Numerous Columbia Filmmakers In 2021 Film Independent Fast Track Program

Two feature projects from Columbia University filmmakers were chosen to participate in the Fiction Track for Film Independent’s 2021 Fast Track Program. They are: Alien Kulture, written by Iesh Thapar '17 and produced by Sarah Seulki Oh '15, and The Mesopotamian, written and directed by Esra Saydam '11 and produced by Gerry Kim '11 and Alvaro Valente '14.

Film Independent selects ten fiction and five non-fiction feature projects each year to participate in their Fast Track program, an intensive film finance market that takes place over four days. The program is designed to connect producer-director teams with industry leaders to put their projects on the “fast track.” Participants in the film market meet with top executives, financiers, agents, managers, distributors, granting organizations and production companies. Participants also gain valuable exposure and build vital relationships as they propel their films toward completion. Notable Fast Track projects include the Academy Award and Spirit Award-nominated documentary Minding the Gap, Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award winner Nancy, which premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, and the Arts Cinema Award-winning 37 Seconds, which had its world premiere in competition at the 69th Berlinale and its North American premiere at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival.

Alien Kulture, which is loosely inspired by the exploits of the first UK Asian Punk Band of the same name, follows a 1.5 generation British Indian teen as he pursues his musical dreams and unlikely punk-rock ambitions. Along the way, he must learn to stand up to his insular-minded older brother and define his place in racially-divided, Thatcher-era England. The feature film draws upon Thapar’s short film of the same name, Alien Culture, which was a recipient of the 2018 London Calling Plus Production Award, supported by Film London &The BFI Network.

Iesh Thapar is a writer and director working in film, TV and video games. His short films have played at prestigious international film festivals, including The BFI London Film Festival, Aspen Shortfest, and Palm Springs. Thapar's work has been supported by Film London, The BFI Network, The Sundance Institute, Film Independent, ESPN, The Tribeca Film Institute, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Thapar was named one of twenty-five UK ‘Lodestars’ rising stars of cinema, is a BAFTA LA Scholar/Newcomer recipient, an awardee of the John Brabourne Award, and the winner of the 2017 Ezra Litwak Award for distinction in screenwriting. Thapar has also worked as a Writer and Voice Director for some of the world's most popular and premier AAA video games for clients such as Ubisoft, Massive Entertainment, and IO Interactive.​ He is a graduate of the MFA Film program at Columbia University. In addition to his first feature Alien Kulture, he is currently developing a mini-series entitled The Marble Orchard, as well as a TV show based on the award winning novel, We That Are Young, with Gaumont US. Thapar was recently a selected Director for BFI NETWORK x BAFTA CREW professional development scheme, and was a chosen participant of the Film Independent Screenwriting Lab.

Sarah Seulki Oh is a Korean-born independent producer. She has produced narrative and documentary films in Amsterdam, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Korea, Turkey, U.K., and the U.S. Sarah’s films have showcased at BFI London Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Palm Springs International ShortFest, SXSW and Raindance Film Festival. Her work has been supported by the Sundance Film Institute, Biennale College Cinema, Tribeca Film Institute, Film London, BFI, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, ESPN and HBO. Sarah is a graduate of Columbia University’s Creative Producing MFA film program. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Radio-Television-Film at the University of Texas at Austin as well as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia.

The Mesopotamian, the film written/directed by Saydam and produced by Kim and Valente, is an urban love story set in the EMS world of New York from the eyes of Ela, a mysterious and lonely Middle Eastern immigrant, who recently became a 911 EMT to feed her desire for intimacy. As Ela navigates an otherwise unseen New York City that is both compassionate and vulnerable, she builds a strong bond with her ambulance partner, Marco, and experiences a magical yet familiar intimacy with Dinlas, an upper-class mysterious Latino man who drew her attention online. The Mesopotamian is a post-modern love story between ‘patients’ and ‘partners,’ with many universes of intimacy. The project was selected to participate in the Gotham Film & Media Institute 2021 Fiscal Sponsorship Program.

Bridging the oceanic divide between her homeland Turkey and the United States, Esra Saydam is a filmmaker with a master’s degree in Columbia University Graduate Film Program. She has two production companies: Karlakum Film based in Istanbul and Sand & Snow Films in New York. Her first feature film, Across the Sea (2014), won multiple awards at Adana FF as well at other international festivals like Slamdance and Milano Int. Saydam’s projects in development have been recognized and invited by renown programs like EAVE’s Ties That Bind, !f Sundance Screenwriters’ Lab, Hamptons Screenwriters Lab, Meetings on the Bridge, IFP Film Week, and Cine Qua Non Lab. As part of her screenwriting research for her project, The Mesopotamian, Saydam completed her EMT training and received her New York State EMT Certificate. Saydam is also developing an international TV comedy show taking place in New York. She is the recipient of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association Fellowship and is fluent in four languages.

Gerry Kim’s first film The House of Suh premiered at the 2010 Hot Docs Film Festival and went on to win several awards on the festival circuit. The House of Suh was later sold to MSNBC in 2010 and had its broadcast premiere in July of 2011. Following its release, Suh won the Masters Series Award for Non-Fiction at the 2012 CINE Awards. He went on to produce director Jennifer Kroot’s To Be Takei, a documentary portrait of actor and activist George Takei (2014 Sundance Film Festival premiere, released theatrically by Starz Digital); directors Esra Saydam and Nisan Dag’s Across the Sea (winner of the Audience Award at Slamdance); and executive produced director Luigi Campi’s coming-of-age thriller, My First Kiss and the People Involved (premiered at the 2016 Los Angeles Film Festival, Winner of Audience Award at New Orleans Film Festival). An alum of Columbia University’s Graduate Film Program, Kim was awarded the 2010 Arthur Krim Memorial Award for Best Producer, and in 2014, was selected as a Creative Producing Fellow of the Sundance Institute. His  latest feature film, I’m No Longer Here, written/directed by fellow alumnus Fernando Frias de La Parra '15, was Mexico’s entry for the 2021 Academy Awards.

Alvaro R. Valente is an Italian-Belgian producer based in the US. He has worked as a producer in theater, television, and film between the US and Europe for the past twelve years. His producing work has been showcased and awarded in more than 350 festivals worldwide. In addition to producing critically acclaimed and award-winning short films, his feature credits include The Fortune Theory (2013), Child Eater (2015), the award-winning Turkish-US film Across the Sea  (2014), and Jordana Spiro’s Night Comes On (2018), winner of the NEXT Innovator Award at Sundance 2018 and Jury Prize at Deauville 2018. Valente earned an MFA in film producing from Columbia University, and a BA in economics and entertainment management from Universita Cattolica in Milan. He was selected to participate in the 2012 Atelier Ludwigsburg-Paris for Young European Producers, and the 2013 Berlinale Talents. He also received the Everest Entertainment Award for Young Producers, the Entertainment Partners Best Producer Award, and was a finalist for the Saatchi & Saatchi Best Producer Award. Valente is currently in post-production on two features: David Gutnik’s Russian American starring FKA Twigs and Rodrigo Bellott’s Bolivian-American film Tu Me Manques starring Oscar Martinez and Rossy De Palma.