Busan, San Sebastián Title ‘Shape of Momo’ Boarded by Celluloid Dreams (EXCLUSIVE)

Celluloid Dreams has acquired worldwide sales rights to “Shape of Momo” (“Chhora Jastai”), the debut feature from India’s Tribeny Rai.

The film is world premiering at the Busan International Film Festival and will have its European premiere in the New Directors section at the San Sebastián Film Festival.

Set in the Himalayas, “Shape of Momo” follows Bishnu as she returns to her mountain village after quitting her job, only to face mounting family pressures and societal expectations. As tensions rise with her pregnant sister’s arrival and a budding relationship with a “suitable” boy from her community, Bishnu must choose between conforming to tradition or claiming her independence.

The project marks a feature debut for Rai, who hails from Sikkim in eastern India. “Shape of Momo” is an India-South Korea co-production from Dalley Khorsani Productions, with Geeta Rai and Kislay producing. Co-producers include Neha Malik, Himanshu Kohli and Jung Woo Lee.

The film previously won top honors at the Work-in-Progress Lab at India’s NFDC Film Bazaar and received the Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum Goes to Cannes award at the Hong Kong FilMart.

Paris-based Celluloid Dreams will handle global sales following the festival premieres.

“‘Shape of Momo’ moved and touched us deeply through the way Tribeny Rai so masterfully weaves together the personal and the political,” said Saliha Guemraoui of Celluloid Dreams. “The women she portrays are always complex, layered characters, offering us a glimpse of profound humanity. We are delighted to be working with a filmmaker whose artistic vision so perfectly echoes the values and cinematic identity of Celluloid Dreams.”