Michael is a young police officer assigned to infiltrate a Tamil separatist organization in order to bring down one of its top financiers, but as he delves into this community, he gradually begins to identify with those he is supposed to destroy. April 13, 2025 at 12:45:00 PM AFS Cinema Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Indie Meme Special 10th Year Retrospective Showcase United States Premiere Little Jaffna France | Narrative Feature 2024 | 100 mins | French, Tamil Recorded Q&A with writer-director Lawrence Valin TICKETS WATCH ONLINE Limited tickets available on site. Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature - IMFF 2025, Austin, USA The district of 'Little Jaffna' in Paris is the heart of a vibrant Tamil community, where Michael, a young police officer, is assigned to infiltrate a criminal group known for extortion and money laundering for the benefit of separatist rebels in Sri-Lanka. But as he works his way deeper into the heart of the organization, his loyalty will be tested, in a relentless pursuit against one of Paris' most hidden and powerful gangs. Film Heritage Foundation used the best surviving elements for the restoration – the original camera negative and the 35 mm print preserved at the NFDC – NFAI. Unfortunately, the sound negative was not available. We digitized the sound from the 35 mm print preserved at Film Heritage Foundation. The film elements were repaired by the Film Heritage Foundation conservators and the scanning was done in Prasad Lab in Chennai We found that due to the deterioration of the print, there were vertical green lines on many parts of the film. While the scanning and digital clean-up was done at Prasad under the supervision of L’Immagine Ritrovata in Bologna, the grading, sound restoration and mastering was done at the lab in Bologna. Both Shyam Benegal and Govind Nihalani, the cinematographer of the film, have been involved in the restoration of the film. Restoration Process Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation The screening will be preceded by a performance by Specific Thing. Specific Thing is the project of local musician Román. Sometimes he plays by himself and sometimes he plays with his snazzy band — he loves to do both! And the music? It draws from folk, punk, pop, latin, communism, animals, friends... He likes to keep it cartoony, quick, and catchy. The band released an album in 2025 called "Now Is Actually Not A Good Time". Find more at @specificthing on Instagram. Meet Specific Thing About the Artist Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Lawrence Valin grew up in Paris. In 2017, he graduated from La Fémis with the La Résidence program. In 2020, his medium-length film "The Loyal Man" was selected for the Clermont-Ferrand Festival, where he received the Best Actor Award and was nominated for the César Award for Best Short Film 2021. His first feature film, "Little Jaffna," won the Gan Foundation Award and received the Grand Prix des Prix du Scénario 2023. Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Trailer Credits Crew: Director: Lawrence Valin Writer: Lawrence Valin Marlène Poste Malysone Bovorasmy Gaëlle Macé Arthur Beaupère Yacine Badday Producers: Simon Bleuzé Marc Bordure Jérôme Hilal Lawrence Valin Film Editor: Anaïs Manuelli In Collaboration With Guerric Catala Featured Cast: Lawrence Valin Puviraj Raveendran Vela Ramamoorthy Radikaa Sarathkumar Marilou Aussilloux Restoration Effort Led By: Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, Director, Film Heritage Foundation Restoration Credit: Restored by Film Heritage Foundation in association with Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd.(Amul), the cinematographer Govind Nihalani and the director Shyam Benegal. Funding supported by Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd.(Amul) Thank you to our community partners for this screening!

A girl is trying to hide certain things from society, but an incident forces her to become stronger to keep her family intact. Eventive Virtual May 3 - May 5, 2024 International Premiere Chhaya India | Short 2023 | 18 mins | Marathi, Konkani TICKETS DONATE TO NEPAL Chhaya tells a story of a very poor girl from a remote village in the interiors of Maharashtra. Circumstances there force her & others mature at a young age. The girl is striving to hide certain things from society, but an incident forces her to become stronger to keep her family intact. Restoration Process About the Artist Pushkar Shrotri is well known writer-director from Marathi Film Industry. His films Haay Kaay... Naay Kaay and Ubuntu have received tremendous appreciation globally. He is known for his simple but thought provoking subjects through his films. Trailer For English subtitles, make sure to turn on the YouTube closed captions. Credits Crew: Director: Pushkar Sudhakar Shrotri Writer: Pushkar Sudhakar Shrotri Producer(s): Omkar Hardikar, Pushkar Sudhakar Shrotri, Fable Factory Film Editor: Ashish Mhatre Featured Cast: Thank you to our community partners for this screening! This program was made possible in part with a grant from Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

2023 Footprints on Water Narrative Feature English, Malyalam mins 108 Texas Premiere In-Person 2023 United Kingdom Drama, Thriller Away from the glitz and glam of Birmingham resides an illegal immigrant community who are always in hiding, leaving no proof of their existence, not even their footprints. Raghu, an illegal immigrant in Birmingham - UK, believes that he has finally struck gold as his daughter, Meera, is all set to marry a wealthy groom, a legal resident in the UK. Raghu was a small-scale business owner in India who fled to the UK with his wife and daughter after being mired in a financial scam. The life that awaited them in the UK was far from perfect – they were dumped into shared accommodation, they did not have legit visas, and they were all expected to work for a meagre wage. Raghu regrets this move, but he is left with no choice but to stay on in the UK, make enough money to pay off his debts, and return home with dignity. Six years on, Raghu now works for a fraudulent solicitor who mints money making fake passports and visa appeals. Raghu is his trusted employee, and his boss has paid back his loyalty by finding the perfect groom for Meera. Following a heated argument with Raghu, Meera storms out of the home and never returns. Raghu worries, knowing Meera's habit of making hasty extreme decisions in the spur of the moment. Raghu sets on a mission to find her all by himself without coming under the police radar. Raghu's search for Meera unveils a different side of her life that he never knew existed. Raghu realizes that in his race behind the materialistic riches, he has lost everything and everyone that mattered to him the most. Now, the only priority in his life is to see his daughter safe. But is he too late? World Premiere - New York Indian Film Festival, Winner - Best Debut Award UK Premiere - UK Asian Film Festival In-Person Q&A with Director Nathalia Syam & Lead Actor Adil Hussain Tickets 4/19/24, 6:15 PM All Badges, Individual Tickets AFS Cinema Director Nathalia Syam Nathalia is a London based debutant feature film director of Footprints On Water. Between the British and Indian film industries, she has experience working as an associate director/ 1st AD and has broadcast credits for her previous short-films and commercials. Nathalia is also a Film Practitioner at a Film School in London. Her previous short film, Lehenga, was nominated for the 'Best of British' award at the BAFTA qualifying 'Iris Prize' Award in Cardiff. Director: Nathalia Syam Producer: Mohaan Naadar Writer: Neetha Syam Cast: Adil Hussain, Nimisha Sajayan, Antonio Aakeel, Lena Editor: Suresh Pai Crew: Tuomas Kantelinen, Resul Pookutty This Event is supported in part by a Mini Grant from Humanities Texas. Community Partners for the Film More Films

Meet Team Meme - the people behind Indie Meme, Austin's premier South Asian cinema organization and independent film festival We Are INDIE MEME Executive Board Ananyaa Ravi President Manpreet Grewal Treasurer Kishan "Shawn" Siram President-Elect Board of Directors Board of Directors Animon Jose Programming Chair Kala Ranganathan Community Partnership Chair Alice (Ali) Mechaley-Saigal Membership Chair Meghana Shukla Marketing Chair Sharmila Mehta Fundraising Chair Staff Radhika Malhotra Executive Director Kalpana Jayaraman Festival Operations-Volunteers Nitya Rayapati Box Office Coordinator Ananya Goks Marketing Coordinator Davis Kurepa-Peers Webmaster & Videographer Staff Volunteer Team Advisors Advisors Elizabeth Avellán Advisor Gita Lal Advisor Chale Nafus Advisor Alka Bhanot Co-Founder & Advisor Vijay Mahajan Advisor Tripti Bhatnagar Co-Founder & Advisor Ahmed Moledina Advisor Staff Festival Team Volunteer Team Kailee Andrews Festival Programming Ramdas Menon Festival Programming Uma Riddle Festival Programming Suja Jose Festival Programming Shivani Mittal Festival Operations Kamal Khan Festival Programming Hitesh Vijay Oswal Festival Ticketing Indie Meme Ambassadors Gita Singh Indie Meme Ambassador Anushka Mehta Indie Meme Ambassador Join Our Team We are looking for committed, dedicated and energetic people to join our team! If you are interested in a position on our Volunteer Team, or simply want to get involved and want to volunteer, talk to us! We are especially looking for people that can help with fundraising, public relations, and social media. Become a Volunteer Executive Board Board of Directors Staff Advisors Festival Team Ambassadors

An imaginative kid in a water scarce slum realizes a superpower and decides to help his struggling mother to make her life easy. Eventive Virtual May 2 - 4, 2025 Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Indie Meme Special 10th Year Retrospective Showcase United States Premiere Waterman India | Short 2023 | 24 mins | Marathi, Kannada TICKETS WATCH ONLINE Limited tickets available on site. 16th IDSFFK - Best Film Award in Short Fiction Category 14th Bengaluru International Short Film Festival 2024 - 1st Runner Up in Kannada category In a low-income neighborhood in Pune, 'Kitty', an eight-year-old boy, lives with his mother 'Saroja' amidst severe water shortages. During Kitty's summer vacation, Kitty fills his days playing with his imaginary friend while Saroja struggles to manage household tasks and water collection alone, due to her husband's absence. Their neighbor Gullamma suggests Kitty should grow-up quickly to help his mother. Meantime Kitty becomes intrigued after encountering a stiltwalker and playing with Gullamma's son, Dasthgir. He convinces Dasthgir to get him a pair of stilts. Later, Kitty discovers that whenever he walks on stilts, all the taps around him start running with water. When he shares this news with other people, he gets laughed at. His own mother gives him a scolding. Angered, Kitty runs away but is found and brought back home by Dasthgir. Saroja reassures Kitty that they will use his ability to bring water to the neighborhood. Soon after, in the middle of the night, stilts emerge from Saroja's house, and wherever Kitty's shadow passes, taps and containers start running with water, flooding the lanes and roads. Kitty continues to walk as his stilts echoes through the neighborhood. Film Heritage Foundation used the best surviving elements for the restoration – the original camera negative and the 35 mm print preserved at the NFDC – NFAI. Unfortunately, the sound negative was not available. We digitized the sound from the 35 mm print preserved at Film Heritage Foundation. The film elements were repaired by the Film Heritage Foundation conservators and the scanning was done in Prasad Lab in Chennai We found that due to the deterioration of the print, there were vertical green lines on many parts of the film. While the scanning and digital clean-up was done at Prasad under the supervision of L’Immagine Ritrovata in Bologna, the grading, sound restoration and mastering was done at the lab in Bologna. Both Shyam Benegal and Govind Nihalani, the cinematographer of the film, have been involved in the restoration of the film. Restoration Process Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation The screening will be preceded by a performance by Specific Thing. Specific Thing is the project of local musician Román. Sometimes he plays by himself and sometimes he plays with his snazzy band — he loves to do both! And the music? It draws from folk, punk, pop, latin, communism, animals, friends... He likes to keep it cartoony, quick, and catchy. The band released an album in 2025 called "Now Is Actually Not A Good Time". Find more at @specificthing on Instagram. Meet Specific Thing About the Artist Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Vishwas K is alumni of FTII, and he graduated in Direction and Screenplay Writing. His diploma film Waterman won the Best Short film award at the 16th IDSFFK in July 2024, and first runner up in Kannada competition at the 14th Bengaluru International Short Film Festival in Aug 2024. The film has also been screened in March 2025 at Bengaluru International Film Festival organized by Govt of Karnataka. Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Trailer Credits Crew: Director: Vishwas K Writer: Vishwas K Producers: Film & Television Institute of India Film Editor: Gokul Gopinathan Featured Cast: Kartik Pujari Shwetha Rani H K Jahida M A Sanju Chavann Pruthviraj Lodga Restoration Effort Led By: Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, Director, Film Heritage Foundation Restoration Credit: Restored by Film Heritage Foundation in association with Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd.(Amul), the cinematographer Govind Nihalani and the director Shyam Benegal. Funding supported by Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd.(Amul) Thank you to our community partners for this screening!

April 25, 2026 at 3:30:00 PM AFS Cinema Texas Premiere The Cycle of Love United Kingdom, Sweden 2025 Live Q&A with protagonists Lotta Mahanandia Von Schedvin and P.K. Mahanandia, & producers Karl Von Schedvin and Emelie Mahanandia Von Schedvin. TICKETS BUY A BADGE Telluride Film Festival, Hamptons Film Festival - Winner Social Impact Award Middleburg Film Festival - Winner Audience Award for Best Documentary Jackson Hole Film Festival Best Documentary Audience Choice - Indie Meme Film Festival 2026 In 1977, PK, a 23-year-old Delhi street artist from a poor, ‘untouchable’ family, picked up a handful of paintbrushes and a second-hand bicycle and set off on a 6000-mile cross-continent mission - to find Lotta, the woman who had captured his heart. A love story like no other, THE CYCLE OF LOVE is an inspiring, heart-warming, epic true-life adventure about the search for self-belief and risking everything for what your heart tells you. Restoration Process Film restoration process Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation About the Artist Orlando is an Academy Award-winning director and the founder of award-winning UK creative house Grain Media. His work includes Academy Award-winning THE WHITE HELMETS; Academy Award-nominated VIRUNGA; BIFA-winning EVELYN, EMMY-nominated LOST AND FOUND, EMMY-nominated CONVERGENCE: COURAGE IN A CRISIS, Platino-nominated THE LOST CHILDREN, critically acclaimed Netflix series HEART OF INVICTUS and forthcoming THE CYCLE OF LOVE. Other work includes Academy Award-winning LEARNING TO SKATEBOARD IN A WAR ZONE (IF YOU’RE A GIRL); EMMY-nominated SCOUTS HONOR; and EMMY-winning BUY NOW! all of which he executively produced. Trailer For English subtitles, make sure to turn on the YouTube closed captions. Credits Crew: Director: Orlando Von Einsiedel Writer: Producer(s): Harri Grace Chloe Leland Film Editor: Katie Bryer Bfe Featured Cast: P. K. Mahanandia Lotta Von Schedvin Chirag Benedict Lobo Mina Dale Thank you to our community partners for this screening!

< Our Team Staff Kalpana Jayaraman Festival Operations-Volunteers Kalpana is a long-time resident of Austin and has been enjoying the films at Indie Meme for several years. Professionally, she is a hardware engineer with many years of experience in hardware design and management. She is proud to support Indie Meme's mission of bringing socially relevant cinema from South Asia to the heart of Texas!

2022 Periyanayaki Short English, Tamil mins 11 Virtual 2022 New Zealand Drama Tickets 4/28/23, 12:00 PM Free with IMFF Badge Director Bala Murali Since graduating from the University of Auckland in 2018 with an MA in Screen Production, Bala Murali Shingade has been working as a writer, director and actor for screen and theatre. For his MA thesis film, Bala was awarded the Geoff Evans Prize for Screen Excellence. In 2019, he wrote, directed, and edited 800 LUNCHES, a short film commissioned and funded by the Outlook for Someday. Director: Bala Murali Shingade Producer: Writer: Bala Murali Shingade Cast: Jeyagowri Sivakumaran Editor: Crew: This Event is supported in part by a Mini Grant from Humanities Texas. Community Partners for the Film More Films

The life of a young glassblower in training and his relationships over the years, as his land goes through war and strife. April 12, 2025 at 12:45:00 PM AFS Cinema Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Indie Meme Special 10th Year Retrospective Showcase Texas Premiere The Glassworker Pakistan, Spain, USA | Narrative Feature 2024 | 98 mins | English, Urdu Preceded by the short films Da'Lit Kids and Ouroboros . Recorded Q&A with writer-director Usman Riaz TICKETS WATCH ONLINE Limited tickets available on site. International South Asian Film Festival of Canada Annecy Intl. Animation Film Festival Hong Kong Kids International Film Festival A young, gifted Vincent and his father Tomas run the finest glass workshop in the country and find their lives upended by an approaching war in which they want no part. The arrival in their town of an army colonel and his young aspiring violinist daughter, Alliz, shakes their reality and tests the relationship between father and son. As the love develops between Vincent and Alliz, they will need to gather up their courage to confront their fathers. Film Heritage Foundation used the best surviving elements for the restoration – the original camera negative and the 35 mm print preserved at the NFDC – NFAI. Unfortunately, the sound negative was not available. We digitized the sound from the 35 mm print preserved at Film Heritage Foundation. The film elements were repaired by the Film Heritage Foundation conservators and the scanning was done in Prasad Lab in Chennai We found that due to the deterioration of the print, there were vertical green lines on many parts of the film. While the scanning and digital clean-up was done at Prasad under the supervision of L’Immagine Ritrovata in Bologna, the grading, sound restoration and mastering was done at the lab in Bologna. Both Shyam Benegal and Govind Nihalani, the cinematographer of the film, have been involved in the restoration of the film. Restoration Process Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation The screening will be preceded by a performance by Specific Thing. Specific Thing is the project of local musician Román. Sometimes he plays by himself and sometimes he plays with his snazzy band — he loves to do both! And the music? It draws from folk, punk, pop, latin, communism, animals, friends... He likes to keep it cartoony, quick, and catchy. The band released an album in 2025 called "Now Is Actually Not A Good Time". Find more at @specificthing on Instagram. Meet Specific Thing About the Artist Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Usman Riaz is the Co-Founder of Mano Animation Studios, Pakistan’s first hand-drawn animation studio. A multifaceted talent, Usman has made significant strides in various creative fields. A recipient of a full scholarship at Berklee College of Music, Usman’s musical journey is marked by his albums ‘Flashes & Sparks’ and ‘Circus in the Sky,’ both released with EMI Pakistan. His prowess extends to filmmaking, having written, directed, and scored notable short films like ‘RUCKUS’ and ‘The Waves,’ with the latter being an Official Selection at the 2013 New York City Independent Film Festival. His ambitious project, ‘The Glassworker,’ showcases his storytelling and animation skills, promising to be a significant addition to his portfolio. Under Usman’s leadership, Mano Animation Studios has become a beacon of cultural storytelling and artistic excellence. The release not only marks a significant moment in Pakistani cinema but also elevates traditional animation on the global stage, showcasing its enduring charm over transient CGI trends. Usman Riaz’s artistic contributions continue to inspire a new generation of creators and storytellers worldwide. Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Trailer Credits Crew: Director: Usman Riaz Writer: Moya O’Shea Usman Riaz Producers: Film Editor: Featured Cast: Art Malik Sacha Dhawan Anjli Mohindra Tony Jayawardena Teresa Gallagher Mina Anwar Sham Ali Maya Saroya Nila Aalia Restoration Effort Led By: Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, Director, Film Heritage Foundation Restoration Credit: Restored by Film Heritage Foundation in association with Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd.(Amul), the cinematographer Govind Nihalani and the director Shyam Benegal. Funding supported by Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd.(Amul) Thank you to our community partners for this screening!

An indigenous/tribal woman begins interacting with AI while working at a data centre in the remote Indian province of Jharkhand. August 10, 2025 at 2:30:00 PM AFS Cinema Humans in the Loop India | Narrative Feature 2024 | 74 | Hindi, Kurukh Virtual Q&A with director Aranya Sahay TICKETS DONATE TO NEPAL Best Film Winner, FIPRESCI Award Best Debut Film, New York Indian Film Festival 2025 Best Feature Grand Jury Prize, IFFLA 20225 Inspired by the real phenomenon of 'data labelling' in indigenous regions across India, 'Humans In The Loop' follows Nehma, an indigenous woman who, after divorcing her Hindu husband, returns to her ancestral village with her children—Dhaanu & Guntu. To support her family, Nehma takes an unusual job—'data labelling,' tagging images to help algorithms distinguish objects. Major AI firms outsource this to remote regions of India, where labor is cheap. At the centre, a common saying "AI is like a child", resonates with Nehma. Having grown up believing in life, even in inanimate objects, she connects to the metaphor. She approaches her work with care of a parent teaching their child. As Nehma immerses herself in work, her bond with Dhaanu deteriorates. Struggling with village life, Dhaanu contemplates running away while Nehma begins to see AI as a surrogate child, hoping it will understand her perspective. But as AI mirrors human biases, Nehma questions if it can ever truly see through her indigenous lens. Restoration Process About the Artist Aranya is an Indian filmmaker based out of Mumbai. He studied Direction at FTII, Pune. He went on to assist Imtiaz Ali and Patrick Graham as an Associate Director & Director's Assistant. He has directed five short films, of which 'Songs for Babasaheb' and 'Chait' have screened at Mumbai International Film Festival, Signs Film Festival, and Jaffna Film Festival. In 2021, his film 'Saaya' was selected as a 'Film Bazaar Recommends' project. He was a participant and grant winner in the Museum of Imagined Futures Impact Fellowship Programme in 2023. Trailer For English subtitles, make sure to turn on the YouTube closed captions. Credits Crew: Director: Aranya Sahay Writer: Aranya Sahay Producer(s): Storiculture SAUV Films Mathivanan Rajendran Sarabhi Ravichandran Shilpa Kumar Film Editor: Swaroop Reghu Aranya Sahay Featured Cast: Sonal Madhushankar Ridhima Singh Geeta Guha Anurag Lugun Monika Aranya Sahay Thank you to our community partners for this screening! This program was made possible in part with a grant from Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

A hot-tempered alcoholic father drags his reticent son to a distant village to fetch back his wife whom he had chased away. But when the encounter turns ugly, the journey home through unforgiving Tamil Nadu barrens is fraught with the sweat and smudge of the deserted terrain where the land and human emotions lay brazenly palpable in the scorching heat. Eventive Virtual May 2 - 4, 2025 Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Indie Meme Special 10th Year Retrospective Showcase Pebbles India | Narrative Feature 2021 | 75 mins | Tamil ORIGINAL FILM PAGE WATCH ONLINE Limited tickets available on site. Winner of the 'Tiger Award' at the 50th International Film Festival Rotterdam 2021, Netherlands, held in February 2021 Winner of the PREMIO SNCCI “Best Feature Film” adjudged by the National Syndicate of Italian Film Critics at ShorTS International Film Festival 2021, Italy held in July 2021 Winner of the 'Audience Award' at Burgas International Film Festival 2021, Bulgaria held in July 2021 A hot-tempered alcoholic father drags his reticent son to a distant village to fetch back his wife whom he had chased away. But when the encounter turns ugly, the journey home through unforgiving Tamil Nadu barrens is fraught with the sweat and smudge of the deserted terrain where the land and human emotions lay brazenly palpable in the scorching heat. Film Heritage Foundation used the best surviving elements for the restoration – the original camera negative and the 35 mm print preserved at the NFDC – NFAI. Unfortunately, the sound negative was not available. We digitized the sound from the 35 mm print preserved at Film Heritage Foundation. The film elements were repaired by the Film Heritage Foundation conservators and the scanning was done in Prasad Lab in Chennai We found that due to the deterioration of the print, there were vertical green lines on many parts of the film. While the scanning and digital clean-up was done at Prasad under the supervision of L’Immagine Ritrovata in Bologna, the grading, sound restoration and mastering was done at the lab in Bologna. Both Shyam Benegal and Govind Nihalani, the cinematographer of the film, have been involved in the restoration of the film. Restoration Process Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation The screening will be preceded by a performance by Specific Thing. Specific Thing is the project of local musician Román. Sometimes he plays by himself and sometimes he plays with his snazzy band — he loves to do both! And the music? It draws from folk, punk, pop, latin, communism, animals, friends... He likes to keep it cartoony, quick, and catchy. The band released an album in 2025 called "Now Is Actually Not A Good Time". Find more at @specificthing on Instagram. Meet Specific Thing About the Artist Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Vinothraj P S is a filmmaker hailing from Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India. He dropped out of school when he was in class IV owing to poverty. To overcome the financial difficulties at home, he opted to become a child laborer at the age of 8 and worked in a textile factory until he turned 19. To eke out a living, he then sold DVDs at a roadside shop in Chennai. During this time, he was introduced to a few people from the Tamil film industry and joined several projects as an assistant director to Mr. Sargunam, a Tamil filmmaker. He began to assistant direct for ‘Manal Magudi’, a post-modernist theatre troupe ,and utilized his time during this venture to shoot a few short films. His debut feature ‘Koozhangal’ (Pebbles) premiered at the International Film Festival of Rotterdam, where it went on to win the coveted Tiger Award and gain worldwide acclaim. Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Trailer Credits Crew: Director: Vinothraj P S Writer: Vinothraj P S Producers: Vignesh Shivan & Nayanthara Film Editor: Ganesh Siva Featured Cast: Karuththadaiyaan Chellapandi Restoration Effort Led By: Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, Director, Film Heritage Foundation Restoration Credit: Restored by Film Heritage Foundation in association with Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd.(Amul), the cinematographer Govind Nihalani and the director Shyam Benegal. Funding supported by Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd.(Amul) Thank you to our community partners for this screening!