Cinerama, the National-Level Short Film Festival organised by Amrita’s VisCom, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Mysuru Campus, is an event where stories come alive and young filmmakers find their voice. Cinerama celebrates the joy of storytelling and encourages budding filmmakers around the country to dream bigger, experiment boldly and tell stories that truly matter.
More than just a competition, Cinerama is about connection, connecting passion with opportunity, talent with mentorship and students with professionals from the film industry. It creates a friendly yet inspiring environment where learning, collaboration and meaningful conversations take centre stage.
This category is open to participants from across India.
The registration fee for each team is Rs.500/-. Fees should be paid online to confirm your team participation. You will receive an email with your Creator ID upon confirmation.
Your film will be evaluated based on the following criteria – Visual appeal, story and narrative flow, characters and on-screen performances, adherence to the theme and adherence to the genre.
Yes, you can include special effects. However, no stock footage may be used for this. Inbuilt plugins and effects of software may be used.
The films are to be made between 4 to 6 minutes. This is because, for a good film produced in this challenge, 4 to 6 minutes is an ideal duration.
No, the end credits are not included in the duration of your film. The end credits can be a maximum of 60 seconds.
Of course, you can modify the film post the challenge, but keeping the following in the end credits – ‘This film was conceptualized for Cinerama 2026’
We would recommend you render the film at 1080p for faster upload results. Also, keeping the file size below 1 GB would make it faster.
Yes, but with a new registration. One entry per registration will only be allowed.
The team can have a minimum of 1 person and a maximum 5 people. You can have more members to act and help, but only the five registered people will be considered for the certificates and awards.
You can use your film in various ways, only to keep in mind that the film bears the credit “This film was made for Amrita 60 hour Filmmaking challenge” in its title and end credits. For more details, read the team leader’s agreement sent to your team leader at the beginning of the 60 Hour Filmmaking Challenge.
Please mail us at amritacinerama@gmail.com
Yes, but the narration of your story should end before it.
Each film, according to its category of participation, is sent to three different pre-juries for evaluation, consisting of two people each. The cumulative score from the pre-juries is used to prepare a list of merit. The top 30 films from each category are sent to the final jury for viewing and ranking.
If you own the rights to the photo, you can use it.
No, animation in any form is not allowed in the film.
Yes, you can. Provided they are only on screen for less than 10 seconds.
The final output should be a MOV or MPEG4 file with a resolution of 1080p. The aspect ratio should be 16:9. The sound has to be stereo.
Your film can be in any language. Subtitles are compulsory for all films. You can refer to rules for more specific details about subtitles
No. Compulsory element should be a part of your film, but it should not necessarily be the central part of it. For e.g. – Compulsory element is a comic book so you can include it by showing how it is lying around somewhere in the frame, or how a character is reading it.
Each team leader must sign an agreement, which is legally binding. The agreement will help protect your rights as a creator and our rights as a platform. This agreement will be provided to the team leader at the beginning of the challenge through email along with the theme. Any team leader not submitting the same will be disqualified along with the team
Yes, your film can have no dialogues and only music. You will have to explain the mood of the scenes in your subtitles.
No, you need a location release only on a privately held property. But we strongly recommend taking permits wherever necessary in the case of public property.
Link to upload your film will be sent to the team leader at the beginning of the challenge along with the theme.
We highly advise you to use a laptop to upload your film. Mobile connections tend to be inconsistent, leading to delays. Use of a high-speed broadband is definitely a plus!
Being one of the leading festivals in the continent, we at Cinerama strive hard to make sure that justice is done to every film submitted. To make sure we do not miss out on any films, the Cinerama team also watches these films simultaneously and raises an issue internally if any flaws or biases are found in the process. We do not entertain any requests for paid awards, neither have in the past and nor will in the future, to keep the spirit of competition alive.
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham is a multi-disciplinary, research-intensive, private university, educating a vibrant student population of over 24,000 by 1700+ strong faculty. Accredited with the highest possible ‘A++’ grade by NAAC, Amrita offers more than 250 UG, PG, and Ph.D. programs in Engineering, Management, and Medical Sciences including Ayurveda, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, Agriculture Sciences, Arts & Humanities, and Social & Behavioral Sciences. offers more than 200 UG, PG, and PhD programs in Engineering, Management, Medical & Life Sciences, Arts & Humanities, Social Sciences and Interdisciplinary Studies.
