In this special Industry Spotlight, a WAVES Film Bazaar 2025 feature, film editor Sankhajit Biswas and Lohita Sujith, Sr. Director, Copyright & Digital Economy, Motion Picture Association, discussed his journey into documentary and fiction editing, the projects that defined his career, and the ways Waves had supported his work.

Biswas reflected on his early years at SRFTI, where he discovered a passion for documentaries and began honing his craft. His first major project, Dui Dhuranir Golpo, grew out of a chance connection with Kolkata’s transgender community and a desire to document the impact of gender-affirming surgery. Over the course of eighteen months, he followed his subjects closely, building trust and shaping the story through both filming and editing. This hands-on, character-driven approach to documentary, he explained, laid the foundation for his later work in fiction, giving him confidence to experiment with restructuring scenes and re-scripting sequences in post-production.

Biswas described how his first visit to WAVES Film Bazaar in 2015, attending the Work in Progress Lab for a film by Haoban Paban Kumar, provided crucial visibility and connections. The lab offered mentorship, feedback from international editors, and opportunities to secure post-production support, all of which played a key role in the film’s success. Subsequent films, including projects that premiered at Busan and BFI London, further underscored the impact of WAVES on his career, creating lasting collaborations and professional networks.

He emphasized that WAVES remained vital for editors because it offered mentorship, access to global perspectives, and insights into both domestic and international markets. Looking ahead, Biswas hoped the festival would expand support for editors through dedicated sessions, showcases of historic editing achievements, and opportunities for early-stage collaboration. This year, he said, he looked forward to attending as a director for the first time, seeking co-producers, labs, and new collaborations while learning from the collective knowledge of the WAVES community.