Two happy, smiling faces emerged from the crowd of explosives. Oppenheimer and flooded with pink Barbie posters in Taiwanese cinemas since last Friday, when the Bengali film Dostojee released in the country of origin of the manufacturer.

Ivy Yu-Hua Shen, a young Taiwanese producer, and Prasun Chatterjee, a director Dostojeehappened to meet in Goa in 2019. It was a case of ‘mistaken identity’ when Chatterjee approached Ivy at the NFDC Film Bazaar and pushed his backpack to say ‘hi’. “He confused her with the Hong Kong programmer he was trying to pitch his film to,” Ivy recalled at the special premiere Dostojee at SPOT Huashan Cinema in Taipei – one of around 16 cinemas in more than five cities – Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung – across Taiwan where the film was released.

The rest, as they say, is history. Dostojeewhich means friend in rural Bengali dialect, travels around the world and finally reaches Ivy's home country, Taiwan.

The 30-year-old Taiwanese is more than just a co-producer of Chatterjee's first film. He supports Dostojee at a time when even Indian producers and production houses are not willing to bank on debutant filmmakers with no prior experience in filmmaking or being a part of a film project.

Chatterjee gives full credit to Ivy for his film's journey across the world. “No, it wasn't me. She Dostojee“, Ivy quickly replied while interacting online with the two.

“When I saw the innocent and charming faces of the two boys on the first visit, Prasun emailed me a few weeks after the chance meeting in Goa and asked for my help; I was pretty sure I could help him make his first film and take it to festivals around the world. I saw Dostojeeto be a good arthouse film for the festival circuit,” said the Taiwanese co-producer.

Ivy during her mehendi session in India

With previous experience directing films and presenting screenplays at leading international film festivals such as Cannes and Berlin, Ivy grew up with Dostojeewhich became one of the first films after he decided to go solo and start his own production company, Betula Films. The name, which is also a genus of different birch tree species, is taken from the original name of Mandarin Ivy, Yu-Hua.

“I told Prasun that I might not be able to help him financially, but I could provide him with a way to release the film on various global platforms,” the Taiwanese explained, continuing: “I was in Kolkata in early 2020 and brainstormed with Prasun about how the film, which depicts the story of village children from a humble hamlet in a remote part of Bengal, could be made into a film with different socio-cultural connotations and nuances that could be understood by an international audience.

Taiwan has become a geopolitical hotspot of strategic importance. India has no formal diplomatic ties with the island nation, which the Chinese communist regime in Beijing claims as a wayward province. But a nonchalant Chatterjee said: “For me, she is Ivy. I don’t care whether she is from India, Taiwan or any other country. Anyone who can support the film is welcome, and I am glad Ivy has come on board to make the film as good as it is.” Dostojee.”

Ivy at the Gateway of India, Mumbai, 2019

The Taiwanese returned from India just before the first lockdown. He has not had the opportunity to return to India since then, with various pandemic-related travel restrictions still in place in Taiwan and India for the past three years. Instead, he discussed some strategic details regarding the film’s online distribution and promotion with the Kolkata-based filmmaker and his team.

The film toured various festivals and won awards, accolades, and accolades. In addition, since its official release in India, the film has been commercially screened in theaters in various countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United Arab Emirates, with English subtitles. But before it departs Dostojee In Taiwan, Ivy and her outsourced team in Taipei had to work hard for months to create custom-made subtitles in traditional Chinese – a Mandarin script used in Taiwan, as opposed to simplified Chinese in mainland China.

In addition to ensuring Dostojeein his home country with English and Mandarin subtitles, the one-man production house has worked on a number of other international projects. The producer, who hails from the central Taiwanese city of Taichung, said: “Apart from Prasun, I have worked with other filmmakers from India and South Asia. I can feel their passion and burning desire to make good cinema. I often cite their examples to filmmakers here.

Ivy with group at NFDC Film Bazaar

Asked about her regrets, Ivy said: “I never had the chance to meet the two boys who played the lead roles in the film in person. Dostojee and wowed moviegoers around the world, even without any formal acting training. I recently saw their latest pictures, and they're now teenagers. You wouldn't recognize them.

She loved the “laid back nature” and friendly people of Kolkata during her stay there, but like most foreigners, she didn’t like the city’s famous sweets. mystical. However, he still remembers well his brief stay in Santiniketan, where he found “spiritual comfort” and learned more about Rabindranath Tagore. “There are poems by Tagore that you can find in Dostojee“, Ivy signed brightly with a satisfied smile before leading her Taiwanese guest into the theater.

The author is a television journalist and Chinese language expert based in Taiwan.