October 5, 2025 at 6:00:00 PM

AFS Cinema

We Are Faheem & Karun

India | Narrative Feature

2024 | 75 | Kashmiri

Q&A with filmmaker Onir

The film will be proceeded by a live musical performance by Ramesh Srivastava (of Voxtrot).

MASTER CLASS

TICKETS

Best Director, UK Asian Film Festival 2025

Onir and co-writer Fawzia Mirza venture into the complex terrain of Kashmir with this quiet love story that finds poetry in the most unlikely circumstances. Set in Gurez, a remote border region of Kashmir, We Are Faheem & Karun follows an unexpected connection between Karun, a young security officer from Kerala on his first posting, and Faheem, a local student.

Their romance develops through lingering glances and shared moments against the backdrop of one of the world's most militarized regions. Rather than sensationalizing its setting, Onir captures Kashmir as a place where people live, love, and dream despite ever-present tensions. Anchored by emotionally rich performances from Akash Menon and Mir Tawseef, this groundbreaking film treats its characters as people first, not symbols. Produced by Deepa Mehta, We Are Faheem & Karun offers a work both intimate and political, proving that the most personal stories often carry the deepest universal truths.

About the Artist

Onir is an Indian filmmaker, producer, screenwriter, and editor born in Bhutan. He is best known for his film "My Brother... Nikhil" (2005) , based on the life of Dominic D'Souza, starring Sanjay Suri, Juhi Chawla, and Purab Kohli. It was one of the first mainstream Hindi films to deal with AIDS and same-sex relationships.

He won the Indian National Film Award for Best Film (Hindi) in 2011 for the anthology "I AM". This film is considered one of the first and largest crowd-funded and crowd-sourced films through social media in India. The film dealt with single motherhood, child sexual abuse, displacement, and LGBTQI+ rights.

In March 2024, Onir’s "Pine Cone" screened at BFI Flare, a queer love story written by Ashwini Malik and Onir. It is loosely based on Onir’s memoir "I Am Onir and I Am Gay", which he co-wrote with his sister Irene Dhar Malik and was published by Penguin Viking.

Onir’s directed one of the 4 stories of the anthology “My Melbourne” which was shot in Melbourne by 4 Indian film makers with an Australian cast and Crew telling stories of diversity and inclusion. Onir’s "We Are Faheem & Karun” had its international premiere at BFI Flare (March 2025)