The ceremony was instituted in 2012 by Vishnu Vardhan Induri, the founder of Celebrity Cricket League.[1][2] Adusumilli Brinda Prasad is the chairperson of SIIMA. The awards are presented in separate parts on two different days. On the first day the most promising upcoming South Indian film artistes are honoured at the Generation Next Awards, while the second day is reserved for the main SIIMA Awards. The award nominees are selected by a jury of senior artistes and professionals and voted for by public polling.[3]
The first SIIMA ceremony was held on 21–22 June 2012 at the Dubai World Trade Centre in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.[4] Unlike other South Indian film awards, SIIMA holds its ceremony abroad.[5] However, in 2021, SIIMA was conducted in Hyderabad, India owing to the travel restrictions due to COVID-19 pandemic.[6]
SIIMA Short Film Awards were announced in 2017 to recognise makers and actors of short films.[7] In September 2017, a twitter emoji was released on the platform.[8] Invenio Origin joined as the strategic partner in January 2024, with significant stake in SIIMA [9] and CCL, to scale-up these formats, and to launch OTT Streaming Academy Awards through, a new media IP called Indian National Cine Academy (INCA).[10]
