Wench FF curates for Fantastic Fest 2025 along with Indie Meme

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poster designed by Ms. Dombay

Indian cinema has a vast layered history and a remarkable range of storytelling traditions. Fantastic India presents an incisive look at the evolving landscape of Indian genre cinema, focusing on horror, fantasy, and the surreal with a fresh perspective. While Indian cinema has long engaged with genre, many films remained bound to familiar clichés and imported tropes. Today, a new wave of filmmakers is shaping work rooted in authentic narratives that reflect the diversity and depth of Indian experiences.

This sidebar showcases films that move beyond formulaic depictions of ghosts and monsters, embracing psychological tension, folklore, social realities, and innovative storytelling. They confront fears and myths shaped by specific cultural contexts, local environments, and both urban and rural life.

Among them are works by women filmmakers, bringing authorship and perspective to a space where they have too often been invisible. These films make that perspective visible, shifting the frame, the focus, and the fear. Their presence signals a broader but still fragile shift in Indian genre cinema, which remains premature due to limited funding, minimal infrastructure, and a lack of development pipelines that restrict experimentation and visibility despite clear creative potential.

Fantastic India expands the vocabulary of genre, presenting narratives uniquely Indian in voice and texture, free from Western horror frameworks. Blending satire, surrealism, and political commentary, these films capture an evolving cinematic imagination and challenge conventions.

Fantastic India is a celebration of what’s emerging and an invitation to imagine what’s next.

DEMONS

From the mind behind TUMBBAD comes a queer horror tale where the monsters inside are as dangerous as the ones outside. Blood-soaked, unflinching, and impossible to shake - winner of Best Gore at Atlanta Horror Film Fest.

FROM ME TO YOU

In a near-future Vietnam reshaped by alien influence, one man’s escape from societal expectations plunges him into a surreal, erotic, alien-infested underworld - winner of Best Special Effects at the Tokyo Horror Film Festival.

LANDFILLS OF DESIRE

On Kashmir’s Dal Lake, a Rantas (Kashmiri witch) moves through the night in search of herself. Featuring Toby Poser (MOTHER OF FILES) who embodies her in word and spirit, this world premiere drifts between silence, longing, and the supernatural.

THE LAST RIDE

On the crowded streets of Mumbai, a rideshare driver’s last fare of the night takes odd turns, forcing him to reevaluate his priorities. A sharp blend of horror, satire, and social bite - winner of the Silver Audience Award for Best Asian Short at Fantasia 2025.

MOTI

A beloved family dog undergoes a sudden and bewildering transformation, calling into question its sense of identity and place in the world.

NIGHT OF THE BRIDE

A forced marriage turns into a waking nightmare as a young woman, held hostage by her would-be in-laws, finds her own way to fight back - Honorable Mention, Wench Film Fest 2024 for Atmospheric Storytelling.

RAJAS & THE WOLF GIRL

A chance encounter at a freak show leads to self-acceptance and a new outlook on life and love.

WHODUNIT

Six actors engage in a surreal game of "whodunit" wrapped within a mysterious advertisement. A reprisal selection from Fantastic Fest 2023.

Buy Tickets Here - https://www.fantasticfest.com/film-guide