By Tasneem Bandukwala and Srija Kumar
The much-awaited Symbiosis International Film Festival turned out to be a grand success. Students from institutes across the university poured in, filling the venue with energy, curiosity, and a shared love for cinema.
Shri Madhur Bhandarkar, Bollywood director, inaugurated the festival. SFF 2025 audiences watched a lineup of 16 films that were selected from over 100 submissions and attended various panel discussions, Q&A sessions with filmmakers, and an insightful masterclass on wildlife filmmaking by Mr Subbiah Nallamuthu.
After the masterclass, we spoke to Aditya Vig, a first-year MBA student at SIMC. He drew parallels between the short documentary “P for Paparazzi” by Divya Kharnare and the iconic Bollywood film Om Shanti Om. “It felt like the song from Om Shanti Om where all the celebrities come on screen,” he said. He said that the festival was a great opportunity for students to observe how filmmaking can take many forms.
The senior MA Journalism students at SIMC took special inspiration from the documentaries screened, as they had just finished producing their own documentaries. “My favourite movie was Shrap Vahun Netana, which was about the Mula Muttha river in Pune…the sound design was so incredible…” said Nethra Sailesh. She thought the film was a good blueprint for students studying documentary filmmaking, and she highlighted the importance of having access to films made by students from different institutes.
The documentary “Maila” by Aryan Srivastav, an alum of SIMC, portrayed the harrowing reality of manual scavenging in Delhi. Aditi, another senior journalism student at SIMC, expressed that a film by an alum being selected was a proud moment for everyone.
The two-day festival brought to life everything students had been learning in classrooms. From inspiring films and interactions with industry professionals to learning directly from award-winning field experts, students had a great deal to take away.
The two-day celebration of cinema was a reminder of why festivals like SFF matter so deeply to young storytellers. By bringing together student filmmakers, seasoned professionals, and curious audiences, the event became a rare space for learning and reflection. Voices from across institutes found a platform, and films ranging from intimate documentaries to bold experiments pushed students to rethink what filmmaking can achieve. As the festival came to a close, ambitions were sparked, and students were left with an eagerness to create and return with stronger stories and more powerful narratives next year.