An Indian indie film about the devotion of a Lionel Messi fan is making headlines at Cannes. Adding a Hong Kong executive producer to its team, Shubham Yogi’s Love You Messi has become one of the most notable South Asian projects at the market. It’s a film about a very personal journey of admiration, identity, and ambition, with football icon Lionel Messi as an emotional thread through the story. 

Now, with new international support, the project is gaining new momentum and broader attention on the world stage. 

Love You Messi, which sparked interest at the Cannes Film Market, is starting to take root internationally. The Indian indie project has added a major global collaborator behind the scenes as it continues its festival run. The latest development adds new momentum to the movie outside the domestic independent cinema space.

UK-based Hong Kong creative Hiu Man Chan has come on board the Indian indie feature Love You Messi as executive producer. The project has quickly made a mark as one of the notable titles from India at Cannes this year. Chan will take care of the international packaging of the film, which includes sales, festival strategy, distribution, and marketing outside India through the UK. 

Love You Messi is the second feature in the Karbi language from the team after Lost Path in 2025. The film is directed by Khanjan Kishore Nath and produced by Ranjit Teron. Earlier, Nath won the Rajat Kamal at the Indian National Film Awards in 2020 for his short film Kachichinithu (The Boy with a Gun). 

Cannes Lions 2026: Date, Time, Venue of the Historic International Festival Of Creativity With New Twists

Beyond its growing momentum at Cannes, Love You Messi is also drawing attention for the story. 

Love You Messi is a story set in a remote hilly village in Northeast India and revolves around Rang, an eight-year-old boy from the Karbi tribe whose life is all about football. When he learns Messi is playing a friendly match in Mumbai, thousands of kilometers from his hilly village, he sets out on an unlikely road trip. Eventually, he overcame significant obstacles with his passion for the sport, which drove him forward. 

“If you think ‘Love You Messi’ is a film about football [soccer] or about Lionel Messi, then you are mistaken,” director Khanjan Kishore Nath told Variety. “At its heart, the film is about a disabled child’s passion and his longing to discover a world far beyond the boundaries of his small village. It is a story about love, care, humanity, and the courage to chase a dream against all odds.” 

With Hiu Man Chan now on board as executive producer, Love You Messi appears to be gathering strong international momentum beyond Cannes. The new partnership provides the Karbi-language indie with a bigger global route through festival strategy, sales, and distribution outside India. With the buzz around the project continuing to grow, the film is shaping up as one of the hottest Indian independent titles in this year’s Cannes market. 

Cannes Film Festival 2026 Lineup: Every Movie Selected for the Fest in Paris

Could Love You Messi emerge as one of the breakout Indian indie titles from Cannes this year? Let us know in the comments.