No playback, no retakes, Indian short film goes to prestigious Straight 8 fest

Indian super 8mm short film ‘The Storm, The Calm, The Madness, The Magic’ has been officially selected as one of the Top 8 films globally in the prestigious Straight 8 competition. This is for the first time in over 25 years of the competition that an Indian film has ever made it to Straight 8’s top 8, breaking new ground for Indian filmmakers in the experimental, analog space.

Straight 8 is a 25-year-old legendary UK-based filmmaking challenge where participants must shoot a film on a single Super 8mm cartridge, edited entirely in-camera, with sound submitted blind. No post-production, no retakes, just pure, instinctive storytelling. Out of hundreds of entries from around the world, only the top 8 are selected for premiere at Cannes.

The Jury for 2025 Straight 8 challenge includes names like Oscar-winning filmmaker Asif Kapadia, BAFTA-nominated cinematographer Robbie Ryan and editor Justin Wright, Stuart Brown, Rachel Clark, Mark Jenkins, Madeleine Mullet, John Maclean, Jo Duncombe and Hedda Archbold.

The film, written and directed by Nihar Palwe, will have its World Premiere at BFI IMAX in London on May 24. It was made in association with Harkat Studios, an international boutique arts studio and alternative performance space based in Mumbai and Berlin. Harkat is known for its commitment to analog filmmaking, hosting events like the 16mm Film Festival, and supporting experimental cinema through its artist-run film lab and community initiatives.

Shot on a single roll of 8mm film and entirely in sequence with no post production, the film captures themes of chaos, serenity, and artistic surrender, mirroring the very nature of the Straight 8 format.

The film stars Prit Kamani (‘Middle Class Love’, ‘Maska’) and Aditi Sandhya Sharma (‘Fighter’, ‘Deva’), who took on the extraordinary challenge of performing with no second takes and no playback. In a format where every movement, glance, and emotion had to land in a single shot, their deeply internal performances bring tenderness and quiet strength to a story about purpose, illusion and finding meaning in chaos.

Palwe calls this a “huge moment, not just personally, but for Indian cinema as a whole. It’s an honour to represent the country on such an unfiltered, global platform”.

The music was composed by Adith Anande, who scored the entire film blindly, without ever seeing a single frame. “Composing without the visuals was terrifying at first, but once I leaned into the unknown, it became deeply emotional. I had to feel what the film might be, not see it,” said Anande.

The film’s cinematographer, Leslie D’Souza, executed the director’s vision using only the camera’s built-in viewfinder, making each shot a single attempt at visual storytelling. No playback, no retakes.

The film was shot on an original USSR-era Zenit Quarz 1x8S-2 Super 8 camera, a beautifully preserved piece of engineering from the bygone era. Every frame was exposed manually, with no monitor or playback, just instinct and trust.

Arts