To the 'Student Oscars', via Berlin

TNIE speaks to Sidharth Harikumar, whose short film Vasu has made it to the semi-final round of the 2025 Student Academy Awards

- PARVANA K B

OR Sidharth Harikumar, a 32-year-old filmmaker from Thiruvananthapuram, it was nothing short of surreal when an email arrived from the official Oscars address a few days ago.

Done as part of his final-year project at MetFilm School, Berlin, where he pursued an MA in cinematography, his short film Vasu has been named a semi-finalist in the Narrative category at the 2025 Student Academy Awards, dubbed the 'Student Oscars'.

"My project was completed on October 2 last year. After that, I carefully researched festivals that aligned with my film's theme and shortlisted only a few. The Student Academy Awards stood out as an open competition that supports and recognises student artworks across genres," Sidharth says.

"I submitted Vasu with ambition, but without expectations. And then, four or five days ago, I received their message. The email mentioned a specific time when the results would go live on the Oscars website. When I checked, my name was there. It took a while to sink in."

The festival features four main categories — Experimental, Documentary, Animation and Narrative. Vasu is one of 15 short films selected worldwide in the Narrative category.

More than 1,000 films were in contention, with selections made after four to five rigorous rounds of evaluation.

Thus, it is a notable milestone not just for Sidharth, but also for indie filmmaking in India.