“Making a film is like a stagecoach ride in the old west. When you start, you are hoping for a pleasant trip. By the halfway point, you just hope to survive.”

La nuit américaine
(François Truffaut, 1973)

The Best of India Short Film Festival was founded in 2017. The festival has been established to honour and recognise the exceptional work of filmmakers from India. Our aim is to discover high quality and cinematic short films and give a selected few a chance at Oscar qualification. It is our goal to open doors for possible television deals and other opportunities to benefit the short filmmaker.

We aim to recognise and elevate the exceptional works of the most creative short film makers from across India, giving them a global platform to showcase their work and opening new opportunities, including Oscar® consideration. We look for powerful narratives and stories that will inspire a topic of discussion.

The officially selected films will screen as a part of the festival run on ShortsTV, the global home of short films and the festival promoter. We would need you to authorize the TV broadcast by signing an MOU for the festival screening.

The winning short film/s chosen in the contest will play theatrically in LA or New York for a week as a ticketed event organised by ShortsTV, in order to make the film/s eligible for Oscar qualification.

(Subject to Academy rules: https://www.oscars.org/sites/oscars/files/95th_oscars_complete_rules.pdf).

Our team at the Best of India Short Film Festival is made up of industry professionals: film producers, independent film consultants and festival organisers who have been in the business for 20+ years.

Shorts TV is the world’s first and only 24/7 HD channel dedicated to short movies and series. Available around the world, ShortsTV brings short stories to life in stunning high definition and covers the latest events in the short film industry.

Online, we offer hundreds of the world’s best independent shorts for download from stores in over 90 countries, including iTunes and Google Play. ShortsTV is also available on VOD subscription services on multiple platforms such as Amazon Prime, Tata Play, Dish Network, Ziggo, T-Mobile and many more across the globe.

In theaters, we produce and distribute the annual Oscar Nominated Short Films theatrical release, bringing the world’s top awarded short movies to the big screen.

ShortsTV is available on Tata Sky ShortsTV, Airtel ShortsTV and ShortsTV Active on DishTV & d2h. It is also available on Amazon Prime Video & Airtel Xstream App.

For more updates keep up with ShortsTV social channels by following us on Instagram and Facebook

Instagram - @shortstvindia
Facebook - @ShortsTVIndia

“Cinema is a matter of what’s in the frame and what’s out”
Martin Scorsese

“The Director is the only person who knows what the film is about”
Satyajit Ray

The winning film/s from the Best of India Short Film Festival winners will become eligible for Oscar qualification via a theatrical screening in LA or New York organised by Shorts TV.

Every film entered will be considered for a television broadcast deal.

Official selected films and winners will receive:

- Official Selection Laurel
- Finalist Laurel
- Winner Laurel

We will send a press release to our extensive database of industry professionals with announcements of your win.

To be eligible for the Best of India Short Film Festival, films must comply with the following:

● Entries are accepted exclusively through www.filmfreeway.com/BestofIndiaShortFilmFestival

● The Writer, Director or Producer is from India or has roots connected to India.

● The films submitted must have been produced within the last 2 years.

● The running total time of the film should be no more than 40 minutes (including credits).

● Multiple submissions must be provided as individual submissions.

● The submitting filmmaker must be either the Producer or Director of the film.

● The Producer / Director warrants to the Best of India Short Film Festival that they have obtained all the necessary permissions to enter this film and that the film does not infringe the rights, including copyright, of any third party and that all rights and clearances have been made. This includes use of music and literary material. You accept to hold full legal responsibility for the intellectual property herein.

● The film should be submitted as per the eligibility requirements. Films violating the eligibility requirements will be rejected.

● You may withdraw your film at any given point; however, films cannot be withdrawn from the festival after being officially selected.

● All films in a regional language other than English must include English subtitles.

● Any short film selected or not selected will be a decision of the Best of India Short Film Festival selection panel which is final and accepted by all parties. If you are the Producer submitting the film, then you will be fully responsible to obtain a ‘no objection letter’ from whoever owns the rights of the short film.

● We reserve the right to update our terms and conditions.

** Tech Specs for High-Definition Source Profile

If the short film originally shot on film, please deliver one HD master file in the following format:

■ Apple ProRes 422 HQ or Uncompressed. (NOT ACCEPTED: Apple Pro Res H264).
■ VBR expected at ≥220 Mbps
■ 1920 x 1080 square pixel aspect ratio material.
■ Native frame rate of original source:
■ 24 or 25 progressive frames per second
■ 23.976 progressive frames for inverse telecine sourced from film
■ Telecine materials will not be accepted
■ HD source may be delivered matted: letterbox or pillar box.

Once the entry has been uploaded, the filmmaker guarantees that the submission is original work and that there are no ownership or copyright disputes regarding the entry. That you are authorised to submit the film and affirm that your submission does not violate any law or right of any person or entity.

You understand that failure to comply with the Best of India Short Film Festival guidelines, your entry will be automatically disqualified. Should your film not have at least one key cast or key creative crew who is of Indian origin, your film will be disqualified.

By submitting your film to the Best of India Short Film Festival, you agree that Shorts TV has the right to use clips, images, and/or sound from your film for promotional purposes in the form of, but not limited to, print, radio, television, and Internet media.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
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Networking
  • best and proud to be the part.

    October 2024
  • Renish Patel

    It's good for new filmmakers.

    September 2024
  • I took part in the Best of India short film festival for the first time. Incredible feeling! Excellent organization of the event! Great Festival and selection. It's an honor for us to be a part of the festival. Thanks to Jury for the selection of our film 'IDLI AMMA'.

    August 2023
  • They respond very well and its prestigious to being part of this festival.

    August 2023
  • Amazing Festival ..friendly team ..

    September 2022