Feature Program
BHASMASUR (India)
BHASMASUR (India)
This is a story of a 10-year-old boy in rural India and the journey he undertakes with his debt ridden father. It is a story of love and hardship, and the painful choices powerless people make under duress. A compelling story of the loss of innocence and childhood.
TURUP (CHECKMATE) – (India) / OPENING NIGHT SELECTION
Turup is a story of life in a chess mad town where class, caste, gender, religious identity (and patriarchal attitudes) all come up against each other due to political expediency. The film truly represents the new age filmmakers who are so adept at telling stories which are simple, engrossing and effortlessly touch upon these important social issues while making you smile at the quiet power of women.The filmmakers of Turup are ‘Ektara Collective’, also a very interesting & new concept underlying the collective efforts of filmmaking in today’s world.
US PREMIERE
Filmmaker Maheen Mirza in attendance.
BARLEY FIELDS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN (Tibet)
In the remote mountains of Tibet, a teenage girl must choose between supporting her family after her father’s political imprisonment or joining a group of oppressed nuns on their journey to freedom.
US PREMIERE
Q&A with filmmaker Tian Tsering
ASK THE SEXPERT (India)
Dr. Mahinder Watsa is a highly popular 93-year-old sex advice columnist for a daily newspaper in Mumbai. Despite sex being a taboo topic in India, the column’s brand of non-moralistic advice and humor has emboldened many to write in with their questions.
Filmmaker Vaishali Sinha in attendance.
ANGAMALY DIARIES (India)
Youths tussle violently over control of the pork trade in Angamaly, Kerala, and plot follows the lives of one gang whose members are predominantly from the Christian community there. Violence and coarse language
RIBBON (India)
A young working urban couple is overwhelmed with the birth of a baby girl and find that parenthood comes with its own challenges. It’s a contemporary tale of how convoluted our new normal is!
TEXAS PREMIERE
Q&A with filmmaker Rakhee Sandilya
DHH (India)
DHH is a heartwarming story of 3 friends (Gungun, Bajrang and Vakil) and their journey towards realising their true potential. An afternoon of sauntering leads them to a magic show and leaves them awestruck. Magic, it seems is the solution for all their problems including mathematics.
LOCK & KEY (India)
Four recovering addicts at a rehabilitation center in Punjab, India are helping families recover from the rampant drug problem in the state. While they struggle to establish new relationships with their pasts, their wives strive to redefine the meaning of love. An intimate portrayal of recovery, ‘Taala Te Kunjee’ is about relationships and the labor of everyday.
US PREMIERE
ABU (FATHER) – (Canada/Pakistan)
ABU (Father) is the story of Khan’s life and the challenges of growing up a gay man in a close-knit Muslim family in Pakistan, where homosexuals are regarded as sexual deviants and a shame to a family.
Abu Filmmaker Arshad Khan in Attendance
CHUMBAK (THE LOTTERY) – (India)/ CLOSING NIGHT SELECTION
A movie about a Mumbai based teenage who works in an Irani reaturant waiting tables. Out of desperation to fulfill his dreams he turns into a scammer who is unable to shake off one of his victims! The film is a journey across Maharashtra with the victim, who is mentally challenged and a young man discovering himself.
Filmmaker, Sandeep Modi, and Assistant Director Romie D’Costa in attendance.
Shorts Program
HAKLA – (USA)
Fiction
*Precedes BHASMASUR
FIVE O’CLOCK SHADOW (USA)
Fiction
*Precedes RIBBON
JAALGEDI (THE CURIOUS GIRL) – (Nepal)
Fiction
*Precedes BARLEY FIELDS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN
KHUJLI – (India)
Fiction
*Precedes ASK THE SEXPERT
COUNTERFEIT KUNKOO – (India)
Fiction
*Precedes ASK THE SEXPERT
THE STREETS ARE OURS – (Pakistan)
Documentary
*Precedes ABU
