A student film festival that invites students from across the country who wish to present short films created with sheer love and passion for the art of storytelling in their own original and unique ways.

At the core of our beliefs is the fact that stories pervade our lives and are indispensable to all cultures as a medium of communication. They are like a thread in the fabric of society and culture. Akin to the historic tradition of narrating oral folktales, film as a medium of storytelling is particularly crucial in its capacity to become a medium that is experienced collectively in contemporary times. Keeping in line with this belief the Chitkara Design School presents the Never Ending Story Film Festival, which aims to host a brilliant selection of thoughtful films created by young and budding student filmmakers. The festival is designed to celebrate short films of all kinds and genres with a special section focusing on films made in vernacular - Punjabi.

We welcome submissions from student filmmakers from all gender identities, religion, caste, race, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and perspective. We encourage submissions for films made in the Punjabi language to promote filmmaking adapted to vernacular metaphors and style of storytelling.

About Chitkara Design School

The department, founded in the year 2016, was started with the vision to help the younger generation of designers develop a deep sense and knowledge of design as a way of life. The aim has been to nudge the younger generations to give back to the world by emerging as creative and critical thinkers while navigating this crucial space between art, design, and technology.

Communication Design at Chitkara

Merging the various elements of design education the Department’s particular focus is on holistic knowledge of art with an in-depth understanding of art history, meaning-making in visual storytelling, the interaction of visuals and sound, use of color and composition, of language, metaphors, and figurative expression. This well-rounded approach is geared towards storytelling that uses creative expression by exploring and playing with different dimensions and elements in the creation of an original piece of art.

Awards & Prizes

All Categories will be awarded a Best Film and Special Mention - titled Gold NES and Silver NES respectively.

Rules & Terms

The Categories for film submissions are:

Competition Short Fiction:

The unique charm and spell that films cast on its audience is due to its ability to ground them in the filmmaker's awareness of the outside world, the different elements that surround their world, and the characterization of people placed in those elements. Tales told through motion pictures demand a kind of sensory engagement that stays with the viewers for a long time.
The short fiction category of film invites stories that creatively explore ideas, narratives, meanings, style and form coming from fantasy and imagination. This category seeks to celebrate the distinctively personal sense and perception of the creator's thought and awareness.

Competition Short Non-Fiction:

Non-fiction films as an exploration of the documentary format has provoked thought and dialogue about matters and issues that concern society and the world. They have acted as an important source of knowledge and critical discussion that opens up the sides of society, nations, people, the natural world etc. to enable people to embrace the complexity in which we live. This kind of cinema is crucial in shaping how we progress and move forward as a society by making use of the creative medium of narrative formation, technological tools, and a thoughtful gaze in the form of a lens.

In this category we seek films as a form of cultural expression that captures real-time events, ideas and stories that require our careful attention and become the starting point of some interesting conversations for the world we inhabit. The kind of films that take exploration of our realities towards newer horizons.

Focus on Punjab :

Chitkara University is located in Rajpura, near the bustling city of Chandigarh - the heart of Punjab. The city’s indistinguishable cultural proximity to Punjab makes it the ideal place for providing a platform to regional short films made in Punjab.
To celebrate the uniqueness of Punjabi culture we invite all kinds of short films of any genre made within Punjab. This category is also an opportunity for young students working in the Punjabi context to visualize themes and intricacies from their own culture and language(s) through the medium of short films.

Rules and Regulations for Film Submission:

Only films made by Students will be accepted. The filmmakers need to have been enrolled as a student at the time of making the film. In the case of group projects, the DIRECTOR needs to be a student at the time of making the film.

Submissions must be made under the specific categories listed. One film can only be submitted under one of those categories. For example, short films made in Punjab can be submitted for both 'Competition' as well as 'Focus on Punjab' sections, but the entry can be made in only ONE SECTION.

Maximum duration of films must be 25 minutes for Short Fiction, Short Non-Fiction and Focus on Punjab categories.

Only those films that have been made after 1st January 2024 will be considered for selection.

All films need to have English subtitles burnt in/written onto the film. Films without subtitles will not be considered.

Two films from each category will be awarded the Best Film Award and Special Mention of the Jury Award. All selected films in each category will be eligible for the award.
All submissions are to be made via FilmFreeway.

Participants are requested to create their FilmFreeway page that must contain the following:
Poster of the film (High Resolution Image)
Synopsis (150 words)
Director’s Picture (High Resolution Image)
Director’s Bio (100 words)
Teaser (Optional)

Please note:
Once the film has been selected by the selection committee it cannot be withdrawn.
The department will hold the rights for the screening of the selected films.
In case the film is selected, one person from the crew will be provided with shared accommodation and food for the days of the film festival. PLEASE NOTE that travel to the festival will be borne by the student attending the festival.

For any further queries regarding submissions and deadlines please contact nes.filmfest@chitkara.edu.in

Entry fee is non-refundable.

After the selection process is completed, all filmmakers will receive an email about the selection or rejection of their respective films.