Palm Springs International ShortFest 2025 Winner – Best International Short Film
By Valerie Milano
Los Angeles, CA (The Hollywood Times) 7/1/25 – Vaidaangi Sharma’s “The Itch” is a tender, quietly defiant meditation on female desire and generational silence. In just over a dozen minutes, Sharma offers something both radical and restrained—anchoring a teenager’s private awakening within the emotional landscape of a conservative Indian household. It’s the kind of film that doesn’t just tell a story—it opens a space.
Sharma’s, short film Kuchar “The Itch” has won Best International Short Film at this year’s Palm Springs ShortFest. She explained the deeply personal roots of her storytelling:
“Female sexuality often goes untold in our culture,” she shared during our recent conversation. “A pivotal moment came when my childhood best friend revealed, after ten years, that she had discovered pleasure very young but didn’t tell me for fear of judgment. That secrecy struck me and drove me to create a safe space on screen for these stories.”
That same notion pulses through Kuchar “The Itch”. The story begins on a teenager’s 14th birthday—an ordinary morning turned extraordinary when an accidental encounter with her own body sets in motion a cascade of questions, silences, and emotional friction. Sharma doesn’t overstate the moment; instead, she lets it bloom in the quietest of ways. One brush of the skin becomes a rupture in the rhythm of her family life.
Click below for our exclusive interview:
Kuchar “the Itch” is a debut for all three of the ladies on the zoom. Chanda’s first performance on screen, Vaidaangi’s first film as a writer-director, and Sumedha’s first as a solo independent producer.
In Kuchar’s “The Itch”, the film’s emotional core lies not in conflict but in what remains unspoken between generations. We see—rather than are told—how silence, curiosity and shame can be passed down like heirlooms, quietly shaping the spaces between them.
Subhashree Sahoo, who stars in Kuchar “The Itch”, spoke directly to this dynamic:
“I hope mothers’ see that opening a simple conversation with their daughters—knocking on the door, creating a safe space—is crucial. It doesn’t have to be an intense talk; it’s about being present and willing to listen.”
That ethos permeates Kuchar “The Itch”. Even in its most uncomfortable moments. Sharma’s lens is gently inviting, not invasive. Domestic spaces—dim hallways, cramped bedrooms—become emotional battlegrounds. Like the best of Céline Sciamma or Mira Nair’s work, Sharma uses glance and gesture to say what words cannot.
The film’s power lies in its restraint. Where others might dramatize or politicize, Sharma simply allows you to watch. The performances are equally unfussy: the young lead carries vulnerability like a second skin, while the mother—clearly shaped by her own denied impulses—becomes a figure of both quiet strength and inherited repression.
“By focusing on a narrow, intense window—just a few days in our protagonist’s life—and using intimate cinematography we let viewers see themselves directly in the characters. The film’s emotional specificity creates universality,” Sharma noted.
It’s this careful attention to the emotional interior that makes Kuchar “The Itch” resonate far beyond its runtime. The title itself—a metaphor for curiosity, discomfort, desire—becomes a generational inheritance. The daughter feels it first. But by the end, we sense that the mother has always felt it too.
Producer, Sumedha Mittal, who championed Sharma’s vision from the outset, emphasized how rare her voice is:
“Vaidaanga had impeccable sense of clarity of vision—her thesis on color, tone, emotion was rock solid. My role was to balance her creative passion with production needs, all while protecting her emotional space.”
It shows. Sharma’s craft, even as a debutante, feels remarkably assured. Nothing is wasted. Every shot, every silence, every withheld word deepens the emotional fabric. It’s storytelling that trusts the audience to feel, not just observe.
The final scene—deliberately unresolved—lingers. Two women, one mirror, and a sense of silence between them that may no longer be in the future. No grand speech, just presence. And in that presence: possibility.
Taken from Vaidaangi Sharma instagram: One year ago today, we were on the first shoot day of ‘KUCHAR’.
Today, exactly a year later, we announce Kuchar’s World Premiere at the Palm Springs International ShortFest @psfilmfest
(Love you too, Universe)
I feel exceptionally humbled and purposeful in this otherwise self-serving life of mine.
Today is a reminder not just for me, but for all of us, to carry the stories we believe in, with unhinged vulnerabilities.
Fear finds its own way out when you decide to embrace the naked, crooked truths hidden within your stories.
Identify your voice, let it confuse you, challenge your ideologies, but scream on top of your lungs and express the stories you believe in.
Be uncomfortable through it all, if that’s what it takes, but take any chance to make people pause, think and feel.
Most importantly, identify your tribe. I had god sent angels working their magic day and night to make my once silly dream, come true. Grateful for the endless mohabbat everyone has put into helping this film reach the finish line.
Today I celebrate myself. I celebrate my politics. I celebrate my fierce love for womanhood and the few beautiful men who have restored my faith in mankind. I celebrate the ten-year-old who believed in the magic of cinema.
This is what debut dreams are made of.
Let your ‘Kuchar’ consume you.
See you at the movies.
Yours Unapologetically,
V
Verdict
With Kuchar “The Itch”, Vaidaangi Sharma cements herself as a bold and poetic new voice in global cinema. A film that whispers truths long left unspoken as it invites viewers not to judge, but to witness. Don’t be surprised if it stays with you longer than most features.
Follow the Filmmakers
Kuchar “The Itch” is currently on the festival circuit. For updates: @KucharTheFilm
Full interview with Vaidaangi Sharma, Sumedha Mittal, and Subhashree Sahoo available on The Hollywood Times Official
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kucharthefilm/
