What happens when a film festival steps out of the theatre and into a space buzzing with technology, ideas and young creators? At T-Works, the first edition of the Hyderabad Film Festival answered that with a day where cinema met AI, VFX, music, cosplay and plenty of conversations about where storytelling is headed next.
Organised by CINIC and Communitie, the festival moved beyond the conventional film-festival format, creating a space where the craft behind the screen took centre stage. From writing and cinematography to artificial intelligence, VFX and animation, the sessions offered participants a closer look at the many moving parts that shape contemporary cinema.
One of the highlights was a masterclass on writing by Raju Weds Rambai fame Saailu Kampati, who delved into the craft of building stories for the screen. This was followed by a masterclass on AI filmmaking by Vishnu Vijayan, reflecting the growing intersection between emerging technology and filmmaking. Director Satish Varma, popularly known as Melbourne Mama, brought another dimension to the day with a special director’s cut session, offering audiences an insight into the choices that go into shaping a film.
The festival also featured a masterclass by editor Prawin Pudi, known for his work on Manam, 24 and Attarintiki Daredi. With editing often being described as the invisible art of filmmaking, the session opened up a closer look at how stories find their rhythm in the edit room.
As cinema continues to evolve, so does the technology powering it. A panel titled Decoding VFX and Animation for New Age Cinema, moderated by Harshit Penamata of Creators Ark, brought together Neel Madhu of Apple Arts Studio and Shashwat Kaurav of Celestial Art Studio. Another panel, AI & Future Beyond Conventional Cinema, moderated by Bharat Gutta of CINIC, featured Meena Chabbria of ma.ai and Apoorv Chaudhary of a-tom, exploring how AI could reshape the filmmaking process.
The festival also turned the spotlight on the camera with a cinematography masterclass by AJ Aaron, known for Keedaa Cola and ENE Repeat.
But the day wasn’t only about masterclasses and panel discussions. The first edition also featured a special Avadhanam performance as part of its cultural and talent showcase, alongside indie music and cosplay, bringing a more playful and community-driven energy to the proceedings.
For emerging creators, the festival became a platform to test ideas and compete across formats. Multiple hackathons and competitions were held, including a vertical ad film challenge, talent showcase, writers’ hackathon, AI filmmakers’ hackathon, and competitions in editing, VFX and short filmmaking.
The short-film competition saw Part Time by Gopinath take the top honour, with The Last Broadcast by Rahul Rajput as runner-up. Problem by Absolom Arnold won for Best Writing, while Bhoomi by Surendra was recognised for Best Performance. Special mentions went to Vangmoolam by Suhas Venigalla and How to Make a Short Film 101 by Savithru Kulkarni.
Adding to the day’s sense of something new taking shape was the official launch of the Communitie app. Actor Navdeep also officially launched the Gel Blaster Nexus Ops, bringing yet another layer of technology and entertainment into the festival mix.
With cinema at its core but technology, talent and community woven through it, the Hyderabad Film Festival offered a glimpse of where the medium could be headed next.