"Kakthet" (Idiot), the debut feature of filmmaker Stenzin Tankyong, has won the first INR40 lakh ($42,000) feature film co-production fund run by Humans of Cinema and Safarnaama Pictures. The film is set in the remote, high-altitude region of Ladakh and is made in the Ladakhi language.
The project was picked from nearly 400 submissions following a lengthy screening and evaluation process. The story centers on a government school and its surrounding community, whose survival depends on one reluctant grade 10 student who has never passed an exam. His teachers face an almost impossible task: saving the school by saving the one student who is determined not to be saved.
Tankyong has spent eight years making films that carry Ladakh's stories, landscapes and culture to audiences abroad. His short films "Sekool" (2019) and "Last Days of Summer" (2023) have played at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival and the Dharamshala International Film Festival.
"Kakthet" is produced by Ritu Sarin and Rajesh Thanickan, together with French co-producers La Belle Affaire Productions. Sarin has a career of more than 30 years and co-founded both White Crane Films and the Dharamshala International Film Festival. Thanickan's credits include Neeraj Ghaywan's "Homebound," executive produced by Martin Scorsese and premiered at Cannes in 2025, as well as "Santosh," which premiered at Cannes in 2024. He also worked on "Our Share of Sand," which won the Audience Award at the 2026 Venice International Film Festival's International Critics' Week.
The film had already drawn international attention. It won the Co-Production Features Grant at WAVES Film Bazaar in 2025 and was named one of 30 projects at the 2026 Asian Project Market, held alongside the Busan International Film Festival.
The fund was started by Harshit Bansal, founder of Humans of Cinema, and Nazim Momin, a U.S.-based engineer and producer who founded Safarnaama Pictures. Filmmakers Vishal Bhardwaj and Shaunak Sen serve as mentors, and Sen is also executive producer of the winning project. The jury included actor Imran Khan, filmmaker Arati Kadav, "All That Breathes" producer Aman Mann and festival director Aseem Chhabra.
Bansal said the team was surprised by the number of strong projects received from across the country, and that it reinforced how much initiatives like this are needed in South Asia. He called Tankyong "an exciting new filmmaker with a distinct voice." Bhardwaj said stories like this show why it matters to create opportunities for voices from outside the mainstream. Sen praised the script for using lightness, absurdity and humor while staying curious and sensitive without lapsing into judgement.
Tankyong said that independent filmmakers in India often find it hard to get backing for stories rooted in their own regions and languages, and that support coming from within the country makes the recognition especially meaningful. He thanked the organizers, jury and mentors for helping move the film forward.
The screenplay is now in its fourth draft. In July 2026, the team completed a three-week recce across the Changthang region and Leh, scouting locations, planning production and gathering visual and sonic material for a proof-of-concept teaser. Principal cast, crew and shooting locations are in place, and the team is now working to secure more financing and build co-production ties across Asia, Australia and Europe.
