{"id":48804,"date":"2026-08-16T16:08:29","date_gmt":"2026-08-16T11:08:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=48804"},"modified":"2026-08-16T16:08:29","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T11:08:29","slug":"locarno-winner-forgotten-spaceman-adds-eps-ahead-of-toronto-bow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=48804","title":{"rendered":"Locarno Winner &#8216;Forgotten Spaceman&#8217; Adds EPs Ahead of Toronto Bow"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\t\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/t\/forgotten-spaceman\/\" id=\"auto-tag_forgotten-spaceman\" data-tag=\"forgotten-spaceman\">Forgotten Spaceman<\/a>,\u201d the documentary short by BAFTA-nominated filmmaker Elham Ehsas that <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2026\/film\/news\/locarno-award-winners-monica-bellucci-kim-minhee-1236835378\/\">won the Leopard of Tomorrow (International Competition) award<\/a> at Locarno\u2019s Junior Jury Awards, has added Khan &amp; Kumar Media and Prism Entertainment as executive producers ahead of its Toronto Film Festival premiere next month.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tThe new executive producers are Sharib Khan and Vikas Kumar of Khan &amp; Kumar Media and Shruti Ganguly, Priya Giri Desai and Megha Kadakia of Prism Entertainment. The film premiered at Locarno and is set for its North American premiere at Toronto.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\t\u201cForgotten Spaceman\u201d is executive produced by Jack Thomas O\u2019Brien of Ken Loach and Rebecca O\u2019Brien\u2019s Sixteen Films and Catherine Tschaepe, alongside the newly announced producers. It is produced by Lorraine Bhattachary of MonoFilm Productions, with Dheeraj Agnihotri, who worked on \u201cHoly Curse,\u201d serving as associate producer. Mar\u00eda Vera of Kino Rebelde is handling international sales and festival strategy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tWritten, directed and edited by Ehsas, the documentary tells the story of Abdul Ahad Momand, Afghanistan\u2019s first and only astronaut. Momand flew to the Mir space station in 1988, at a moment when Afghanistan was nearing collapse, offering the country a rare spark of hope. During an orbital call home to his mother, he became the first person to speak Pashto in space, making it the fourth language ever used there. The documentary, made decades later, follows Ehsas as he discovers his own unexpected ties to Momand\u2019s story, threading themes of home, identity, exile and belonging.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tDirector Elham Ehsas said he was delighted to welcome the new partners at such an exciting stage of the film\u2019s journey. \u201cAs we continue sharing Abdul Ahad Momand\u2019s remarkable story with audiences around the world, it\u2019s incredibly encouraging to have such passionate partners alongside us,\u201d Ehsas said. \u201cI hope the film continues to spark conversations about home, identity, exile and belonging wherever it travels.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tProducer Lorraine Bhattachary said building the right team around a film is an important part of its journey. \u201cWe\u2019re thrilled to reach this next chapter together,\u201d Bhattachary said. \u201cIt\u2019s been wonderful bringing these partnerships together, and we\u2019re excited to continue sharing the film with audiences as its festival journey continues.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tSharib Khan and Vikas Kumar of Khan &amp; Kumar Media said \u201cForgotten Spaceman\u201d is a film that reminds them why stories matter. \u201cIt uncovers a remarkable chapter of history that many of us never knew existed, while remaining deeply personal and profoundly human. Beyond the story of Afghanistan\u2019s first astronaut, it explores universal themes of memory, identity, belonging and the stories that risk being forgotten. At Khan &amp; Kumar Media, we\u2019re drawn to stories that resonate across cultures and borders, and \u2018Forgotten Spaceman\u2019 does exactly that. We\u2019re delighted to support its journey to audiences around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\t\u201cElham\u2019s movie contains volumes of Afghan, South Asian and world history while being so deeply personal and profound, forcing us to reconcile ourselves with disruptions that are beyond one\u2019s control. We are thrilled to join \u2018Forgotten Spaceman\u2019 as executive producers as we bring this story to audiences who will reconnect with it and those who will discover it for the first time,\u201d added Ganguly, Desai and Kadakia of Prism Entertainment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tEhsas is a BAFTA-nominated and Academy Award-shortlisted filmmaker whose short \u201cYellow\u201d received a BAFTA nomination in 2024. His follow-up short, \u201cThere Will Come Soft Rains,\u201d won best film at both Raindance and Encounters Film Festival, while his debut feature, \u201cOur Kind of Love,\u201d is in development with the BFI. As an actor, he recently appeared in David Mackenzie\u2019s action thriller \u201cFuze\u201d and worked as second unit director on \u201cThe Crown.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tKhan &amp; Kumar Media is an independent Mumbai production house that actor Vikas Kumar launched together with Sharib Khan\u2019s New York-based Ammi Media. Its slate includes the Venice Horizons competition premiere \u201cSongs of Forgotten Trees,\u201d for which Anuparna Roy won the best director prize in 2025, and this year\u2019s Karlovy Vary selection \u201cThe Ink-Stained Hand and the Missing Thumb.\u201d The company returns to Venice\u2019s Horizons competition this year with \u201cLovers in the Blue Night.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tPrism Entertainment, founded by Ganguly, Desai and Kadakia, focuses on character-driven storytelling spanning film, television and digital platforms. Its credits include the Oscar-nominated documentary \u201cTo Kill a Tiger\u201d and Ravi Kapoor\u2019s upcoming feature \u201cPatel,\u201d made in partnership with Camelback Productions. Khan &amp; Kumar Media and Prism Entertainment previously teamed as executive producers on the Oscar-qualifying short \u201cHoly Curse.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cForgotten Spaceman,\u201d the documentary short by BAFTA-nominated filmmaker Elham Ehsas that won the Leopard of Tomorrow (International Competition) award at Locarno\u2019s Junior Jury Awards, has added Khan &amp; Kumar Media and Prism Entertainment as executive producers ahead of its Toronto Film Festival premiere next month. The new executive producers are Sharib Khan and Vikas Kumar&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":48805,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/variety.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Forgotten-Spaceman.jpg?w=1000&h=563&crop=1","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pics-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=48804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48804\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/48805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=48804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=48804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=48804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}