much of its diversity, creativity and new economic aspiration resides.

Final discussions with the respective city and State administrations are expected to conclude during the last week of August, following which the host city for the inaugural Indian edition is likely to be formally announced.

Three Permanent Pillars: Women, Stories and Capital

At the heart of GSFF are three permanent pillars that will remain central to every edition of the Festival:

WOMEN: Who tells our stories?
GSFF intends to strengthen the visibility, participation and leadership of women across filmmaking, production, writing, creative industries and decision-making.

STORIES: What do we tell?
From ancient cultures and oral traditions to contemporary societies and new creative voices, the Global South possesses an extraordinary diversity of stories. GSFF seeks to create a stronger international platform for these stories to be discovered, developed, produced and distributed.

CAPITAL: Who enables the story?
Many promising filmmakers and creative projects across emerging markets face challenges in accessing finance, international markets and distribution. GSFF therefore places co-production, financing, investment and market access alongside artistic celebration.

Together, these pillars seek to address not only what films are shown, but also who gets to tell stories and how those stories find the resources to reach the world.

Cinema First with an Ecosystem Around It

Film remains at the centre of GSFF.

The Festival is proposed to include feature films, independent cinema, documentaries, short films, premieres and curated country showcases, alongside awards and recognition for outstanding cinema.

Around this core will sit a wider professional ecosystem comprising a GSFF Film Market, co-production and finance forum, producer and distributor meetings, country delegations, workshops, masterclasses, story and talent labs, youth programming and international institutional exchanges.

The philosophy is simple:

Watch. Celebrate. Connect. Develop. Enable.

Watch films. Celebrate excellence. Connect creators and markets. Develop talent and stories. Enable those stories through partnerships and capital.

GSFF will also retain Climate, Culture and Cuisine as curated showcase lenses through which the diversity of Global South societies can be experienced, rather than restricting the Festival to cinema alone.

The Global South at the Centre, The World Around the Table

GSFF’s Global South focus is not intended to exclude the Global North.

Films, filmmakers, distributors, studios, investors, institutions, festivals, buyers, platforms and audiences from anywhere in the world will be able to participate where relevant.

The difference is one of perspective.

For decades, filmmakers from Africa, Asia, Latin America and other emerging regions have often travelled to established Western festivals and markets to find recognition, financing, co-production partners and international distribution.

GSFF seeks to complement that ecosystem by creating another table, a table located within the Global South itself, where South–South collaboration can grow alongside South–World engagement.

 

A Festival That Travels

Unlike festivals permanently associated with one city, GSFF is being developed as a travelling international platform. Each host destination will bring its own cinema, culture, creative industries and identity into the Festival while becoming part of a growing network connecting filmmakers and institutions across countries.

2027 India
First Edition

Next Brazil
Second Edition

Kazakhstan
Interest expressed in hosting a subsequent edition

Future Global South
Travelling across countries and creative capitals of the Global South

The model is intended to create continuity while allowing every edition to acquire the character of its host destination.

Beyond a Film Festival

The larger ambition is to build an international platform at the intersection of cinema, collaboration, culture and capital.

For filmmakers, it can become a place to show a film.

For writers, a place to develop a story.

For producers, a place to find partners.

For investors and platforms, a place to discover new voices and markets.

For countries and cities, a place to build cultural and creative-economy relationships.

And for audiences, an opportunity to experience how much of the world’s cinema remains waiting to be discovered beyond familiar borders.

As GSFF prepares for its first Indian edition in 2027, the vision is therefore considerably larger than creating another entry on the international festival calendar.

It is about creating a platform from the Global South, for Global South cinema and open to the world. 

GLOBAL SOUTH FILM FESTIVAL
Where the Global South Tells Its Own Story.
https://globalsouthfilmfestival.org/