WINNERS OF 2026 ANNOUNCED

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This year’s Wench Film Festival poster is set in a hospital.

It was inspired by a member of our team who has had a relentlessly difficult year, and then suffered a serious leg injury that brought her into hospital care.

The hospital, for us, is not a metaphor for healing or clarity. It’s a place where limits become unavoidable, where the body interrupts everything else.

This poster is dedicated to the many women who carry too much, for too long, across work, care, and survival, until something finally gives.

It’s not about making light of pain. It’s about acknowledging it.

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SIXTH EDITION FEB 26-MAR 1 AF MUMBAI

OPENING/CLOSING FILM

WFF is stoked to Announce the India Premiere of The Red Mask as
The Opening Film !
Directed by Ritesh Gupta

🗓️ Thurs February 26, 2026
📍 AF Bombay Auditorium
⏰ 6pm

Post show QnA
LIMITED PASSES

WFF is stoked to Announce the India Premiere of Mother Of Flies as
The Closing Film !
Directed by Adams Family

🗓️ Sun March 1, 2026
📍 AF Bombay Auditorium
⏰ 6pm

Post show QnA
LIMITED PASSES

LIMITED PASSES MUMBAI

2026 FULL PROGRAMME

OPENING NIGHT / FEB 26 AF MUMBAI

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DAY 2 / FEB 27 AF MUMBAI

PASS HERE - MUMBAI

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FRI FEB 28 6PM @ AF THEOSOPHY HALL

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MUMBAI

BUY TICKETS ON INSIDER

DAY 4 / MAR 1 AF MUMBAI

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Film Schedule 2025

STOKED FOR THESE COLLABORATIONS

SCREENING SCHEDULE

JURY

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We finally got one reel ready 🫣

See you all at the free screening of the Berlinale winner - The Empire this evening at Alliance Française at 6pm

#wenchfilmfestival #horrorfilmfestival #indianhorror

Wench Film Festival in partnership with Alliance Française de Bombay presents The Empire - A 2024 apocalyptic science fiction comedy-drama film written and directed by Bruno Dumont. It is a parody of the Star Wars franchise and Hollywood blockbusters in general, set in Dumont's home region of northern France.

🎥 Genre: Sci FI
⏱️ Duration: 1h 50 mins

📅 Wednesday, 8 April | 6:30 PM
📍 AF Bombay Auditorium, Churchgate (Theosophy Hall, 40 New Marine Lines)

🔹 Free & open to all
🔹 Registration mandatory | Limited seats
🔹 Preference to AF Members & Students

Register via the link in bio. 🔗

[ Wench Film Festival, Horror, Genre Cinema, Indie Film, Women in Horror, South Asian Cinema, sci fi cinema, fantasy cinema, Horror film festival, Indian Horror Film Festival, Alliance Francaise]

And the winner of the @madowothair free makeover is ———-
Ofcourse it had to be Garima - the woman who absolutely loved our festival.

You look so good!

#wenchfilmfestival #madowothair #horrorfestival #bandrasalon

Day 4.

We closed with Mother of Flies.
Naturally.

Projector off.
Banners down.
Team horizontal.

Teardown is ugly.
Joy isn’t.

That’s a wrap.

PS - We taking March off! See you April 10 for our monthly screening at AF de Bombay Churchgate!

#WenchFilmFestival #indianhorror #MumbaiEvents #horrorfilmfestival #alliancefrançaise

[ Wench Film Festival, Horror Cinema, Genre Cinema, Independent Film, Women in Horror, South Asian Cinema, Indian Horror Films, Sci-Fi Cinema, Fantasy Cinema, Film Festival India ]

ELVES Winner: Dhet! 🏆

Under 10 minutes.
Overdelivered.

Special Mentions:
Wall Udder - Alexandra Hayden
Whodunnit - Aditya Nair

Short runtime. Long impact.

Jury
Claire Donner
Shannon Hanmer
Simon Laperrière

Citation
We, the jury, are proud to give the Elves Award to Ummid Ashraf’s impressive DHET!.
Taking the audience straight into the nights of Dhaka, this wonderful film turns an urban landscape into a frightful maze. Directed with expertise, the short quickly becomes a suspenseful adrenaline rush - with one truly effective jump scare!

We are also happy to give a Special Mention to Aditya Nair’s WHODUNIT and Alexandra Hayden’s WALL UDDER.
While very different, those two films are not afraid to storm normality with weirdness, humor and passion.

#WenchFilmFestival #bodyhorror #MumbaiEvents #horrorfilmfestival #indianhorror

[ Wench Film Festival, Horror Cinema, Genre Cinema, Independent Film, Women in Horror, South Asian Cinema, Indian Horror Films, Sci-Fi Cinema, Fantasy Cinema, Film Festival India ]

Tonight we give the Silver Méliès Award to Coyotes Directed by Said Zagha.

A film so powerful it didn’t even need to screen to win.

No NOC.
No screening.
Still took the stage. 🏆

Congrats @said.zagha

Jury Citation-
"For the Méliès d’argent Award - Best European Short Film, we wanted to highlight the best short film within the fantastic genre. The award goes to a poignant story about oppression with a palpable tension that reminds us that humans can also be hunted just as animals."

Thank you to our Jury
Leila Taylor
James McNally
Sara Lopo
Sultan Barodawala

#WenchFilmFestival #bodyhorror #MumbaiEvents #horrorfilmfestival #indianhorror

[ Wench Film Festival, Horror Cinema, Genre Cinema, Independent Film, Women in Horror, South Asian Cinema, Indian Horror Films, Sci-Fi Cinema, Fantasy Cinema, Film Festival India ]

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