April 15, 2025
UPDATE
Introducing four innovative filmmakers redefining cultural and creative boundaries using the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
The talented individuals behind this year’s MAMI Select: Filmed on iPhone projects explore how India’s diverse landscapes and rich cultures have influenced their short films.
Konkona Sen Sharma, a writer, director, and actress, emphasizes that courage is the filmmaker’s most crucial tool, surpassing even technology in importance.
“With the iPhone, the immense power within such a compact device allows you to break free from traditional filmmaking norms,” shares Sen Sharma, a two-time recipient of India’s National Film Awards. “All that’s needed is a brilliant idea and the courage to see it through.”
Alongside eminent filmmakers from the Indian industry, such as Vikramaditya Motwane, Lijo Jose Pellissery, and Vetri Maaran, Sen Sharma is guiding four emerging filmmakers selected by the Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image (MAMI) to create short films for the 2025 MAMI Select: Filmed on iPhone initiative.
Now in its second year, this program empowers MAMI alumni to defy technological constraints, utilizing the iPhone 16 Pro Max for filming and the MacBook Pro with M4 Max for editing. Last year’s films garnered multiple awards at the 2025 Critics’ Choice Awards India for Best Short Film, Best Director (Short Film), and Best Writing (Short Film).
“Shooting on the iPhone allows for complete self-expression,” states Maaran, writer-director of the upcoming Tamil action thriller Vaadivaasal. He finds that he learns as much from his mentees as he teaches them. “We are in an era of democratized filmmaking.”
This year’s MAMI Select filmmakers—Amrita Bagchi, Rohin Raveendran Nair, Chanakya Vyas, and Shalini Vijayakumar—are exploring new cinematic landscapes through the lens of the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
“The distinct voices of these filmmakers are beautifully expressed through the four languages and regions of India that ground their narratives,” remarks Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, MAMI festival director.
“These passionate storytellers possess significant stories to share,” adds Pellissery, known for his Malayalam films Ee.Ma.Yau. and Jallikattu. “Their use of the iPhone pushes their creative boundaries, yielding remarkable results.”
Each filmmaker exploited the advanced capabilities of the MacBook Pro with the M4 Max chip to craft their tales. “Shooting and editing within the Apple ecosystem offers unmatched advantages regarding speed,” explains Motwane, whose accomplishments span film and television series like Udaan and Black Warrant.
The lightning-fast performance of the MacBook Pro paired with the user-friendly iPhone 16 Pro Max grants these artists enhanced creative autonomy both on and off the set.
Exploring themes of childhood, transformation, heritage, and freedom, Bagchi, Nair, Vyas, and Vijayakumar have premiered their films in Mumbai.
Creating Tension with Cinematic Mode
With a background in design, acting, and songwriting, Amrita Bagchi believes filmmaking is her true calling. “It’s the intersection of all art forms,” she says.
Her short film Succulent won the Grand Jury Prize at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles in 2022, and hails from Kolkata, a city rich in cinematic heritage exemplified by filmmakers like Satyajit Ray.
Bagchi’s latest project, Tinctoria, is a psychological thriller rooted in the historic indigo revolt that occurred in Bengal in 1859. It follows a modern fashion mogul haunted by the legacy of the indigo farmers whose plight is entwined with her family’s history.
To evoke a tense, claustrophobic feel, Bagchi is utilizing Cinematic mode in the film’s opening scene. “We’re capturing bubbles and plastic sheets in motion, with stunning depth of field,” she states. “It resembles footage shot on a high-end cinematic camera.”
Bagchi asserts that traditional methods could never have achieved the same effect. “While this production is ambitious, the iPhone 16 Pro Max allows me to create and adapt on the fly,” she explains. “The dynamic movement resembles visual rap.”
Utilizing high-demand workflows, such as overlaying Rec. 709 color space on ProRes Log footage captured by the iPhone, she is impressed that her M4 Max MacBook Pro performs flawlessly without lag.
“It’s like a powerhouse,” she reveals. “Even with a tight schedule, I can film at 4K120 fps on the iPhone while retaining incredible flexibility in editing.”
The theme of legacy resonates deeply with Bagchi, who seeks to mirror legends like Satyajit Ray, who dared to defy the conventions of his era.
ProRes Creates a Coastal Masterpiece
“Although I was raised in New Delhi, I have always been inspired by the bold cinema of Kerala,” shares Rohin Raveendran Nair, a director, writer, and cinematographer with credits including Netflix’s Sacred Games and Black Warrant.
Nair’s short film Kovarty connects him to his roots in the coastal city of Alleppey, presenting a love story with magical realism centered around a typist and his typewriter, named Qwerty. The typewriter evolves with the local accent, symbolizing the film’s exploration of transformation.
The compact size of the iPhone 16 Pro Max influenced Nair’s approach to the narrative. “Thanks to the iPhone’s small form factor, I could position the camera inside the typewriter, giving it a unique perspective,” he explains. “Using practical effects, I breathed life into the device.”
Nair captures point-of-view shots in a 4:3 aspect ratio, mimicking the dimensions of a sheet of paper, while utilizing a more expansive 2:1 aspect ratio for the wide-open backwater settings. He also employs a bloom filter to add a nostalgic quality to the visuals.
“The iPhone 16 Pro Max beautifully captures Alleppey’s rich colors,” he observes. “One day, a location can be brilliantly sunny; the next, overcast and somber. The camera details all lighting nuances with ProRes Log.”
Action Mode Cuts Through the Chaos
Chanakya Vyas, an educator and actor, found unconventional inspiration for his short film Mangya. “Despite its perceived obsolescence, newspapers can reveal wonderful stories,” he reflects.
After learning about an avian flu outbreak in Mumbai and dealing with the loss of his golden retriever, Vyas developed his new film, which tells the coming-of-age story of an 11-year-old boy and his pet rooster, Mangya. “The pain of losing a pet is profoundly different from losing a person,” Vyas contemplates. “What began as a story about a solitary boy evolved into one about acceptance.”
In a pivotal scene, Vyas follows his actor over 1,000 feet at dawn. “There wasn’t time to mount a traditional gimbal,” he notes, “but thanks to Action mode, I was able to capture multiple takes with astounding stabilization.”
With India’s vibrant sounds often overwhelming, Vyas creatively incorporates the noise into his narrative. “The iPhone 16 Pro Max allows us to record clear audio—like footsteps, the rooster’s crow, and the hum of a fan—using high-quality studio mics,” he affirms. “The audio quality is exceptional.”
Working outdoors amidst chicken coops, Vyas appreciates the MacBook Pro’s nano-texture display, which minimizes glare and reflections from the sun while he assesses shot continuity. This technology significantly enhances his outdoor shooting experience.
“For any director, the quality of footage is crucial,” Vyas emphasizes. “Gratefully, the Liquid Retina XDR display on my MacBook Pro gives an accurate preview of the final colors we’ll achieve.”
Screaming in Slow Motion
Shalini Vijayakumar, who grew up in a traditional Tamil household in Chennai, loved the stories shared about her mother’s large family. “Some tales were humorous, while others were more somber,” she shares, reflecting on how they shaped her as a filmmaker.
Her new short film, Seeing Red, is a comedic horror piece that explores the suppressed emotions of women within a Tamil household during the 1980s. The film opens with three women screaming in fright at the sight of a ghost, ultimately culminating in a cathartic scream to express their repressed anger. “It transitions from fear to rage,” she explains, “even I join in the screams as a way of letting out my own emotions.”
Vijayakumar cleverly flips the traditional visual motifs of Tamil cinema through the iPhone 16 Pro Max. “I’m employing ‘mass shots’ typically reserved for male leads, where they walk stunningly in slow motion, but I’m doing it for women instead at 4K120 fps, and it looks amazing,” she notes.
With the 120 mm lens of the iPhone 16 Pro Max, she artistically captures her narrative, blending themes and staging into cohesive shots that she planned using Procreate on the iPad.
“Using the 5x telephoto lens allows me to position the men discussing the women’s fates in the foreground while the women remain in the background. There’s a wealth of storytelling packed into that single frame,” she explains.
Despite the intricate themes and techniques involved, both Vijayakumar and Seeing Red embody a joyful spirit. “I hope viewers enjoy the film and remember that it features lots of women screaming!”
Vikramaditya Motwane, the acclaimed director and mentor for the program, asserts that these four MAMI Select filmmakers possess the potential to continue the legacies of icons like Orson Welles and Satyajit Ray. “These creators could lead the way in revealing uncharted territories in cinema,” he affirms.
Catch these four short films on the MAMI YouTube channel.
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