Assam Filmmaker’s ‘The Scroll That Stole Time’ Wins Top Essay Film Honour at Madrid’s FICIMAD 2026

GUWAHATI: Guwahati-based filmmaker Kaushik Sharma’s short film The Scroll That Stole Time has won the Best Essay Film (Short Movies) award at FICIMAD 2026 – Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente de Madrid, Spain.

Kaushik Sharma, an alumnus of the Waikato Institute of Technology in New Zealand and Whistling Woods International in Mumbai, wrote, directed, shot and edited the film. He has spent more than a decade working primarily as a film editor.

The film stars Phillips Neog in the lead role and features performances by Arundhuti Bora, Arundhati Sharma, Shindhu Kashyap Barpuzari and Ronil Kataki, all of whom are part of Assam’s local talent pool.

In its official magazine, the festival described The Scroll That Stole Time as a film made with “humility, craftsmanship, and love” and as a necessary and intelligent warning about how new technologies and algorithms quietly steal our humanity. The magazine noted that the film’s “hallucinatory and distorted images” and performances evoke an episode of Black Mirror set in the landscapes of Assam. Coming from an international jury and amid a line-up of acclaimed films from around the world, the award marks a significant recognition for a debut filmmaker from Assam.

FICIMAD’s programming team and Managing Director and Festival Director Tomás Pérez Torrella presented the Best Essay Film award to the film, which the festival’s official 2026 magazine also highlighted alongside other acclaimed works.

The Scroll That Stole Time is a self-produced and independently made debut short film, with Kaushik Sharma handling the writing, direction, cinematography and editing. The film has also secured official selections at festivals in Brazil and Spain, adding to its growing international journey.

For filmmakers and artists who have had to create with limited resources, the award serves as a reminder that even a small, self-funded film from the north-eastern corner of India, made under constraints and completed with conviction, can still find its place on the international stage.

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