Indian Refugee Drama ‘The Clouds Woke No Clocks’ Boarded by German, Singapore Producers, Cast Unveiled (EXCLUSIVE)

variety.com:

Naman Ramachandran Christoph Thoke’s Mogador Film, Sebastian Popp’s Stoked Film (both Germany) and Jeremy Chua‘s Potocol (Singapore) have joined forces to back “The Clouds Woke No Clocks,” a refugee drama from Indian filmmaker Aniket Dutta.

The project will be led by Indian producer Roshni Sen and Dutta’s Empty Video banner. Acclaimed Bangladesh actors Mostafa Monwar (Toronto, Busan title “Saba”) and Deepanwita Martin (Busan title “No Ground Beneath the Feet”) are set to star in the film, which follows a displaced family settling in a makeshift camp in the Himalayan foothills.

The story centers on parents Khalid and Sharmeen, and their eight-year-old son Shoaib, who relocate to India to escape persecution in their home country. “For me the state of being is more important than the state of being a refugee,” says Dutta, whose debut feature “Ghost of the Golden Groves,” co-directed with Sen, played at Festival du Nouveau Cinema Montreal. “I’m trying to encapsulate the fleeting moments of a few days of their lives.

I’m very keen on exploring the space itself, the Himalayan foothills which becomes a character on its own.” “The film takes an atmospheric yet anthropological approach,” adds Chua, whose Potocol handled Pham Thien An’s Cannes Golden Camera winner “Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell” and Lav Diaz’s Berlin winner “A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery.” “It aims to humanize the position of refugees for a local and international audience who may only be at arm’s length from the issues.