Dia Mirza-backed Sakshi Mishra’s Panha shines as Best Indian Short at ALT EFF 2025

The All Living Things Environmental Film Festival (ALT EFF), India’s largest and most influential platform for environmental and climate-forward cinema, has announced the winners of its 2025 edition. The festival, showcasing over 80 films from India and around the world, concluded its opening weekend with a strong slate of award-winning titles that underline the growing urgency and artistic depth of ecological storytelling.

Dia Mirza-backed film shines at ALT EFF, highlighting urgent environmental narratives

One of the key highlights this year was Sakshi Mishra‘s Panha, backed by actor and environmental advocate Dia Mirza, which won Best Indian Short, earning recognition for its intimate yet powerful exploration of human–wildlife coexistence.

The festival also awarded leading international and Indian features, shorts, student films, and journalism works, celebrating filmmakers who are reshaping how environmental narratives are experienced on screen.

Kunal Khanna,festival director, ALT EFF expressed, “The films honoured this year represent a powerful new wave of environmental storytelling, urgent, intimate, and deeply human. Panha, supported by Dia Mirza, stands out for how gracefully it weaves personal narrative with ecological responsibility, reminding us that environmental change begins within communities. While Turtle Walker and several other exceptional films formed the backbone of this year’s programming, the winning titles reflect the extraordinary breadth with which filmmakers across the world are engaging with the climate crisis. ALT EFF continues to be inspired by their imagination and commitment to our planet.”

The winners:

Student Film – Winner

Kharvan – In Search of the Elusive One (Nitya Navelkar)

Environmental Journalism – Winner

How Mallah Women Fought Caste Hierarchy and Sex Slavery

(Monica Jha, Shamsheer Yousaf, Sriram Vittalamurthy)

Animated Film – Winner

Desi Oon (Suresh Eriyat)

International Short – Winner

Daughter of the Sea (Nicole Gormley, Nancy Kwon)

Indian Short – Winner

Panha (Sakshi Mishra); backed by Dia Mirza

Best of Fest Short – Winner

Would You Still Love Me If I Was a Sticky Frog? (Myles Storey)

International Feature – Winner

Black Snow (Alina Simone)

Indian Feature – Winner

Humans in the Loop (Aranya Sahay)

Best of Fest Feature – Winner

Snow Leopard Sisters (Sonam Choekyi Lama, Ben Ayers, Andrew Lynch)

For more updates, join/follow our WhatsApp, Telegram and YouTube channels.