For my mentor - Mr. Daisaku Ikeda
Boys Don't Wear Nailpolish! - 2014
My docu-fiction, Boys Don't Wear Nailpolish!, based on a sensitive issue of gender stereotyping was awarded the Golden Halo Award at Script IFFK, 2014.
The film was screened at several other film festivals in India and abroad, including Mumbai International Queer Film Festival and ViBGYOR Film Festival. The Carolina Theatre group in the United States also invited the film for a screening in October, 2015.
The Infinite Space - 2015
My next independent production, a musical drama The Infinite Space, is a story of a young Buddhist monk who accidentally discovers the secret to infinity.
The film featured music of the well known Grammy Award nominee, Tibetan flute player Nawang Khechog, and had its local premiere at the Gaiety Theatre, Shimla.
The film was selected to compete at the IDSFFK 2015 International Film Festival of Kerala and was also selected by the University of Manchester UK for their Insight Film Curation scheme 2015 where it was praised for it's excellent cinematic storytelling and subtle storytelling. The film won a Special Jury Prize at IFFS, Shimla in 2017.
PaPa - 2016
My next short film, PaPa, premiered at the IDSFFK 2016 International Film Festival of Kerala, where it won the Best Short Fiction Award. PaPa received the Best Film Award "for it's innovation in narrative gesture and wicked understanding of human behaviour."
The film later also won the Satyajit Ray Award for the Best Film at the London Indian Film Festival 2017 - "for its mature storytelling which balances a realistic sense of frustration and claustrophobia, with a finely nuanced thread of subtle and deadpan humour." - Jury, LIFF.
In praise of the film and the filmmaker, Rediff remarked "The haunting play of light through long corridors, shots that stay and expressions that hold are clearly the work of a filmmaker who knows his art."
Pashi - 2018
My last short film, Pashi premiered at the Oscar Qualifying Rhode Island International Film Festival in US. It was the only Indian short film selected in that competition in 2017. It then travelled to China and recently to Italy at the Rome Independent Film Festival.
Pashi was awarded Best Cinematography Award at Marietta International Film Festival in Georgia. Recently the film was showcased at a Film Festival in Chile, South America where it received two Awards and two Honorable Mentions: Best Short Film Award (lgbt), Audience Choice Award (2nd position), Honorable Mention for me for the Best Director (Short Film) and Honorable Mention for Chetan Kanwar for Best Young Actor (Short Film).
The film was then showcased at the World Music & Independent Film Festival, Washington DC, where Pashi has received nominations in five categories: Best Actor (Chetan Kanwar), Best Supporting Actor (John Negi), Best Director (Siddharth Chauhan), Best Screenplay (Siddharth Chauhan) and Best Cinematography (Siddharth Chauhan & Yashwant Kumar Sharma). I won the Best Director Award for 'Pashi' at WMIFF 2018.
The film was later selected for the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles. The festival team wrote the following review for the film : "Immersing us into a startling world of raw emotion and fierce imagination, this gripping exploration of lust and its precarious impulses reveals a bold and razor sharp emerging storyteller." Firstpost reviewed the film and called it "An ambitious dramatic production. From its runtime to its themes and the many storytelling risks it takes, the film is edifying in more ways than one...".
Pashi was also competing at the KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival 2018, where it received the Q Drishti Film Grant and lead actor Chetan Kanwar received the Best Actor Award for his performance in the film.
The jury cited the following words in praise of the film and Chetan's performance in the film. "Set in a picturesque, quaint town in Himachal Pradesh with quirky characters. Pashi explores love, lies, sexuality, desire, betrayal through the journey of a teenage boy. This unhurried short film keeps one fully engrossed as harsh truths of its principle characters are revealed in an otherwise calm setting. It is much more than just a pashi (bird trap).". "A seamless, brave and authentic act by the young Chetan Kanwar. His character's journey of discovery, of turmoil - both within and outside - is portrayed with fearless truth and endearing innocence.".
Kirk Fernwood from One Film Fan called it 'Devastatingly Heartbreaking', and stated that "Pashi is a great example of the current state of Asian cinema in its quality, heart, willingness to tackle a highly controversial subject matter, and being a further portrait to present the ever-growing fact that independent film is here, here to stay, and deserving of much higher recognition.
Indie Shorts Magazine wrote a review stating that "Pashi is the naked truth of relationships, of fantasies and dreams and of life in itself and its superlative experiences that alter the journey for those who have lived it.", "Everything is subtle in 'Pashi' and yet the story essentially is gripping, moving and unsettling even...Chauhan brings out the rawness of his characters with stellar performances" and called it - "India's Finest Short Film".
The Flying Trunk - 2020
The Flying Trunk had its world premiere at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles 2020 which called it a "multi-generational tale about loss and memory where Siddharth soulfully explores the distinct mental spaces his characters inhabit, as each tries to cope with the loneliness, hardship and beauty of their remote existence. Evocatively photographed amidst an expansive landscape, the film artfully captures what legends are made of..."
UK Film Review called it "a masterpiece", "a remarkable film" and added that it is "a fascinating exploration of grief, and the myths and stories we tell ourselves to help keep ourselves sane."