Manifest Dance-Film Festival — Pondicherry

Early August, typically August 1 to 3. Confirm the current year's dates at manifestdancefilm.com.

South Asia's leading international dance-film festival, held at the Auroville bioregion and the Alliance Française de Pondichéry: short films, features, student works, and mobile phone productions from across the world, with Q&As, workshops, and outdoor screenings across three days.

What it is

The Manifest Dance-Film Festival is one of the most distinctive events in the Pondicherry calendar: an international festival dedicated to the relationship between body movement and cinema. Organized by AuroApaar, the festival accepts short films, feature-length works, student submissions, and mobile phone productions that explore dance as a cinematic subject. Selected films screen at venues in the Auroville bioregion and at the Alliance Française de Pondichéry.

The programme

Over three days, selected films from across the world are screened. Filmmakers participate in live Q&A sessions with audiences. Workshops on dance-film technique accompany the main programme. The selection spans animation, documentary, and experimental fiction, with the requirement that body movement be a central cinematic concern rather than merely recorded performance.

Who it is for

No specialist background in dance or film is required. The selected works tend to be short, formally inventive, and genuinely surprising. Several screenings are held outdoors in the Auroville landscape at night, which is an unusual setting even by international festival standards.

Information and submissions

For screening schedules and attendance, check the festival's FilmFreeway page. Filmmakers wishing to submit for future editions should write to manifest@auroapaar.org. Previous-year submission codes offer discounts: MDFF for returning submitters, student applicants need proof of current enrolment.