Farah Khan attends close of Edits Film Festival in Mumbai; three creators win

The Edits Film Festival, which began in Mumbai in August, has ended. The 45-day event honoured creators who made effective use of Edits for outstanding storytelling and content editing.

Ishank Gupta (@filmmaker.ishank), Sanya Rohilla (@bunniestbunnytoeverbunny) and Ahsan Vazir (@ahsan_vazir__) won on the strength of their creative works. Filmmaker Farah Khan was present at the closing event. The festival's judges Ahsaas Channa, Dolly Singh, Nikhil Taneja and Rajeev Masand also attended, along with more than 100 content creators.

Submissions for the festival opened in August. Creators taking part in the 45-day event were asked to make their content from unedited videos lying in their camera rolls. Using Edits, Instagram's video editing app, was mandatory.

The works selected at the festival showed the creative possibilities of the idea. The judges' top three works showed a good mix of courage, patience and understanding of editing. The works of Ishank Gupta, Sanya Rohilla and Ahsan Vazir drew particular attention for their distinct styles of storytelling and special use of editing. The winners were chosen by Ahsaas Channa, Dolly Singh, Nikhil Taneja and Rajeev Masand.

Ankit Rihal, Head of Global Partnerships at Meta India, spoke about the event. He said, "Giving creators the right tools, platforms and opportunities is at the centre of our work. This festival opened up new creative possibilities and gave creators the confidence to experiment with features they had not used before. They also found the courage to tell stories in new ways. We are grateful to our jury members and Farah Khan. They shared with us the invaluable experience and perspective from their storytelling journeys."

Farah Khan came to the festival as a special guest. Her experience, from filmmaking to online content for social media, was valuable for those present. She gave her views on how the style of storytelling changes when making feature films for theatres and when making reels for social media.

On planning her social media posts, Farah Khan said, "People think there is some big plan behind every post of mine, but I don't think much about what I post. Gen Z has inspired me a lot. They are very comfortable with this, without a second thought. Whether it is a clip from my show, a casual conversation or a mischievous idea that strikes in a moment, everything is completely spontaneous for me. I think relatability, realness and a bit of humour along with it, that is what Instagram audiences really respond to."

Farah Khan's remarks underlined the importance of ease, content rooted in reality, and humour in digital media. The festival, which gave creators a platform to present new ideas and try different editing methods, was an event that promoted creativity.