New Delhi

R Madhavan's ambitious biopic 'Rocketry' is all set to have its world premiere at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival. 

Based on the life of ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan who was falsely accused of espionage, 'Rocketry' has been directed by R Madhavan, who also plays the lead role in the film. 

India was on Tuesday announced as the official 'country of honour' at the Marche' Du Films, which is held on the sidelines of the Cannes Film Festival. It is scheduled to take place from May 17 to May 25. 'Rocketry' along with Satyajit Ray's remastered classic 'Pratidwandi' and five other films will be shown at the Cannes Film Market, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur informed the press on Wednesday. 

'Rocketry' will be screened at the festival on May 19. 

At Marche' Du Films, India is also the 'country of honour' at the Cannes Next, an executive conference and innovation-driven business development platform exploring the future of the entertainment sector.

Under this, five start-ups will be given the opportunity to make a pitch to the audio-visual industry and participate in animation day networking events.

India will also showcase five movies at the 'Goes to Cannes Section', Thakur said.

These movies, which are part of Film Bazaar's Work-In-Progress (WIP) lab, include 'Baghjan' (Assamese, Moran) by Jaicheng Zxai Dohutia, 'Bailadila' (Hindi, Chhattisgarhi) by Shailendra Sahu, 'Ek Jagah Apni' (Hindi) by Ektara Collective, 'Follower' (Marathi, Kannada, Hindi) by Harshad Nalawade; and 'Shivamma' (Kannada) by Jai Shankar.

At the movie gala, a brand new restoration of Ray's rare movie 'Pratidwandi' will also be presented in an exclusive screening. 'Pratidwandi' has been restored under the National Film Heritage Mission, a project undertaken by the ministry of information and broadcasting.

(With agency inputs)