Ishank Gupta, Sanya Rohillaa and Ahsan Vazir Win Big at Instagram’s Edits Film Festival

Ishank Gupta, Sanya Rohillaa and Ahsan Vazir have emerged as the top three winners of Instagram’s Edits Film Festival, an initiative by Meta to spotlight emerging creative talent in India. The festival concluded in Mumbai in October 2026, recognising creators who transformed everyday footage into compelling short-form films using Edits, Instagram’s standalone video-editing app. The festival invited creators to turn ordinary, unpolished clips from their phone galleries into original visual stories. The three winners stood out for their storytelling and use of the app’s editing tools, according to coverage of the event.

How the Edits Film Festival Worked

Meta announced the Edits Film Festival on 24 August 2026, inviting creators across India to make original Reels using the Edits app. The submission window ran from 25 August to 8 October, giving participants 45 days to create and publish their entries.

The brief encouraged participants to find creative potential in footage that might otherwise remain unused on their phones. Entries could explore different formats, including humour, vlogs, get-ready-with-me videos and fiction. Creators were encouraged to experiment with features such as effects, fonts, audio effects, overlays and music available within the app.

Meta reported receiving more than 200 entries from across India. A joint team from Meta and youth media company Yuvaa selected 12 films for the festival’s official selection. A jury then chose the top three winners.

Who Selected the Winners?

The judging panel included actor and creator Ahsaas Channa, content creator Dolly Singh, Yuvaa co-founder Nikhil Taneja and film critic and industry executive Rajeev Masand. Their evaluation focused on the uniqueness of each story, how effectively creators transformed ordinary footage and how creatively they used Edits’ features.

Filmmaker Farah Khan attended the festival as a special guest. Speaking about her approach to online content, Khan highlighted spontaneity, relatability and humour, saying that creators do not always need to overthink what they post. She also spoke about how Gen Z’s more spontaneous approach to social media had influenced her own content.

What the Festival Means for Emerging Creators

The Edits Film Festival places the spotlight on a growing part of the creator economy: the ability to tell a story using accessible tools, rather than relying solely on elaborate production setups.

For emerging filmmakers and social media creators, short-form video offers a way to experiment with storytelling, editing and visual styles. Meta’s festival also gives selected creators visibility through a curated screening and potential features on the company’s social media accounts. The initiative was designed to celebrate creative work while encouraging users to explore Edits’ capabilities.

The wins for Ishank Gupta, Sanya Rohillaa and Ahsan Vazir underline the festival’s central idea: ordinary footage can become a distinctive story when creators bring a clear point of view and thoughtful editing to it.