The Lost Son
Psychological Drama, AFI Conservatory Film
On the edge of a huge marshy land, three young boys are playing the game of cricket with a hard rubber ball and a twisted tree branch for a bat. While they seem to be enjoying the game, the tense, continuous ‘ring’ in the background sets up a somber and suspenseful mood. The two older boys, Amol and Bittu, pick on Anshu by tossing the ball in far-off places, perhaps in an attempt to get rid of him.
As the innocent boy trails into the tall grass to find the ball, the film cuts to his home, where his widowed mother puts rice on a wooden chulha. She asks Amol, who is engrossed in a toy, about his younger brother’s whereabouts, and after receiving no concrete reply, she steps out with a lamp.
Concerned and scared, she looks for her boy in the pitch-dark woods, accompanied by an unsettling chirping of crickets. During the search, she comes across mysterious, strange incidents - a religious sacrifice, an accident, a loss; narrating a deeper story than intended. Inspired by true events, the film appeals to the protectiveness and love of parents and how, more often than not, as kids, we fail to acknowledge and appreciate them for their efforts.
- CAST: Smita Chourasiya, Viraj Dodia, Suresh, Kamlesh, Suraj Shukla, Jignesh Prajapati
- Director: Vibha Kulkarni
- Screenwriter: Vibha Kulkarni
- Producers: Vaibhav Solanki, Vibha Kulkarni
- Director of Photography: Ajay Sahu
- Editor: Vaibhav Solankii
- Composer: Parth Desai
- Running Time (minutes): 9:04
- Language: Hindi
- Country: India
A Change of heart
Drama, AFI Conservatory Film
A beautifully dressed woman sits before a mirror while a makeup artist helps to complete the final look. Even though she is dressed to the nines, her makeup and hair perfectly in order, she still seems to be wracked by anxiety and stress. An insecurity about her nose overwhelms her to the point of marring her confidence, which eventually gets in the way of what she is trying to achieve, suggests the narrative.
However, the moment she leaves the room, another development awaits. The makeup artist now begins to apply makeup on his own face. He seems to be enjoying himself until the realization of how out of place this might seem in a heteronormative society shackles him, making this form of self-expression even harder. The short film aims to invoke both of these narratives simultaneously while discussing the notion of beauty and how deeply it is controlled by societal standards, often keeping truly beautiful people from being the best version of themselves.
- CAST: Omara Shetty, Hiten Noonwal
- Director: Vibha Kulkarni
- Screenwriters: Vibha Kulkarni
- Producer: Vibha Kulkarni
- Director of Photography: Shushant Tondwalkar
- Editor: Shushant Tondwalkar
- Production Designer: Pranali Desai
- Composer: Shushant Tondwalkar
- Running Time (minutes): 5:41
- Language: English
- Country: India
A Secret
A girl is tightly sealing a nondescript box to perhaps hide or store it away somewhere. It is soon revealed that she is trying to get rid of this seemingly indestructible object which somehow keeps finding its way back into her life.
As the protagonist finds herself facing failure after failure, the short film employs no dialogue, but only the drama developing on screen, to share its intentions with you. The box becomes a metaphor for those past memories of her life that weigh her down. While she attempts to get rid of them repeatedly, the viewer is allowed a glimpse into her futile endeavor.
- Director: Vibha Kulkarni
- Screenwriters: Vibha Kulkarni
- Producer: Vibha Kulkarni
- Director of Photography: Ashudeep Sharma
- Editor: Venkat Kodavatiganti, Vibha Kulkarni
- Production Designer: Pranali Desai
- Composer: Saahas Sarita Baala
- Language: English
- Country: India
7th House
Rom-com, AFI Conservatory Film
An Indian woman in her 30s is guided by the cosmic insights of a spiritual influencer as she embarks on a quest to manifest true love and untangle the complexities of her situationship as celestial forces intertwine with modern-day romance!
This is a scene that was originally cut out from the feature screenplay, and intended to be a proof of concept for the feature meant to set the tone, showcase the animation style as well as a glimpse into the conflict and theme of the full-form feature 7th House.
- Director: Vibha Kulkarni
- Screenwriter: Vibha Kulkarni
- Producers: Durva Nandapurkar, Vibha Kulkarni
- Executive Producer: Mayank Deogaonkar
- Associate Producer: Nimisha Nair
- Director of Photography: Aakash Raj
- Editor: Ivanka Lawrence
- Production Designer: Zaina Tripp
- Cast/Featuring: Vibha Kulkarni, Shezi Sardar, Olivia Hope Talbott
- Running Time (minutes): 14 minutes 46 seconds
- Language: English
- Country: USA
Password: 7thHouse
When The Sun Sets
Coming of Age, Drama, AFI Conservatory Film
A young woman comes to terms with growing up as she experiences a loss of connection with her childhood best friend.
- Director: Vibha Kulkarni
- Screenwriters: Cosima Stephenson
- Producer: Zitian ‘Zora’ Zhang
- Director of Photography: Pascalle R. Williams
- Editor: Judith Xu
- Cast/Featuring: Caledonia Wilson
- Running Time (minutes): 13
- Language: English
- Country: USA
PASSWORD: Cycle_2022
ARO’S World
Psychological Drama, Coming of Age, AFI Conservatory Film
After losing his father, Adi, a grief-stricken preteen boy, befriends sock-puppet ARO who mysteriously operates from his hand while his older brother Marcus becomes his caretaker.
- Director: Vibha Kulkarni
- Screenwriters: Vibha Kulkarni, Austin Williams
- Producers: Austin Williams, Yuqin Hong
- Director of Photography: Maryn McGaw
- Editor: Praboo Arivananthan
- Production Designer: Suneha Balasubramanya
- Cast/Featuring: Kaya S. Johnson, Moses Massena
- Running Time (minutes): 13
- Language: English
- Country: USA
PASSWORD: AFITHESIS2023
Chasing Red Flags
Animation, Fantasy, AFI Conservatory Film
An anti-fairytale about a female knight with a savior complex who keeps falling for Princes trapped in castles waving red-flags.
- Created by Vibha Kulkarni
- Music by Ramesh Kumar Kannan
- Still Photography by Kaustav Patel
The Client
Drama, Rom-Com, AFI Conservatory Film
Ada, a 27-year-old Nigerian woman aspiring to upgrade her lifestyle and move to the United States has to make a choice between her childhood love and a man with a promising future.
- Director: Vibha Kulkarni
- Screenwriter: Karen Barton, Uloaku Anyiam-Osigwe
- Producers: Uloaku Anyiam-Osigwe
- Director of Photography: Jenise Whitehead
- Editor: Jordan Streeter
- Production Designer: Jaala Jones
- Cast/Featuring: Lolia Etomi, Umar Sadiq, Gary Gunter
- Running Time (minutes): 11:32
- Language: English, Pidgin
PASSWORD: Cycle_2022
Purani Chithiyan - Letters from the past
Story, AFI Conservatory Film
I often live in nostalgia more than I do in the real world. And nostalgia is so intertwined with space. My childhood home, my little house in Mumbai, where not just I but also my dad grew up, holds an extraordinary place in my heart for all its memories. That place also houses memories of my late grandparents and allows them to live on through moments of nostalgia. It is painful to watch it being demolished to build a modern high-rise building to keep up with the times. Every time I go there, I return to those precious memories that will only be uprooted if the place is uprooted.
- Written and Directed By: Vibha Kulkarni
- Produced By: Venkat Kodavatiganti Vibha Kulkarni
- Cinematographer: Prateek Srivastava
- Production Designer: Pranali Desai
- Edited by: Navneet Kumar Sinha
- Composer: Shamik Mukherjee
- Total Run Time: 10:40
