Vizag Filmmaker’s ‘Signal’ Wins Big in Sydney

Visakhapatnam-born filmmaker Sagi Sree Hari Varma won the Best International Short Film Mini award at the SF3 Film Festival in Sydney, Australia, for his Italian sci-fi horror short, Signal. The film stood out among more than 400 entries from around the world.

Varma shot Signal entirely in Italy. The film had previously won four awards at the Cinemadamare festival in July 2025. He initially developed the project as a proof of concept for a feature film. Audiences praised it at several screenings.

Varma said the global response exceeded his expectations. He added that the appreciation gave him the confidence to expand the story into a feature-length film. He now plans to develop Signal for a wider international audience.

He thanked his parents, family, and friends for their steady support. He also expressed gratitude to SF3 Festival Director Angela Blake for her encouragement.

The festival held screenings at the Sydney Opera House and the Palace Chauvel Cinema. Organisers invited leading directors, producers, and cinematographers from Australia, the United States, and Africa to serve on the jury. The festival also named filmmakers Phillip Noyce and Pieter de Vries as ambassadors.

Noted directors Ted Melfi and Tarsem Singh had praised the film earlier.

Varma gave special thanks to his parents, S.V.S.N. Raju, an executive engineer with VMRDA, and Sagi Anuradha, for their constant encouragement. He plans to screen Signal in Los Angeles in the coming months and expects a positive response there as well.