Los Angeles-based filmmaker and multidisciplinary artist Keyur Gaikwad is earning international recognition for Mon Amour, a 14-minute surrealist black comedy that explores the destructive intersection of artistic ambition, narcissism, and toxic relationships. Serving as Director, Director of Photography and Colorist, Gaikwad helped shape the film’s distinctive visual identity, translating its psychological tension and surrealist themes into a cinematic experience that has received multiple international film festival awards. 

Blending dark humor, theatrical imagery, and psychological unease, Mon Amour follows Curtis, an unsuccessful playwright-director obsessed with creating his magnum opus, and Bérénice, his much younger French actress wife. When a disagreement over their new play erupts into a vicious confrontation, professional criticism gives way to personal attacks, exposing the resentment and insecurity beneath their increasingly volatile marriage. 
 
Set in a bedroom transformed into a theatrical stage, the film immerses viewers in Curtis’ distorted perception of reality. As his arguments with Bérénice escalate, a disembodied voice manipulates his thoughts and reinforces his artistic ego, while a human-sized bunny offers moments of surreal comfort. Their presence blurs the line between the absurd and the unsettling, drawing audiences deeper into Curtis’ troubled inner world. 
 
Bringing a Surrealist Vision to Life Through Cinematography and Color 
 
As Director of Photography and Colorist, Gaikwad played a central role in establishing the film’s visual language. His work supports the story’s intimate setting and theatrical atmosphere, helping translate Curtis’ subjective experience into images that reinforce the film’s psychological tension. 
 
The cinematography is integral to the film’s character-driven approach, placing the audience inside a world shaped by Curtis’ insecurities, artistic frustrations, and increasingly distorted perspective. By treating the bedroom as both a domestic space and a theatrical stage, the film creates a visual environment where the boundaries between performance and reality become increasingly unstable. By filming the film as a continuous 14-minute oner, it immerses the audience in the experience, making them feel as though they are standing onstage, witnessing a live theatrical performance unfold in real time. 
 
Gaikwad’s work as Colorist further contributes to the film’s cohesive visual presentation, shaping the relationship between its imagery, atmosphere, and emotional tone. Together, his cinematography and color work help establish a distinctive aesthetic that complements the film’s surrealist storytelling and darkly comic sensibility. 
 
For Gaikwad, whose artistic influences include surrealist painters Frida Kahlo and Salvador Dalí and filmmaker David Lynch, visual storytelling offers a way to communicate complex emotions and subconscious experiences beyond the limits of dialogue. These influences inform his interest in the interplay between imagery, atmosphere, and psychological narrative, all of which are central to Mon Amour. 
 
Through its surreal imagery and unsettling humor, Mon Amour examines the difference between self-acceptance and self-deception. It explores how artistic ambition can become entangled with ego, how emotional manipulation can distort intimate relationships, and how people sometimes choose familiar illusions over the difficult work of confronting their flaws. 
 
International Film Festival Recognition 
 
Mon Amour has received seven festival awards, two honorable mentions, and six official selections, earning recognition across international independent and experimental film communities. 
 
Awards and honors include: 
 
Global Cineverse Film Festival — Winner, Best International Short Film 
 
Bangkok Movie Awards — Winner, Short Film 
 
Rohip International Film Festival — Winner, Best US Short Film 
 
Makizhmithran International Film Festival — Winner, Best Experimental Short Film 
 
Athvikvaruni International Film Festival — Winner, Best Experimental Short Film 
 
Thilsri International Film Festival — Winner, Best Experimental Short Film 
 
Sittannavasal International Film Festival — Winner, Best Experimental Short Film 
 
Stockholm City Film Festival — Honorable Mention, Best Experimental Film 
 
Asian Independent Film Festival — Honorable Mention, Best Short Film 
 
The film has also earned official selections at Purgatory Film Festival, Hallucinea Film Festival, Pupila Film Festival, Iconic Indie Film Awards, Eastern Europe Film Festival, and Follow Your Heart NY. 
 
This international recognition highlights the film’s distinctive creative approach and growing presence within the independent cinema landscape. 
 
Meet Keyur Gaikwad: Filmmaker and Multidisciplinary Artist 
 
Born and raised in Pune, India, Keyur Gaikwad is a Los Angeles-based filmmaker and multidisciplinary artist whose creative practice spans filmmaking, cinematography, color grading, painting, photography, and writing. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Digital Arts and Animation before moving to Los Angeles to pursue an MFA in Filmmaking at the New York Film Academy, Los Angeles, where he graduated with honors. 
 
Gaikwad’s passion for art began early, shaped by his engagement with music, visual arts, literature, and cinema. He started writing poetry and short stories as a teenager before developing his interest in screenwriting and more complex narratives. His fascination with surrealist imagery grew through the work of Frida Kahlo and Salvador Dalí, while David Lynch’s films further inspired his exploration of atmosphere, symbolism, and subconscious storytelling. 
 
Cinema also holds a deeply personal place in Gaikwad’s life. Growing up, watching films with family and friends helped shape his understanding of storytelling as more than entertainment. He came to see art as a powerful means of connecting people, opening new perspectives, and exploring emotions that words alone cannot always convey. As a multidisciplinary artist, he was drawn to filmmaking for its unique ability to bring together diverse art forms into a unified, meaningful expression. 
 
Today, he approaches creativity as both personal expression and a way to contribute something meaningful to the world. Whether working behind the camera, shaping a film’s color palette, or exploring other artistic mediums, Gaikwad aspires to create honest, emotionally resonant work that encourages audiences to reflect, connect, and recognize their shared humanity. 
 
With Mon Amour, Gaikwad brings his interests in surrealism, psychological storytelling, and visual expression together in a film that challenges viewers to look beyond appearances. His dual contribution as Director, Director of Photography and Colorist underscores the importance of visual craft in realizing the film’s unsettling world, while its international festival recognition marks a significant milestone in his ongoing creative journey.