Nasir

India I Netherlands I Singapore I 80 mins I Drama I 2020

Tamil w/ English subtitles

Nasir, the eponymous protagonist, is a quietly humorous romantic. Each day, he rises to make ends meet as a salesman so he can take care of an ailing mother and adopted son.

The day we meet Nasir appears ordinary – he takes a bath, speaks to his son, pens a love letter to his wife, and goes about various chores. He weaves through the city, navigating people and philosophies. But as the day lengthens, his path intersects with an act of communal bigotry.

Shot in rich hues on Super 16mm, this immersive, 85-minute gem builds expertly, drawing a portrait of a modest man whose community is riven by stoked hatreds & surging unrest. The elegant groundwork leads into an ending Variety dubbed "the kind of gut-punch that doesn’t disappear once the lights come up."

+ This program includes short film, NOOREH

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About the Artist

Self-taught independent southern Indian filmmaker Arun Karthick started out directing short films on his Cinema Obscura platform, aged just seventeen. His refreshing debut THE STRANGE CASE OF SHIVA (2015) premiered at IFFR, and he was seen as a major new voice in Tamil cinema.

His second feature NASIR premiered at International Film Festival Rotterdam, winning the 2020 NETPAC Award for Best Asian Film.

NASIR has earned widespread acclaim, screening at world festivals including New Directors/New Films, AFI Fest, and Mumbai Film Festival, and the Tarkovsky Festival - Zerkalo, where it won the Grand Prix.