An Australian short film exploring grief, masculinity, identity and the immigrant experience has won the International Category at the 2026 Bengaluru International Short Film Festival (BISFF).
The Circus Lion, directed by Armenian-Australian filmmaker Tigran Tovmasian, took the top honour in the international category at the festival.
Three other Australian short films — Ashen, Heaven and Prefer Not to Say — were also selected for official screening at BISFF 2026, highlighting the diversity of Australia’s contemporary short-film landscape.
The 16th edition of BISFF opened on August 13 with three days of film screenings, industry conversations, workshops and filmmaking events.
Filmmaker Sumanth Bhat was the special guest at the opening ceremony, while Leonhard Heydecker, Director of the Goethe-Institut – Max Mueller Bhavan Bangalore, joined the ceremonial lamp lighting and officially opened the festival.
The opening also featured special screenings of films produced through a collaboration between the Goethe-Institut and BISFF.
Artistic Director Anand Varadaraj and Minol Ajekar welcomed filmmakers and audiences to the 16th edition of the festival.
The Circus Lion follows Samvel, a young wrestler from Western Sydney who believes leaving his hometown is the only way to escape the weight of his grief.
But as he attempts to run from his pain, he discovers that some struggles cannot simply be left behind.
The 20-minute black-and-white drama explores grief, masculinity, identity and purpose, following a young wrestler determined to build a different future despite the expectations and limitations of his surroundings.
Tovmasian, the child of two immigrants, draws heavily on his own connection to Western Sydney and the Armenian diaspora.
In an earlier interview, the filmmaker has described his commitment to taking stories from Western Sydney and the Armenian-Australian community to audiences around the world.
The film’s stark black-and-white cinematography is deliberately used as a visual metaphor for the gritty and seemingly colourless reality of the world in which Samvel grows up.
At its heart, however, the film is a story about belonging and the search for purpose.
The selection of Ashen, Heaven and Prefer Not to Say, alongside The Circus Lion, gives Australian short filmmaking a strong presence at this year’s festival.
The films collectively reflect the country’s increasingly diverse filmmaking community and the range of stories emerging from Australia’s multicultural society.
BISFF has also developed well beyond a traditional film festival. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has designated the Bengaluru International Short Film Festival as an official qualifying festival for the Academy Awards, giving filmmakers an important pathway towards international recognition.
Founded from filmmaker Anand Varadaraj’s vision as a platform for young and emerging filmmakers to screen their work and receive professional feedback, BISFF has grown into an industry gathering featuring the Discovery Film Market and the Echoes Film School Conference.
For Tovmasian, the recognition of The Circus Lion places a distinctly Australian story — rooted in Western Sydney and the Armenian diaspora — on an international stage.
From Western Sydney to Bengaluru, the film’s journey demonstrates how Australia’s multicultural stories can travel far beyond the communities in which they are created.
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