When Leon Korzyński first arrived in Mumbai, he was ten years old. The city left such a strong impression on him that he already imagined returning one day to make a film. Years later, as a Directing student at the Warsaw Film School, he did exactly that. Together with cinematographer Witek Prokopczyk and an international crew, he made Kamathipura Express, a second-year student project that would go on to win a Student Academy Award, as has been confirmed by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (see the news on the nomination). The trophy itself will be handed out in mid-September, with the film guaranteed to walk away with either Gold, Silver or Bronze.

“My first encounter with India, and especially with Mumbai, rooted itself so deeply in my mind and affected my senses so strongly that, when I was ten years old, I thought: ‘One day, I have to make a film here’,” Korzyński recalls. His fascination grew through Indian politics, mythology and cinema. When the opportunity arose to make his second-year film, he wanted a project that would take him well beyond his comfort zone. The story was also shaped by his research into human trafficking, particularly cases in which exploitation began within a victim’s own family. Those questions stayed with him after visiting Kamathipura, one of Mumbai’s most historically charged neighbourhoods, during an earlier project and eventually became part of the foundation of the film.

Korzyński was nevertheless conscious of being a young Polish filmmaker approaching a reality that was not his own. He therefore involved his Mumbai-based friend Sahil in the writing process. “For me, it was important that this film should not be only my individual perspective. I wanted the voice of someone who was much closer to this world and who lived in Mumbai every day,” he explains. Their discussions gradually led them towards two universal themes: love and family. Screenwriter Agatha Dominik, who served as the project’s artistic supervisor, also contributed to a screenplay developed through an exchange between different cultural perspectives. At the same time, Korzyński did not want to disguise his own background. “I am Polish, and I did not want to pretend otherwise,” he says, explaining why the perspective of the protagonist, Osa, had to remain close to his own experience.

Making the film in Mumbai on a student budget presented another challenge. The team ultimately decided not to shoot in Kamathipura itself, judging that working there with their limited resources would entail too much risk. Instead, they searched for locations capable of reproducing its atmosphere.

Preparation became essential. Prokopczyk documented potential locations extensively, taking more than 4,500 photographs with a viewfinder app before filming began. These images allowed the filmmakers to study camera positions, compositions and visual continuity in advance. “We weren’t just looking for locations that matched the script, but above all for places that had their own character and could become part of the characters’ world,” says Prokopczyk. The film’s visual language grew out of those locations. Blue and red gradually emerged as dominant colours, reflecting the contrast between Mumbai’s intense, crowded energy and the intimacy created by the two central characters.

“Their closeness means that, amidst all this chaos, the world around them begins to slow down and becomes merely a backdrop,” Prokopczyk explains. “We wanted to show just how powerful the energy of love can be and how much it can change the way we perceive reality.”

Despite the extensive preparation, reality frequently disrupted the shooting plan. Locations changed, shots had to be redesigned, and long distances complicated the logistics. Large groups of curious onlookers also gathered around the set, making carefully choreographed scenes difficult to execute.

“After the first few days of shooting, the whole crew came to understand that some things simply cannot be forced,” Korzyński says. “Instead of fighting those limitations, we had to adapt.” That unpredictability eventually became part of the film itself. Rather than trying to impose a predetermined aesthetic on Mumbai, the crew allowed the environment to reshape their approach. “India brought its intensity, energy and character to the film,” says Prokopczyk. “In a sense, it was created alongside this place.”

Through the production, lasting relationships were also forged among the international crew. In one particularly fitting development for a movie centred on human connection, its two lead actors, Oskar and Mia, became a couple after shooting, and continue to travel between India and Poland to see one another.

What began as an unusually ambitious student exercise subsequently gained international recognition. Produced at the Warsaw Film School as part of Korzyński and Prokopczyk’s studies, Kamathipura Express went on to win one of the most prestigious distinctions for emerging filmmakers, a Student Academy Award, as has been confirmed by the Academy itself.

Its trajectory reflects the philosophy behind the project: using film education not simply to master technique, but also to take creative risks. A second-year production took its young crew thousands of kilometres from Warsaw and forced them to balance meticulous preparation with circumstances that could never be fully controlled.

Warsaw Film School is currently recruiting students for its English-language Directing and Cinematography programmes, both aimed at filmmakers wishing to develop their practice in an international environment.

For Korzyński, meanwhile, the experience has not brought his fascination with India to an end. “I still feel that my story with India is not over,” he says. “It remains a deep personal interest, maybe even a kind of small obsession.”