The Young Filmmaker’s Challenge (YFC) is an initiative under the World Audio Visual Entertainment Summit (WAVES) that gave school and college students a chance to showcase their creativity through short films. 

Participants were asked to make 1-minute films based on the themes of humanity and technology, encouraging them to share strong stories in a short format.

To reach out to students, we ran a digital campaign and created a dedicated WAVES portal on the Whistling Woods International (WWI) website. 

The response was overwhelming, with over 1,200 registrations coming in from across India and even from countries in the Middle East. 

This wide participation showed the growing interest among young filmmakers and the reach of the initiative.

From the entries received, 20 finalists were selected—10 in the Junior category and 10 in the Senior category, covering both solo and group entries. These finalists were invited to the WWI campus on March 7th and 8th for a two-day workshop and feedback session with filmmaker Mr. Amole Gupte and WWI Vice President Mr. Chaitanya Chinchlikar. The idea was not just to judge the films but to help students learn and improve through expert guidance.

One of the highlights of YFC was the diversity of participation. Many entries came from outside Mumbai, bringing in different voices and regional stories. We also saw some amazing work from students belonging to underprivileged backgrounds, who grabbed this opportunity to express themselves and shine on a national stage.

YFC has been a meaningful part of WAVES 2025, not just as a competition, but as a platform that celebrates young talent, encourages learning, and brings together voices from different parts of the country and beyond.