Babak

Babak is a drama in development from writer-director Payal Sethi, whose feature debut Kurinji is currently in pre-production. The project was selected for the 2026 Asian Project Market at the Busan International Film Festival and received a Script Development Fund grant from the Asian Cinema Fund. Set in Germany, the film explores displacement and connection through the story of an Afghan refugee who befriends a Ukrainian boy while navigating increasingly difficult bureaucratic challenges. Sethi was inspired to write the project after reading reports of Afghan refugees being moved from temporary shelters as Germany took in Ukrainian refugees. The project is being developed as a Germany-India co-production with producer Khaled Homsi attached. Sethi's previous work includes the award-winning short film Leeches, which won the Grand Prix at Brussels Short Film Festival.