Changing Direction | The Wire's Short Film Festival

As part of its 10th anniversary celebrations, The Wire hosted Changing Direction, a short film festival in New Delhi on March 6, bringing together filmmakers, journalists and audiences for an evening of independent cinema and conversation. Held at the Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan, the festival featured nine short films selected from nearly 200 submissions.

The films, curated around the festival theme, Changing Direction, offered diverse interpretations of identity, politics and contemporary social realities. The idea, organisers said, was to create space for storytelling that goes beyond the news cycle – especially when public discourse is being shaped by conflict and uncertainty.

Directed by Jahnavi Sen of The Wire, and judged by a jury led by filmmakers Payal Kapadia, along with Vani Subramaniam and Faiza Khan, the festival also highlighted the challenges of being independent filmmakers in India, including lack of access to funding and very limited exhibition platforms, especially those which enable new voices to be heard.

Watch how the festival came together, as the organisers, filmmakers and jury members reflect on its ideas, process and significance at the inauguration.

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