Digital News Guru Entertainment Desk:
Mumbai | July 10, 2025 – SCREEN Academy, a bold new non‑profit initiative aimed at discovering and fostering India’s most promising cinematic voices. In conjunction with SCREEN magazine, this endeavour promises to reshape the landscape of independent filmmaking—blending rigorous education with industry mentorship and financial aid.
Overview of SCREEN Academy
Driven by the mission to democratize film education, SCREEN Academy is geared toward postgraduate students from India’s premier film schools who display exceptional storytelling talent but face financial constraints. Annual fellowships will fully cover tuition and academic expenses for nominees from institutions such as FTII (Pune), SRFTI (Kolkata), and Whistling Woods International (Mumbai).
Supported by Abhishek Lodha of the Lodha Foundation, the initiative aligns with broader goals of strengthening India’s creative arts sector as a pillar of national identity and global soft power through 2047.
Backed by Icons of the Industry
The Academy’s Advisory and Mentorship Council includes luminaries such as:
- Guneet Monga – Oscar-winning producer
- Payal Kapadia – Cannes Grand Prix winner and Golden Globe nominee
- Resul Pookutty – Oscar winner for sound design
- Subhash Ghai, Ronnie Screwvala, Anjum Rajabali – industry stalwarts in direction, production, and screenwriting.
Anjum Rajabali will also lead the fellowship selection committee, ensuring that awardees combine storytelling potential with academic rigor. Says Rajabali: the initiative “offers much‑needed support to young people to avail of formal education in the craft”
More Than Scholarships: Mentorship, Exposure, and Career Pathways
Beyond funding, fellows will benefit from:
- Masterclasses and workshops conducted by Academy members
- Internships and project-based learning with top studios
- Ongoing professional guidance via structured mentorship programs.
FTII Director Dhiraj Singh welcomed the partnership, noting the alignment between SCREEN’s legacy and FTII’s mandate to nurture film talent. Samiran Dutta (SRFTI) highlighted that the fellowships fill a vital gap in supporting talented students from across India. Meghna Ghai Puri, President of Whistling Woods, added that access to quality education “can transform lives” and that this scholarship ensures that financial constraints do not stifle creativity .
Anchoring Standards in Film Criticism & Rewards
SCREEN Academy will institutionalize excellence not only through education but through continued recognition:
- SCREEN Awards, long the hallmark of Indian entertainment excellence, will now be overseen by Academy members, who will also drive voting and evaluation standards
- A Resident Critics Panel—featuring Priyanka Sinha Jha, Shubra Gupta, Dr. Priya Jaikumar (from USC), and Anjum Rajabali—will set rigorous criteria for fairness and credibility in recognizing cinematic achievement across film, music, regional cinema, theatre, and more.
The Legacy of SCREEN & Why Timing Matters
Founded in 1951, SCREEN was India’s first film newspaper and the progenitor of the iconic SCREEN Awards series. Reacquired by the Indian Express Group in 2024 and re‑oriented into a digital‑first platform, SCREEN now reaches over 40 million users monthly across four Indian languages—Hindi, English, Marathi, and Tamil.
Mumbai’s Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis welcomed the initiative as timely and significant for Bollywood’s home base, affirming that the Indian film industry stands to gain immensely from new filmmaking talent nurtured through such structured support.
This launch comes at a moment when Indian cinema is rapidly expanding its global outreach. The proliferation of OTT platforms and increased investment in niche storytelling make this a crucial time to equip talented voices from diverse geographies with tools for global impact.
Fellowship 2025: What to Expect
- Full postgraduate fellowship covering tuition and academic expenses for selected candidates at FTII, SRFTI, or Whistling Woods.
- Support structure including hands-on mentorship, curated internships, and creative career coaching
- Opportunity to participate in SCREEN’s creative ecosystem, including eventual influence in the returns and recognition arm via the Academy’s voting bodies and critics panel
Prospective applicants should watch the official website (screen‑academy[dot]org) closely for upcoming details on the nomination process, eligibility criteria, and application deadlines.
What It Means for Indian Cinema
The SCREEN Academy initiative signals a shift—from ad hoc grants to an institutional model of nurturing film talent. Key anticipated impacts include:
- Greater equity in creative education: Talented students from economically constrained backgrounds now have access to elite training.
- Elevated storytelling standards: A focus on screenwriting, sound, and direction—with mentorship from award‑winning figures—promises higher-quality output.
- Strengthened national storytelling identity: By supporting stories from across India, the initiative aims to diversify the voices shaping mainstream cinema.
- India’s growing soft power: Structured support for creatives positions the country to further assert itself globally via original narratives by 2047, aligned with Lodha Foundation’s vision for development through culture.
Looking Ahead
With the inaugural Fellowships slated for postgraduate students in 2025, SCREEN Academy aims to expand in future years—adding more film schools and widening its mentorship network. Its cross‑institutional model has the potential to convert scattered talent into a strong national cohort of globally competitive filmmakers.
In an era where visual storytelling increasingly defines cultural heft, SCREEN Academy stakes out a future where Indian cinema can flourish from within—powered by creative merit, equity, and professional integration.
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