WISHING TREES Selected for BISFF 2026: The Hidden Life Behind the Film

I’m thrilled to share that WISHING TREES has been officially selected for the Animation Competition at the Bengaluru International Short Film Festival (BISFF) 2026, where it will have its International Premiere. The inspiration for the short began with Peter Wohlleben’s fascinating book The Hidden Life of Trees, which completely changed the way I think about forests. Wohlleben describes trees not as solitary plants, but as part of intricate living communities that communicate, cooperate, share resources, and respond to one another in ways we are only beginning to understand. That idea stayed with me and became one of the seeds for WISHING TREES , a story that explores our own emotional and almost mystical connection to trees, and the possibility that the natural world may have a life and memory far beyond what we can see. It feels particularly meaningful to bring this story to BISFF, an Oscar-qualifying short film festival in Bengaluru, India, and to share a film inspired by the quiet intelligence of trees with an audience in a country with such a rich and deeply rooted relationship with the natural world.