Shadows of the Moonless Nights, a short film by a student of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), has been selected for La Cinef Competitive section of the 2026 Cannes Film Festival.
FTII student film goes to Cannes
The 24-minute film, directed by Mehar Malhotra, is part of a lineup of 14 live-action and 5 animated shorts for the segment, which is dedicated to showcasing film school fiction and animated films.
For this year’s edition, the organisers received 2,750 entries from film schools worldwide, the Cannes Film Festival said in a statement.
The selected films are directed by 12 women and nine men and represent 15 countries and 4 continents, it added.
Malhotra’s film will compete for three La Cinef prizes, which will be awarded by a jury during a ceremony on May 21 in the Bunuel Theatre. Malhotra is a student of direction and screenplay writing course at the prestigious Pune-based institute.
About Shadows of the Moonless Nights
Shadows of the Moonless Nights is primarily a Punjabi-language movie which has been written and directed by Malhotra. It is titled Parchave Masseah Rataan De in Punjabi.
The story is about Rajan, a weary factory worker, who endures gruelling shifts and a volatile home life, drifting through sleepless nights in the city as he tries to reclaim the rest that always seems just out of reach, according to the official logline posted on Letterboxd.
It features actors Prayrak Mehta, Nikita Grover and Himanshu Kohli.
The crew includes cinematographer Diggant Surti, production designer Rashmi Kushwaha, editor Shreyas Bhopi, sound designer, recorder and mixer Sai Sanjay and music composer Sudin.
Malhotra celebrated the news of the film’s selection in a post on her Instagram Stories. “Some news! Humbled and honoured,” she wrote.
