Co-founder Shivani Pandya Malhotra’s Ta Films focuses on Saudi

DUBAI: Dubai-based production company Ta Films has announced a slate of new projects that places Saudi filmmaking at the centre of its expansion plans, led by co-founder Shivani Pandya Malhotra. The company will begin production later this year on Drowning, a working title for the debut feature from Saudi director Mujtaba Saeed. The film has already secured backing from the Red Sea Film Fund and the Ithra Film Fund and will be produced by Jordanian filmmaker Nadia Eliewat, who also co-wrote and produced the Yemen-set drama The Station.

“Production has always been where my passion began,” Pandya Malhotra said in a recently released statement. “Over the past 20 years, I have been fortunate to contribute to the growth of the film industry across the Middle East, supporting filmmakers, storytellers and emerging creative voices.”

Ta Films, founded in 2022 by Pandya Malhotra and Sangeeta Desai, is led operationally by Nadia Eliewat as CEO and creative director. The company strengthened its production infrastructure last year through the acquisition of Eliewat’s Screen Project banner, and is leveraging that capacity as it develops multiple features. The move follows the Cannes Film Festival success of The Station, a title that has helped elevate the company’s profile in regional and international festival circuits.

The upcoming Drowning follows a man determined to see his father’s killer punished, who finds himself dragging a young boy into the same cycle of crime and corruption he is trying to escape. The project’s support from the Red Sea Film Fund and the Ithra Film Fund highlights continued institutional investment in Saudi and regional talent. Eliewat, who produced and co-wrote The Station, will produce Drowning, tying the new project to Ta Films’ recent creative successes.

Projects and partnerships

• Drowning (working title) — debut feature by Saudi director Mujtaba Saeed; backed by Red Sea Film Fund and Ithra Film Fund; produced by Nadia Eliewat.
• Feature in partnership with MBC Group — in development, details forthcoming.
• The Station — Yemen-set drama produced and co-written by Nadia Eliewat; noted for its screenings at Cannes.

Pandya Malhotra has increased her involvement with Ta Films after recently stepping down from her role at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Foundation, where she helped guide the Red Sea International Film Festival through its formative years. Her return to a more hands-on production role is aligned with the company’s stated ambition to expand its network of creative partnerships across the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia.

“The success of ‘The Station’ has reinforced our belief in the power of authentic storytelling and the extraordinary talent emerging from this region,” Pandya Malhotra added, framing Ta Films’ next phase around festival-calibre narratives and cross-border collaborations.

With production on Drowning slated for later this year and a separate feature in development with MBC Group, Ta Films is positioning itself as an active producer of regional cinema, combining institutional fund support with creative leadership under Eliewat and strategic direction from its founders.