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Spoiler warning: This essay contains mild spoilers for The Odyssey and Ikkis. A screenwriting professor once told our class, "Every story has already been told. Don't worry about telling a new one. Just tell yours." I remember pushing back against that idea. It felt oddly defeatist. As film students, we're taught to chase originality, to find a voice that nobody else has. But maybe originality has never been about inventing a new story. Maybe it's about recognising an old one

Not because I wanted to beat Damien Chazelle, but because I couldn’t wait and I didn’t have to do it alone. ‘Making a film alone’ sounds a little like carrying a matka with no water in it. You can do it.But what’s the point? I didn’t fully understand that when I started. I just wanted to make something meaningful, slowly it turned out to be that… I made a feature film at 24.I didn't feel ‘ready'. But I didn’t know how to wait for permission. At 22, after graduating from film

A few conversations with master cinematographers changed the questions I ask every time I read a script. The most important questions aren't technical at all. Coming into the ISC mentorship program, I carried with me a certain understanding of filmmaking, one shaped by film school, limited resources, and a deep reliance on peer learning, senior guidance, and occasional masterclasses. Film school, for me, was less about introspection and more about orientation, understanding w