Indian Media World Shaken By Hostile Takeover Bid For NDTV

Indian billionaire Guatam Adani looks set to acquire India’s premiere independent news broadcaster New Delhi Television (NDTV) after his Adani Group exercised a right to buy a 29.18% stake under a loan agreement taken out by its founders more than a decade ago. The Adani Group has indicated that it plans to make an offer for a further 26% stake to give it a controlling 55% share in the company.

NDTV was founded by the husband and wife team, economist Prannoy Roy and journalist Radhika Roy, in 1984. The company has put out a statement saying that Adani’s move to execute the right to buy clause had been undertaken without first consulting the co-founders, who hold a 32.26% stake.

NDTV is regarded as one of the last homes of independent journalism in India and there are fears that a takeover by the Andani Group, which holds interests in coal trading, ports, power and edible oils, could have implications for its editorial content in the future.

Venice Announces Ukrainian Day On September 8 In Act Of Solidarity

As Ukraine marked independence day on Wednesday and the six-month anniversary of the start of the Russian invasion, the Venice Film Festival announced it will hold a Ukrainian Day on September 8 in an act of solidarity for the country and its artists. The event will kick off with a panel featuring Venice artistic director Alberto Barbera, Ukrainian Ambassador to Italy, Yaroslav Melnyk; National Cinema Institution head Marina Kuderchuk and filmmaker Antonio Lukich, whose work Luxembourg Luxembourg screens in the Horizons section, among others.  There will also be a presentation of Ukrainian projects at different stages of production.

Kamila Andini, Ryo Kase, Alain Guiraudie Set For Busan’s New Currents Jury

French film critic and Unifrance president Serge Toubiana will preside over the jury of the Busan International Film Festival New Currents competition aimed at first and second films. He will be joined by Indonesian filmmaker Kamila Andini (Yuni, Before, Now And Then), French director Alain Guiraudie (Stranger By The Lake), Japanese actor Ryo Kase and Korean producer Lee Eugene of Zip Cinema. The jury selects two best films, which receive each receives a $30,000 cash prize. The jury members for the Kim Jiseok Award created in 2017 in memory of late BIFF program director Kim Jiseok have also been unveiled. French film critic and journalist Jean-Michel Frodon, Japanese director and scriptwriter Ogigami Naoko and Korean director Kim Hee-Jung will award $10,000 prizes to two new Korean and Asian films. BIFF runs October 5-14.