The Guest

A man spending a quiet afternoon reading is interrupted by a puzzling event, which shortly takes a sinister turn.

  • Rohit Arun Sawant
    Director
  • Rohit Arun Sawant
    Writer
  • Rohit Arun Sawant
    Producer
  • Dr. Suhas Prabhakar
    Key Cast
  • Rohit Arun Sawant
    Cinematographer
  • Rohit Arun Sawant
    Editor
  • Nicolas Jeudy, Dark Fantasy Studio
    Music
  • Rohit Arun Sawant
    Sound Designer
  • Rohit Arun Sawant
    Visual Effects
  • Vihang Suryavanshi
    VFX Supervisor
  • Anuja Arun Sawant
    Production Assistant
  • Mohini Amin
    Special Thanks
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    1 minute 43 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    February 7, 2022
  • Production Budget:
    6 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    India
  • Country of Filming:
    India
  • Shooting Format:
    Smartphone
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Black & White
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • The Fear Faire Film Festival
    Las Vegas
    United States
    May 14, 2022
    North American Premiere
    Finalist
  • The Island of Horror Film Fest
    Kent Island, MD
    United States
    October 27, 2022
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Rohit Arun Sawant

A budding filmmaker and author, Rohit Sawant's fiction has been featured in the Shirley Jackson Award winning anthology The Twisted Book of Shadows, Weirdbook, and elsewhere. His debut short story collection, The Endless Walk, will be out in 2023.

His career in entertainment media has been varied. After getting a Bachelor’s degree in Animation and Computer Graphics, he worked as a CG artist on animated features at Prana Studios, Inc and later as a VFX artist. Presently, he lives in Mumbai and primarily works in the horror genre.

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Director Statement

One of the ideas I find fascinating is that of the mundane turning malicious, which is what THE GUEST explores. The framework of the film exists largely as a result of the limitations I was faced with. For instance, much of it is shot near a natural light source and there’s no dialogue. Before involving a larger crew and capital, I was curious to see if I could make a film by creatively using resources that were already available. The only thing I had to newly acquire was a prop.

A challenging aspect of the film was the climax, since it required us to get innovative with the space and choreograph certain movements; the production moved at a brisk pace thereafter. Another aspect that was likewise challenging was a visual effects element that appears early on in the film, but the supervision of a colleague enabled me to execute it.

A while back, I saw a Satyajit Ray interview where he mentioned how, being an amateur himself when he started out, he chose to work with people who were in the same boat – An approach I embraced. The lead in my film is a non-professional actor and working with him was a fun learning experience for us both. Making the film wouldn't have been possible had it not been for the generosity of my family and friends, who graciously lent their time, talent and expertise.