Student Film Festival of India

Film director, known for Thackeray, RaanBaazaar and Rege.

“The MIT-WPU Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Institute is a film school with a difference: one that believes in the adage of ‘classroom to set’. Students of filmmaking should immerse themselves in the real-life experience of a film set from the word go. In a professional course such as filmmaking, this is not only desirable but necessary — no amount of simulated instruction can take the place of real immersive learning.

“We see ourselves as a catalyst in shaping the filmmakers, screenwriters, sound designers, cinematographers, actors and editors of tomorrow, and we want our students to reach positions of creative influence in whichever sphere of filmmaking they choose.”

Ashok Rane is a four-time National Film Award winner, a film academician, writer and director. He has attended more than two hundred international film festivals in India and abroad as a critic, curator, filmmaker, masterclass speaker and jury member.

He is Festival Director of the Filmingo International Short Film Festival and former Festival Director of the Ajanta Ellora International Film Festival. He has two feature films and nine documentaries to his credit and has authored ten books. His films have received three international awards, and his books four state awards.

With his experience across cinema, film criticism, education, festival organisation and filmmaking, he is a respected voice in the Indian film fraternity and has contributed significantly to the promotion and understanding of world cinema.

Dr Sneha Samaddar is an academic and educator with extensive experience in film studies, media studies and film education.

She previously served as Head of the Department of Film & TV Production at Lovely Professional University, and as Associate Dean, School of Cinema at the Asian Academy of Film & Television. She holds a PhD in Film Studies from Symbiosis International University, with doctoral research on women protagonists in Partition narratives.

Across leading media and film education institutions she has contributed to curriculum development, academic leadership, film production education, research and interdisciplinary learning. Through her work she continues to advocate for film as both an artistic practice and a medium of critical inquiry, cultural dialogue and social understanding.

Dr Prakash teaches photography, cinematography and content creation, and led the establishment of the Institute from a small team and minimal resources into a full film school with multimedia labs and a working production culture.

He holds a PhD in Film Studies from Banaras Hindu University, is UGC NET and JRF qualified, and represented India at the 2017 World Festival of Youth and Students in Russia. His research on films and new media appears in Scopus and UGC-CARE listed journals, and he holds an Indian patent for work on digital and social media in consumer behaviour.

Full profile to follow.

An independent filmmaker working in both short and feature form, and a graduate of the Film and Television Institute of India, majoring in film direction. His short films have been exhibited and honoured in France, the United States, the United Arab Emirates and India.

His feature In Retreat was the first Indian film in 32 years to be included in the ACID sidebar at the Cannes Film Festival in 2024. It went on to screen at Busan, São Paulo, Galway, Moscow and Mumbai, among others.

He has taught filmmaking at several institutions in India, and currently oversees direction practice at the Institute.

Namrata Sathe is the author of The Neoliberal Self in Bollywood: Cinema, Popular Culture, and Identity (2024), and Assistant Editor of Studies in South Asian Film and Media.

Her academic writing sits at the intersection of feminist media studies, gender and sexuality studies, and popular cinema.

Abhijith B. holds a PhD in Cultural Studies from The English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad, where his research examined the question of film form and ideology in contemporary Malayalam cinema.

His areas of interest include film theory, literary criticism, cultural history, critical theory, and Indian and world cinema.

Rahul Borah brings a blend of academic and industry experience. A graduate of Newcastle University with a master's degree in film, he has worked on award-winning reality shows including Britain's Got Talent, and has been a member of British Film Editors.

He combines practical expertise in filmmaking software, academic writing and research with a foundation in film theory. He also works in front of the camera, taking performance roles across music videos, advertisements and films.

Bhushan Ganurkar completed his Mass Communication degree with a specialisation in video production, and works across video editing, videography, direction and scriptwriting.

He recently completed his Marathi short film Sindhu as director.

A seasoned film production professional with over 35 years in film education and production management. He served as Production Manager at the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, responsible for Prabhat Film Studios, production facilities, theatres, lighting departments and student film projects.

His expertise covers production planning, location management, shooting permissions, equipment coordination, budgeting, logistics and on-set supervision. He was previously Production Coordinator at the MIT School of Film and Theatre, MIT-ADT University, coordinating student productions from pre-production through post.

A filmmaker and media professional, UGC-NET qualified, with a background in psychology (BA) and media and communication studies (MSc, Savitribai Phule Pune University). His work spans direction, cinematography and documentary.

He shot and co-directed Bhutacha Mala, inspired by the writings of Annabhau Sathe, and worked as camera assistant on Gana Gondhal, a feature exploring subaltern art and politics. His latest documentary, The Bombay Philatelist, follows a retired PWD worker whose collection of rare stamps stands as an act of cultural preservation.

A 2024 fellow of PSBT's Doc_Commune project, he works across multimedia production, photojournalism and visual design, engaging with themes of culture, identity and social consciousness.

A music and film educator with a strong interest in music for cinema, sound design and music appreciation.

He teaches film students the creative and narrative role of music and sound in filmmaking, covering film-song analysis, musical texture and arrangement, and sound design — connecting musical concepts to practical filmmaking so students understand how sound shapes cinematic storytelling.