MUMBAI: In order to make Mantra-Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab an annual event in India, the Mahindra group has tied up with Robert Redford’s Sundance Institute.

Scheduled for 2012, the inaugural Mumbai Mantra-Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab will provide an opportunity for six-to-eight filmmakers from India to develop their works under the guidance of accomplished creative advisors.

Under the Sundance Institute-Mahindra Global Filmmaking Award, four visionary filmmakers from around the world will receive a grant, attendance at the Sundance Film Festival for targeted industry meetings, mentoring from Institute staff and creative advisors and participation in a Feature Film Program Lab, along with year-round support. Interestingly, one out of the four directors will be an Indian.

This initiative will extend over a three-year period, benefiting 12 awardees. Beginning in 2012, recipients of the 2011 Sundance Institute-Mahindra Global Film Making Award will be announced on 25 January.

Sundance Institute is a global non-profit organisation founded by Robert Redford in 1981 while Mumbai Mantra is the media and entertainment company of Mahindra, an Indian multinational.