From an auditorium full of 600 people in 2011 to over 65,000 participants and attendees in 2025, IFP has come a long way. The festival initially started as a 50 Hour Filmmaking Challenge, has now evolved to become one of the largest hotspots of everything creative and culture. IFP each year produces over 13,000+ minutes of short films, 5,500+ minutes of music tracks and over 1,500+ scripts, stories and designs each.From a dorm to the World’s Leading Festival for everything Creativity x Culture, the journey does look surreal!
Each year, IFP festival sees sessions, interactions and performances, lead by experts and artists, across multiple creative domains, playing out on simultaneously active stages resulting in world’s largest congregation of all things creative.
In 2025, IFP turned FIFTEEN!
15 year of relentlessly chasing, cultivating, cherishing and celebrating creativity.
Filmmakers
Cities
Countries
Themes –
Professional – The Algorithm of Joy,
Amateur – Obsession Meets Art,
Vertical – Unlikely Friendships
Musician
Cities
Countries
Theme – A song your younger self would dance to
Photographers
Cities
Countries
Themes –
Prompt 1: My Inner Child is Happy,
Prompt 2: Stuck in a Maze,
Prompt 3: Unlikely Companions,
Prompt 4: Hidden Patterns,
Prompt 5: Moments Before Chaos
Writers
Cities
Countries
Themes-
Short script – The Secret Ingredient.
Mini series – A Tale that Transpires Over a Week,
Short story – We don’t talk about it anymore,
Think piece – A Quiet Revolution
Designers
Cities
Countries
Themes –
Poster and Fan Art – A Sequel That Never Was,
Doodle – 90s Childhood in a Frame,
Digital Illustration – A Trip to an Imaginary Planet,
Brand Book – If A Fictional Character Owned A Brand,
UI Design – Apps for Reducing Screen Addiction
Performers
Cities
Countries
Themes –
Spoken Word – A “How to Love Me” Manual,
Poetry – The Weight of a Word,
Mono Act – Men Without Women
IFP 14 rose up a notch by narrowing down the deadline for all the challenges to just 50 Hours. Still, the participants didn’t falter, neither did we! The 2024 edition witnessed 47,000 creators from 43 countries and 522 cities in the 6 revamped challenges.
The Festival at Mehboob Studios, Mumbai boomed with 62+ sessions and 155+ speakers, supported by 66 partners and lovingly attended by over 14,900 creative enthusiasts.
Filmmakers
Cities
Countries
Theme – Feel like a Queen (Professional), A Happy Discovery (Amateur), Building Something Together…..
Musician
Cities
Countries
Theme – Create a song about giving in to your desire at the moment without worrying about any……
photographers
Cities
Countries
Theme – 5 Photo Series: Million dollar reaction, Humans are Machines, Fashion on the streets, …..
Writers
Cities
Countries
Theme – White Lies (Scriptwriting), There Is Always A Way (Short Story), Conspiracy Theory (Think Piece)…
Designers
Cities
Countries
Theme – A Poster out of Any News of 2024 – If a Movie was Made on it (Poster and Cover Art), A Portrait….
Performers
Cities
Countries
Theme – I Built My Own World (Spoken Word), The Universe That Looks Upon Me (Poetry), A Birthday……
With its 13th season, IFP was a red carpet to all things creative, in 2023! We were super excited and highly pumped up to do this season even better than our previous ones. IFP in its 13th season saw participation with 53,000 creators from 38 countries and 565 cities in the 7 Challenges.
The festival at Mumbai saw 60+ sessions and 20+ workshops with 180 creators on stage. The 2 day festival was attended by over 15,600 creators.
Filmmakers
Cities
Countries
Theme –Invest For Good (Professional), We Are Our Choices (Amateur), There Is Always A Plan B (Mobile)
Musician
Cities
Countries
Theme – Create an Anthem of A City You Love
photographers
Cities
Countries
Theme – Joy Of Missing Out
Writers
Cities
Countries
Theme – White Lies (Scriptwriting), There Is Always A Way (Short Story), Conspiracy Theory (Think Piece)
Designers
Cities
Countries
Theme – Convert a movie poster into a book cover or music album art (Poster & Cover Art) ….
Performers
Cities
Countries
Theme – What If? Why Not? (Storytelling), Trip to the Moon (Poetry)
Back on-ground after 2 years of virtual festival, we couldn’t have been more excited for the energy to flow again. IFP in it’s 12th season saw challenges participation with 52,000 creators from 38 countries and 533 cities.
The festival at Mumbai saw 60+ sessions and 20+ workshops with 171 creators on stage. The 2 day festival was attended by over 15,600 creators.
Filmmakers
Cities
Countries
Theme – No Fear is Small (Professional), The Best Advice (Amateur), No Fear is Small (Mobile)
Musician
Cities
Countries
Theme – Dreams that keep you awake
photographers
Cities
Countries
Theme – Old Everything
Writers
Cities
Countries
Theme – From the Antagonist’s perspective (Scriptwriting), Hero with a Thousand Faces (Short Story), Conflict (Think Piece)
Designers
Cities
Countries
Theme – Create a spin-off movie/series/book poster of your favorite side character. Give it a title and a tagline (Poster & Cover Art)….
We went ahead with another season virtually and it was no prize to miss the on-ground vibe and experience. IFP in it’s 11th season saw challenges participation with 46,000 creators from 41 countries and 562 cities – that has been our highest so far.
Our brilliant programming team put together a festival that was highly interactive and saw 50+ sessions and 40+ workshops with 197 creators on stage. The 4 day virtual festival was attended by over 21,000 creators.
Filmmakers
Cities
Countries
Theme – You are more than your name (Professional), How Money makes you Feel (Amateur), Language of Joy (Mobile)
Musician
Cities
Countries
Theme – A song about Little things in life that make you happy
Designers
Cities
Countries
Theme – Incorporate a relevant Brand in Movie Poster / Book Cover / Music Album Art(Poster Art category), What if …..
Performers
Cities
Countries
Theme – They Say I’m Different
In the times, when most festivals decided to call off, IFP went virtual with a never seen before participation from over 540 cities and 38 countries by over 65,000 creators. IFP introduced a 50 Hour Music Challenge, a unique platform that churned out more than 1,200 tracks over a weekend.
With 65+ sessions and 30+ workshops having over 180+ creators from 6 countries, IFP put a brilliant 4 day virtual festival. More than 5.6 lac messages were sent across the virtual platform, which talks about the sheer engagement it created.
Filmmakers
Cities
Countries
Theme – Brave New World (Professional), Almost Famous (Amateur), Stop at Nothing (Mobile)
Musician
Cities
Countries
Theme – A song about Growing Up and How Things Change
Designers
Cities
Countries
Theme – Crossover Poster (Poster Art category) and Rebel (Fan Art category)
Performers
Cities
Countries
Theme – What’s Your Utopia
IFP9 grew leaps and bounds to an amazing participation from filmmakers, writers storytellers and designers. The festival’s programming team put together 80+ sessions across Films, Digital, Literature and Music and over 20+ never-heard-before workshops with national and international speakers on the stage.
Filmmakers
Cities
Countries
Theme – A Tale of Passion (Professional), Reason to Road (Amateur), What’s Stopping you? (Mobile)
Writers
Cities
Countries
Theme – Old school love in time of technology
Designers
Cities
Countries
Theme – Contemporary Modern day poster of old film (1970-1999)
The festival introduced storytelling challenge with a vision to appeal to newer form of creators who use spoken words as a format to create great content. The festival re-aligned it’s programming to Create – Collaborate – Celebrate, putting together 80+ sessions across Films, Digital, Literature and Music – a single umbrella roof for creators!
Filmmakers
Cities
Countries
Theme – A Story of Change (Professional), Experience Change (Amateur), Precaution is better than cure (Mobile)
The festival introduced scriptwriting and design challenge to appeal to the new age creators. The festival moved to a new venue and attracted attendees from over 22 cities who flew down to attend 60+ conversations curated around films, digital and literature. IFP also held ‘Best of Digital’ awards, an industry first to celebrate digital content across 7 formats.
The festival moved from Ahmedabad to Mumbai, a much central and easily accessible city for creators from around the country. The move saw lot of love from the film and creator community. Apart from the 50 Hour Filmmaking Challenge, for the first time an on-ground festival was added that featured creators from digital and films.
Filmmakers
Cities
Countries
Theme – Top of the World
To a larger venue and an evening full of music, IFP in 2015 saw thousands of participants travel down to Ahmedabad for the awards fiesta. IFP introduced professional, amateur and mobile categories in the filmmaking challenge.
Filmmakers
Cities
Countries
Theme – There is a twist in the end
IFP’s 4th season was the first time when participation was opened up for filmmakers from across the globe.
Filmmakers
Cities
Countries
Theme – Progress has many meanings
In it’s third edition, IFP went completely digital with people able to participate through online mediums without the need of travelling to Ahmedabad.
Filmmakers
Cities
Countries
Theme – India can Change
IFP’s 2nd season saw a lineup of jury from Indian film industry. This year was game changer since a lot of IFP’s initial direction came from the 2012 edition. Founder Ritam Bhatnagar says “The first season was an one time activity. One day a phone call on our office number inquiring about the 2nd edition triggered the idea to make this an annual activity. If that phone call wasn’t picked up, it would have been just an one time thing“
Filmmakers
Cities
Theme – Ingredients of Good Living
Started from a dorm idea of providing a platform to aspiring filmmakers, the first season of IFP brought out the confidence that there is a huge requirement for creators to network and collaborate. With almost no sponsorship but a willingness to create a platform, the first IFP was an instant success in Ahmedabad and got people from 14 cities to travel down to make their film.
What is the festival all about?
IFP is a multi-staged creativity & culture festival that happens across two days with more than 180+ prominent creators from Films & OTT, Digital, Literature & Writing, Music, Design & Art, Storytelling, Audio & Podcasting, Photography, Tech & Gaming, Comedy, Culture, Advertising and Performing arts who will participate in various Conversations, Panels, Workshops, Masterclasses, Live Performances, and AMAs.
Are there any hidden charges?
No, only GST will be levied on the tickets as per the government’s rules and regulations.
When and where is the festival happening?
The festival is scheduled to take place on-ground in Mumbai on December 6th & 7th, 2025.
Is the festival accessible for People of Determination?
Yes, IFP is an all-inclusive and accessible festival. We will be tying up with an accessibility management agency to ensure the same.
Can I attend all the sessions?
Yes, you will have access to all the sessions taking place across all 2 days. However Stage entry and seating will be on a first come first serve basis.
Where can I buy tickets?
The tickets are available on all the major Ticketing Platforms and on IFP’s Website. Click here to buy the tickets.
Will there be an award ceremony for the challenges?
Yes, the winners of all the challenges of IFP will be awarded during the festival. Kindly check the schedule regarding the same.
What will be the timings of the festival?
The first session on October 12 & 13, 2024 (i.e. Saturday and Sunday) will start at 10am and the last session will end at 9pm.
I’m a member of the media? How do I make arrangements for a media pass?
You can fill-up the form with relevant details and request for media invite.
Wow, there are lots of artists taking sessions! Will I get to personally interact with them?
There is no guarantee, however, you could plan for the questions you would want to ask in the event and if you are lucky, you will get an opportunity to ask them.
Will there be food at the venue?
Yes, there will be a food zone at the festival.
Will there be parking at the venue?
No, there will be no parking available at the venue.
Is there any age limit/rule?
No. The festival is open to all ages.
How do I become a Sponsor?
Please mail us at ritam@ifp.world
What is your ticket policy?
Tickets are purchased online through our (platform) and on-ground on festival days. Tickets are non-refundable and non-transferable.
What are some of the general measures that ensure safety in all forms at the festival?
Harassment, abuse , stalking, threatening or defaming/ violating any rights (right to privacy and publicity) is not allowed and will be taken seriously. Attendees are not allowed to carry any harmful substances, weapons or arms of any kind.
