Faridkot’s Prateek Bagi co-produces movie to open at Venice Film Festival

A movie inspired by the life of Mother Teresa and co-produced by Prateek Bagi, a 32-year-old native of Faridkot, will open the prestigious Horizons (Orizzonti) section at the 82nd Venice Film Festival, scheduled to be held from August 27 to September 6 in Italy.An alumnus of Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI), Prateek heads Raging Films, a Kolkata-based production house behind the Indian leg of the international co-production.The film — “Mother” — brings together talent from India, North Macedonia, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, and Bosnia & Herzegovina, and is directed by acclaimed Macedonian filmmaker Teona Strugar Mitevska.

Shot extensively in Kolkata at real locations including Howrah Bridge, Bara Bazaar, Kalighat and Loreto Convent, where Mother Teresa lived and taught, the Indian unit — mostly SRFTI alumni — worked closely with European crews.

“Mother is not just a biopic,” said Prateek. “It’s a story about conviction and inner transformation. That it was crafted with deep Indian involvement makes its global recognition even more meaningful,” he said.