FTII Student's Short Film Selected for La Cinef Section at 2026 Cannes Festival
28 minutes agoEntertainment
28LENS
3 SourcesTunisia
TBNthebalanced.news

FTII Student's Short Film Selected for La Cinef Section at 2026 Cannes Festival

A short film titled 'Shadows of the Moonless Nights,' directed by FTII student Mehar Malhotra, has been selected for the La Cinef Competitive section of the 2026 Cannes Film Festival. The 24-minute Punjabi-language film, also known as 'Parchave Masseah Rataan De,' follows a factory worker navigating exhausting shifts and a challenging home life. It is among 19 films from 15 countries competing for three prizes, with awards to be announced on May 21 at the Buñuel Theatre.

Political Bias
0%100%0%
Sentiment
75%
AI analysis of 3 sources · Published under editorial oversight by The Balanced News
Analysed 22 Apr 2026· How this analysis is produced· Editorial standards· Corrections

AI Analysis

Political bias across 3 sources
● Left 0%● Center 100%● Right 0%

The articles present a straightforward cultural achievement without political framing. Both sources focus on the film's selection and details about the festival, highlighting the student’s accomplishment and the film's thematic content. There is no evident political perspective or ideological bias in the coverage, as the story centers on arts and education.

Sentiment — Positive (75/100)

The tone across the articles is positive and celebratory, emphasizing the honor and recognition for the student filmmaker. The coverage highlights the competitive nature of the festival and the film’s thematic depth, conveying a sense of pride and accomplishment without exaggeration or sensationalism.

How 3 sources covered this story

Each source's own headline, political lean, and sentiment — so you can see framing differences at a glance.

SourceTheir headlineBiasSentiment
hindustantimesFTII student film Shadows of the Moonless Nights selected for La Cinef section of Cannes Film Festival 2026CenterPositive
thetelegraphFTII student Mehar Malhotra's short film selected for La Cinef section of CannesCenterPositive
thetribuneFTII student film Shadows of the Moonless Nights selected for La Cinef section of Cannes - The TribuneCenterPositive

Coverage timeline

thetribune broke this story on 22 Apr, 08:19 am. Other outlets followed.

  1. 1
    thetribune22 Apr, 08:19 am
    FTII student film Shadows of the Moonless Nights selected for La Cinef section of Cannes - The Tribune
  2. 2
    thetelegraph22 Apr, 08:37 am
    FTII student Mehar Malhotra's short film selected for La Cinef section of Cannes
  3. 3
    hindustantimes22 Apr, 10:33 am
    FTII student film Shadows of the Moonless Nights selected for La Cinef section of Cannes Film Festival 2026

Lens Score breakdown

28/100
Public interest0/100
Coverage gap100%

Well-covered story — coverage matches public importance.

Story context

Category
Entertainment
Location
Tunisia
Sources analysed
3
Last analysed
22 Apr 2026
Key entities
Cannes Film FestivalFilm schoolLive actionAnimationSound designProduction designerScreenplayComposerAudio mixing (recorded music)InstagramFilm and Television Institute of IndiaShort film