A mobile repairman working alone at night in Kochi is the whole premise of Switch Off, and that premise has now travelled to Paris. Abhishek Pathak and Sandeep Francis's 11-minute thriller has been selected for the 32nd edition of L'Étrange Festival, according to Bollywood Hungama, and will screen at the Forum des Images as part of a lineup running from September 1 to September 12, 2026.

It's the second international festival stop for the film. Switch Off had already played at South Korea's Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, better known as BIFAN, before this Paris selection came through.

Pathak, who produced the film, called the French selection a different kind of win. "Being selected for L'Étrange Festival Paris is a wonderful recognition for the film and the team," he said. Coming from someone who's spent the last few years in the box-office end of the business, most recently with Drishyam 2 and its follow-up, that's a notable line to hear.

The story itself stays small and tight by design. It opens inside a cramped mobile repair shop, the repairman working alone, and then pushes him out onto Kochi's streets when the night takes a turn he doesn't expect. Pathak says what pulled him toward the project in the first place was Francis's handling of that shift, how quickly the film gets you into its world and keeps you moving once you're there.

He thinks that pace is exactly what should land with a Paris crowd. "I think they will connect with the way the story is told. The film gets the audience into the world very quickly and keeps the story moving," he said.

Asked to weigh a festival selection against a theatrical hit, Pathak drew a clear line between the two. "A box-office success gives you the excitement of scale, while a festival selection gives you the satisfaction of seeing a story travel in a completely different environment," he said, adding that the Paris slot counts as "a very special moment" for the team.

There's also something to be said for the runtime working in the film's favour rather than against it. "The idea itself is simple, but an interesting cinematic way of presenting it did work well," Pathak said. "When I saw it, I felt there was enough happening within those few minutes to keep an audience engaged and take them somewhere emotionally."

No word yet on whether Switch Off picks up further festival dates beyond Paris, or whether Pathak and Francis have plans to stretch the idea into something longer. For now, an 11-minute film shot in Kochi has quietly built itself a passport.