International film festivals are not new territory for Malayalam filmmaker Leo Thaddeus. But the upcoming Busan International Film Festival is different for him. This time, Thaddeus is going, not as an audience, but as a filmmaker presenting his latest work, The Soul Whisperer. “This is the first time something like this is happening to me. I am humbled,” he smiled.

Thaddeus considers himself fortunate that he got the cast and crew of his choice to make The Soul Whisperer. In fact, his composer Milad Movahedi worked during the US-Iran war to deliver the film’s tracks — something that the director has deep gratitude for. “It was tough for him to pull that off during a war. He couldn’t work from Tehran. So, he went to Türkiye, but he felt a creative block there. So, he went back to Tehran. We would talk over calls most days. One day, he told me, ‘I don’t know how far I can finish your work. Most days, I feel this may be my last film.’ He couldn’t give me the last two tracks on time because the entire network shut down. He was able to send them after a week,” recalled the director.