Wench Film Festival is India's first international festival dedicated to horror, science fiction, fantasy, and the bizarre. Founded in 2021, Wench celebrates bold storytelling, fearless filmmakers, and cinema that exists beyond the mainstream.
Now entering its 7th edition, Wench has grown from a single-city event into one of South Asia's leading destinations for genre cinema, with screenings across multiple venues and year-round programming. The festival showcases feature films, shorts, documentaries, animation, experimental work, and emerging forms of storytelling from around the world, while championing independent voices and underrepresented perspectives.
Beyond the festival, Wench has become a year-round platform for genre culture through Cinema de l'Étrange, its monthly screening series with Alliance Française Bombay; Pitch It Till You Make It, India's only horror-focused project market; Terror Talkies, India's first publication dedicated to horror, science fiction, and fantasy; and collaborations with internationally renowned genre festivals including Fantasia International Film Festival (Canada) and Imagine Fantastic Film Festival (Netherlands).
Wench is a proud Official Member of the Méliès International Festivals Federation and has been recognised by Dread Central as one of the 90 Best Genre Film Festivals on Earth.
More than a film festival, Wench is a gathering for the curious. Alongside screenings, audiences can expect filmmaker Q&As, panel discussions, workshops, networking events, exhibitions, live experiences, and conversations that explore the craft, business, and future of genre filmmaking.
If your work pushes boundaries, questions convention, embraces the uncanny, or simply tells an unforgettable story, we want to see it.
Please Note
Wench gives preference to films directed by women and non-binary filmmakers. However, we also have a dedicated category for male filmmakers whose films feature a central female protagonist or have women in key Head of Department (HOD) roles. So please don't hesitate to submit your work.
We hope for the day when women receive the same opportunities, visibility, and support across the industry that men have long enjoyed and when initiatives like this are no longer necessary.
Join us in Mumbai for a celebration of the strange, the subversive, and the spectacular.
more info here -
https://www.wenchfilmfestival.com/
Blood Thirsty (Feature Film > 60 mins)
The Blood Thirsty Award is our top honour for feature films that leave a lasting mark; bold, visceral, and unapologetically genre.
Dwarves (Shorts 10-40 mins)
The Dwarves Award celebrates mighty stories in compact forms that punch above their weight
Elves (Shorts < 10 mins)
The Elves Award is dedicated to short-form sorcery
Méliès d’argent (short films):
As a member of the Méliès International Festivals Federation, we will nominate European shorts to compete for the Méliès d’argent. The winning film will be chosen by a jury and will then be in the running for the Méliès d'or. More info can be found here https://melies.org/
Pixels & Possession:
The Pixels & Possession Award honours the most innovative use of Artificial Intelligence in genre storytelling.