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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 TICKETS 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.

A globe-spanning anthology film, comprised of seven short stories directed by women from across the world.S hot in Italy, India, Japan, and the U.S. - each segment is an inspirational and empowering story by and about women. April 15, 2023 at 11:30:00 PM AFS Cinemas Tell it Like a Woman Italy, USA, India, Japan | Narrative Feature 2022 | 112 min | English, Italian In-Person Q&A with Director Leena Yadav TICKETS TICKETS 2022 Academy Award Nominee for 'Best Original Song' Tell It Like A Woman is a globe-spanning anthology film, comprised of seven short stories directed by women from across the world. Shot in Italy, India, Japan, and the U.S, each segment is an inspirational and empowering story by and about women. Restoration Process About the Artist Leena Yadav an Indian film director, screenwriter and editor. She is known for her first international feature, PARCHED (2015), which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, as well as the hit NETFLIX docu-series HOUSE OF SECRETS: THE BURARI DEATHS (2021). Catherine Hardwicke is an American film director, production designer, and screenwriter known for THIRTEEN, LORDS OF DOGTOWN, TWILIGHT, and MISS YOU ALREADY. Taraji P Henson is a Golden Globe & Screen Actors Guild award winning actress known for her roles in HIDDEN FIGURES, EMPIRE, HUSTLE& FLOW and TEH CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON. Mipo O is a Japanese film director, screenwriter, and commercial director known for her feature films including BEING GOOD and THE LIGHT SHINES ONLY THERE. She has been recognized with the Sundance/NHK International Filmmakers Award . Lucía Puenzo is an Argentinian author and film director. She studied at the University of Buenos Aires followed by the National Film Institute. She is known for her acclaimed features, XXY, THE GERMAN DOCTOR, and DIVE. Maria Sole Tognazzi is an Italian director of television and film known for her feature projects including PAST PERFECT, A FIVE STAR LIFE, and ME, MYSELF, & HER - the first Italian feature-length lesbian romantic comedy. Silvia Carobbio is known as an Director and Line Producer. Lucia Bulgheroni is an Italian animation director. After working in commercials, regularly blending live action and stop motion techniques, Lucia completed an MA in Directing Animation at the National Film & Television School in London. Trailer For English subtitles, make sure to turn on the YouTube closed captions. Credits Crew: Director: Catherine Hardwicke Taraj i P. Henson Lucía Puenzo Leena Yadav Maria Sole Tognazzi Mipo O Silvia Carobbio Lucia Bulgheroni Writer: Catherine Hardwicke Lucía Puenzo Tatiana Menenuk Mipo O Giulia Louise Steigerwalt Leena Yadav Shantanu Sagara Krupa Ge Chiara Tilesi Lucia Bulgheroni Silvia Carobbio Producer(s): Lucas Akoskin Monika Bacardi Andrea Iervolino Chiara Tilesi Film Editor: Josie Azzam Anne-Sophie Bion Featured Cast: Cara Delevingne Marcia Gay Harden Eva Longoria Jennifer Hudson Margherita Buy Anne Watanabe Pauletta Washington Marcia Gay Harden Jasmin Luv Leonor Varela Jacqueline Fernandez 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.

As legions of birds fall from New Delhi’s darkening skies, and the city smolders with social unrest, two brothers race to save a casualty of the turbulent times: the black kite, a majestic bird of prey essential to their city's ecosystem. April 12, 2023 at 10:15:00 PM AFS Cinemas All That Breathes India, USA, United Kingdom | Documentary 2022 | 94 min | Hindi TICKETS TICKETS Winner of Sundance Film Festival and Cannes Film Festival Awards for 'Best Documentary' (2022) In one of the world’s most populated cities, two brothers — Nadeem and Saud — devote their lives to the quixotic effort of protecting the black kite, a majestic bird of prey essential to the ecosystem of New Delhi that has been falling from the sky at alarming rates. Amid environmental toxicity and social unrest, the ‘kite brothers’ spend day and night caring for the creatures in their makeshift avian hospital. Director Shaunak Sen (CITIES OF SLEEP) explores the connection between the kites and the Muslim brothers who help them return to the skies, offering a mesmerizing chronicle of inter-species coexistence. Restoration Process About the Artist Shaunak Sen is a filmmaker and film scholar based in New Delhi, India. CITIES OF SLEEP (2016), his first feature-length documentary, was shown at various major international film festivals (including DOK Leipzig, DMZ Docs and the Taiwan International Documentary Festival, among others) and won 6 international awards. Shaunak received support from the IDFA Bertha Fund (2019), the Sundance Documentary Grant (2019), the Catapult Film Fund (2020), the Charles Wallace Grant, the Sarai CSDS Digital Media fellowship (2014), and the Films Division of India fellowship (2013). He was also a visiting scholar at Cambridge University (2018) and has published academic articles in Bioscope, Widescreen and other journals. Trailer For English subtitles, make sure to turn on the YouTube closed captions. Credits Crew: Director: Shaunak Sen Writer: Producer(s): Shaunak Sen Aman Mann Teddy Leifer Florrie Priest Film Editor: Charlotte Munch Bengtsen Featured Cast: Nadeem Shehzad Mohammad Saud Salik Rehman 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.

Amber, a happiness agent, travels the Bhutanese Himalayas surveying people's happiness. On his remote mountain journey, he searches for fulfillment. April 13, 2025 at 3:30:00 PM AFS Cinema Virtual May 2 - 4, 2025 Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Indie Meme Special 10th Year Retrospective Showcase Agent of Happiness Bhutan, Hungary, USA, Czech Republic | Documentary 2024 | 94 mins | Dzongkha, Nepali, English Recorded Q&A with Director Arun Bhattarai TICKETS WATCH ONLINE Limited tickets available on site. Jury and Audience Choice Award for Best Documentary - IMFF 2025, Austin, USA Sundance Film Festival 2024 71st Sydney Film Festival 2024 MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2024 How can you measure happiness? The country of Bhutan invented Gross National Happiness to do just that, and Amber is one of the agents who travels door to door to meet people and measure how happy they really are. He is still living with his elderly mother at the age of 40, but is nevertheless a hopeless romantic who dreams of finding love: a happiness agent who is in search of his own happiness. We embark with Amber on a cross-country road trip meeting citizens from all walks of life, reminding us of the fragility and beauty of our own happiness. No matter where we live. 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 Arun Bhattarai (director, cinematographer, co-producer, Bhutan) premiered his first feature-length documentary ‘The Next Guardian’ (co-directed by Dorottya Zurbó) - an intimate family story set in Bhutan - at IDFA in 2017. The film has been screened at more than 40 international festivals (True/False, Ambulante, SFFILM, MoMA DocFortnight etc.). Before becoming an independent filmmaker, he worked as a TV director at the Bhutan Broadcasting Service for 5 years. He graduated from the first edition of DocNomads Joint Master in documentary directing in 2014. His recent short documentary ‘Mountain Man’, about Bhutan’s only glaciologist won the best pitch prize at If/Then Global Short-Pitch at IDFA 2019 and is supported by the IDA-XRM Media incubator program. The film has been screened at IDFA, DOC NYC, Chicago IFF etc. His new film ‘Agent of Happiness’ is supported by the Sundance Film Institute, Catapult Film Fund and DMZ Docs Fund among others. The project was developed at the Points North Fellowship 2022, True False Rough Cut Retreat 2023 and Doc.incubator 2023. He established his own production company - Sound Pictures - dedicated to creative documentaries in 2015. He is one of the few independent documentary filmmakers in Bhutan. Dorottya Zurbó (co-director, Hungary) premiered her first feature-length documentary ‘The Next Guardian’ (co-directed by Arun Bhattarai), - an intimate family story set in Bhutan - at IDFA in 2017. Since then, it has been screened at more than 40 international festivals (True/False, San Francisco IDFF, MoMA DocFortnight etc.). Parallelly, she worked on her first directorial debut ‘Easy Lessons’, a feature-length documentary about a young Somalian refugee girl who tries to adapt to Hungary, premiered at the Locarno Film Festival Critics Week section in 2018. The film participated in more than 40 international festivals (HotDocs, Camden IDFF, Sarajevo IFF etc.) receiving awards such as the Hungarian Critics Award for Best Documentary in 2019. Her new film ‘Agent of Happiness’ is supported by the Sundance Film Institute, Catapult Film Fund and DMZ Docs Fund among others. The project was developed at the Points North Fellowship 2022, True False Rough Cut Retreat 2023 and Doc.incubator 2023. Besides filmmaking, she has been teaching at the prestigious DocNomads Joint Master program in Europe. Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Trailer Credits Crew: Director: Arun Bhattarai Dorottya Zurbó Writer: Producers: Noémi Veronika Szakonyi Máté Artur Vincze Arun Bhattarai Film Editor: Péter Sass Featured Cast: Amber Kumar Gurung Sarita Chettri Guna Raj Kuikel Hemlata Gurung Yangka Lhamo Wangmo Lhamo Dophu Dem Dechen Selden Tshering Lham Tshering Tashi Tshomo Karma Lhamo Kezang Yuden Karma Wangdi 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!

Chaoren, an eleven year-old boy from a rural fishing village, fights to attend and excel in school, amidst the threats of poverty and displacement. Eventive Virtual May 2 - 4, 2025 Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Indie Meme Special 10th Year Retrospective Showcase International Premiere Eikhoigi Yum (Our Home) India | Narrative Feature 2022 | 86 mins | Manipuri ORIGINAL FILM PAGE WATCH ONLINE Limited tickets available on site. IMFF2023 - Audience Choice Award for the Best Narrative Feature at IMFF, Austin, USA 69th National Film Awards, Best Manipuri Film, India Best Director at Kazan International Muslim Festival, Russia FIPRESCI Award for the Best International Film at 27IFFK, Kerala/India Belonging to an isolated fishing community of the Loktak lake, Chaoren makes the best use of his exclusive existence by excelling in school. When the canoe he uses every day to attend school has to be sold off because of his father’s illness, his spirit is not dampened. He beats the long distance from his shanty floating hut to his school by swimming his way through. But when the Government issues an eviction notice demanding Chaoren’s family to leave their home, his dreams are left with an angst of a displaced person. 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 Romi Meitei is prolific filmmaker who has produced several box-office hits. Besides notching up commercial successes, his films have been screened in world-renowned film festivals including IFFI, MIFF, IFFK, and others. He is recipient of the prestigious FIPRESCI and NETPAC awards, and well as the 'Best Director' Prize at the Sailadhar Film Awards in Assam. His projects have also received several Manipur State Film Awards, including 'Best Feature Film', 'Art Director', 'Child Artiste', and 'Best Editor' for EIKHOIGI YUM at the MSFA 22 award ceremony. He is the Chairman of Mami Thawan Foundation, which aims to render services for the welfare of Manipur. Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Trailer Credits Crew: Director: Romi Meitei Writer: Romi Meitei Producers: Chingsubam Sheetal, Romi Meitei Film Editor: Johni Meitei Featured Cast: 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!

The lives of three characters change when they unexpectedly have to confront and come to terms with their past. April 13, 2025 at 8:00:00 PM AFS Cinema Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Indie Meme Special 10th Year Retrospective Showcase Austin Premiere Puratawn (The Ancient) India | Narrative Feature 2024 | 100 mins | Bengali Recorded Q&A with writer-director Suman Ghosh TICKETS WATCH ONLINE Limited tickets available on site. Best Feature film- Washington DC South Asian Film Festival Best Actress (Sharmila Tagore)- Washington DC South Asian Film Festival Best Feature Film- Indian Film Festival at Houston Rittika returns to her ancestral house with her husband Rajeev to celebrate her mother’s 80th birthday. After reaching her house she finds that her mother is not the same as she had always believed her to be. Initially jolted with this realization, she slowly comes to terms with her condition and its irreversibility. Through her mother she comes to change her perspective on life and being. What seemed like an ostensibly routine and ritualistic event turns to a larger metaphysical enquiry into human existence and how the past dictates our current state. The film deftly braids in questions of failing memory, cherishing the past, a fear of obsolescence and reconciliation into a haunting, moving story that is at its heart about burying the ghosts of the past in order to make peace with what has happened so that one can move on. 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 Suman Ghosh is a National Award winning Indian filmmaker. He has made 9 feature films and 2 documentary films. He had his film training at Cornell University in New York. His first feature film "Footsteps" starring Soumitra Chatterjee and Nandita Das won 2 National Awards in 2008. It was shown at numerous film festivals including Vancouver, Karlovy Vary and IAAC New York. His second feature film "Dwando" also starring Soumitra Chatterjee, was a part of the Indian Panorama at IFFI Goa in 2009. His next feature film "Nobel Thief", starring the Indian megastar Mithun Chakraborty was world premiered at the Busan IFF and was an official selection at the BFI, London Film festival. The film received the "Best Indian Film"; award at the Bengaluru International Film Festival in 2012. His next feature film "Shyamal Uncle Turns off the Lights" has had a warm reception from critics and audiences all over the world. It was world premiered at the Busan Film Festival in South Korea and had its North American Premiere at the MoMA, NY. It won the "Outstanding International Feature Award"; at the ReelWorld Film festival in Toronto. It is being distributed in North America by Global Film Initiative. His next feature film "Kadambari" starring Konkona Sen Sharma and Parambrata Chatterjee. It is based on the life of Rabindranath Tagore and his controversial relationship with his sister-in-law Kadambari Devi. It was screened at several film festivals worldwide and received the Best Feature Film Award and the Best Actress for Konkona Sen Sharma at the Washington DC South Asian Film Festival in 2015. His next film “Peace Haven” world premiered at Busan IFF and was an official selection at MAMI and NYIFF. His debut Hindi feature film is titled “Aadhaar” which World premiered at the Busan IFF and is awaiting an all India release later this year. In 2023 he made the documentary on legendary film director and actress Aparna Sen titled “Parama: A Journey with Aparna Sen” which is scheduled to begin its festival journey later this year. In 2023 his film "Kabuliwala"was a major box office success in Bengal and also been to several top film festivals of the world including Shanghai Film Festival and Washington DC International Film Festival. His latest film "Puratawn" (The Ancient) is releasing in India on the 11th of April. Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Trailer Credits Crew: Director: Suman Ghosh Writer: Suman Ghosh Producers: Rituparna Sengupta Film Editor: Aditya Vikram Sengupta Featured Cast: Sharmila Tagore Rituparna Sengupta Indraneil Sengupta 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 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!

The film follows four young girls that routinely travel from Lyari to a musical school in another area. The travel is long and dangerous, plus the girls' families are not always supportive of their desire to learn music as they feel that it violates Islamic law. Lyari Notes follows the girls over a three-year period. Eventive Virtual May 2 - 4, 2025 Lyari Notes India, Pakistan | Documentary 2015 | 70 mins | Urdu TICKETS TICKETS World Premiere and nominated by the Alliance of Women Film Journalists – EDA Award at the International Documentary Festival of Amsterdam – Nov 2015 Winner of the Golden Boddhisattva Award (Patna) at the Bodhisattva International Film Festival – Feb 2017 Winner of excellence in best documentary feature (red category) at the ARY Film Festival (Karachi) – May 2017 In Pakistan a rock star teaches a group of girls to express themselves through music in Karachi’s most volatile district. Hamza Jafri travels in an armed vehicle. He is a musician famous for his hard hitting political lyrics since the 1990s. Since then religious fundamentalism has been on the rise with shops selling music torched, concerts bombed and musicians threatened with death. Seeing the shrinking space for music and artists Hamza opens a music school. Captured over 3 years Lyari Notes is the narrative of four young girls who attend Hamza’s music school and learn what it takes to express oneself despite the cycles of violence. Restoration Process About the Artist Miriam Chandy Menacherry (Director and Producer from India) – Founder, Director at Filament Pictures a Mumbai based production house. She has pitched and produced award winning films that have been broadcast on international channels like the National Geographic channel, BBC world and Arte. Her last documentary The Rat Race weaves together the narratives of rat killers in Mumbai. It won the Mipdoc Co production Challenge at Cannes, premiered at IDFA and won the audience awards at Florence and Kerala. It is one of the rare documentaries to get theatrical releases in 3 Indian cities winning critical and popular acclaim. Maheen Zia (Director and Producer from Pakistan) – Pakistani film director and editor. She has a degree in radio/tv production from Drake University USA and teaches at the Department of visual studies Karachi University. She is one of the founding members of Pakistan’s young international film festival – The Kara Film Festival and has served as a juror at international film festivals in Tehran, Tampere, Hyderabad and Kabul. She is the winner of the India EU Film initiative- Berlin Today Award- for her film `Match Factor’. Trailer For English subtitles, make sure to turn on the YouTube closed captions. Credits Crew: Director: Miriam Chandy Menacherry & Maheen Zia Writer: Miriam Chandy Menacherry Abhijit Kachhap Likokba Sangtam Maheen Zia Producer(s): Miriam Chandy Menacherry Iikka Vehkalahti Maheen Zia Film Editor: Monisha R Baldawa Sankalp Meshram 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.

A reluctant young teacher, Ugyen, finds himself assigned to the world’s most remote village school. Situated in Northern Bhutan, Lunana is an 8-day trek into the Himalayas - an alienating experience for the city-dwelling Ugyen, who plans to move to Australia to pursue music as soon as possible. Eventive Virtual May 2 - 4, 2025 Lunana: A Yak In The Classroom Bhutan | Narrative Feature 2019 | 109 mins | Dzongkha TICKETS TICKETS 2022 Academy Award Nominee for 'Best International Feature' A reluctant young teacher, Ugyen, finds himself assigned to the world’s most remote village school. Situated in Northern Bhutan, Lunana is an 8-day trek into the Himalayas - an alienating experience for the city-dwelling Ugyen, who plans to move to Australia to pursue music as soon as possible. He arrives to find a welcoming community amid the beautiful but forbidding surroundings - and an especially eager student body, whose access to teachers and materials from outside has been inconsistent. Filmed using cameras operating on solar-powered batteries, and starring primarily villagers from the real Lunana in child & adult roles, this charming drama transports us to a rarely seen part of the globe. Restoration Process About the Artist Pawo Choyning Dorji (Director & Writer) is a writer, photographer and filmmaker from the Kingdom of Bhutan. Pawo's introduction to film came in 2012 when he worked as Khyentse Norbu's assistant for the later's feature; Vara: A Blessing. In 2016 he produced the critically acclaimed Bhutanese feature Hema Hema: Sing me a song while I wait. The film had its world premiere at the 69th Festival del film Locarno and went on to win the Special Mention at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival. Trailer For English subtitles, make sure to turn on the YouTube closed captions. Credits Crew: Director: Pawo Choyning Dorji Writer: Pawo Choyning Dorji Producer(s): Pawo Choyning Dorji Steven Xiang Stephanie Lai Jia Honglin Film Editor: Ku Hsiao-Yun Featured Cast: Sherab Dorji Ugyen Norbu Lhendup Kelden Lhamo Gurung Pema Zam 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 father decided to revenge a lawyer who rapes his teenage daughter. Eventive Virtual May 2 - 4, 2025 Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Indie Meme Special 10th Year Retrospective Showcase Texas Premiere Dadresi (The Claimant) Iran | Short 2024 | 20 mins | Persian TICKETS WATCH ONLINE Limited tickets available on site. Fajr International Film Festival, Iran - Winner Best Short Film Tehran International Short Film Festival, Iran - Winner Best Direction Accolade Global Film Competition, United States - Winner Best Woman Filmmaker “Claimant" is about a father who discovers that his teenage daughter was assaulted and raped, so he decides to confront and punish the rapist, but since the culprit is a very proficient lawyer he uses laws in a way that he not only escapes from justice but also legally make the father the criminal. 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 I was born in 1979. I studied cinema and dramatic literature in art university and I received my PHD in art research. For many years I was mostly active in academic fields and I taught interdisciplinary courses between art and humanities in universities such as the Art university of Tehran. In recent years I have increased my artistic activities such as screenwriting. I had rewritten the script of "Conjugal Visit" (2021) (directed by Omid Shams). Claimant is my first short film as a writer and director. Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Trailer Credits Crew: Director: Nadereh Sadatserki Writer: Nadereh Sadatserki Producers: Film Editor: Featured Cast: 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!

Two hearts navigate the shifting tides of love, marriage, and self-discovery, as their relationship teeters on the edge. April 10, 2025 at 11:30:00 PM AFS Cinema Virtual May 2 - 4, 2025 Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Indie Meme Special 10th Year Retrospective Showcase World Premiere Fragments of Us USA | Short 2024 | 24 mins | Telugu, English TICKETS WATCH ONLINE Limited tickets available on site. Fragments of Us follows Drithi and Arjun, a south asian couple navigating the intricate challenges of love, marriage, and self-discovery. As cultural expectations and personal ambitions collide, they confront the fragile nature of their bond through a non-linear narrative that reveals defining moments from their past, present, and possible future. Each fragment of their journey invites reflection on whether there is ever a "right" time to address issues within a relationship, or if it ultimately comes down to resilience and choice. 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 Sushanth Nallapareddy is an emerging filmmaker with a distinctive voice in contemporary cinema, known for weaving intricate narratives that explore the complexities of human relationships. His passion for storytelling is rooted in capturing the emotional and psychological depths of his characters, with a focus on life's subtleties and nuances. Deeply influenced by Telugu mainstream cinema in his early years, Sushanth later found inspiration in world cinema, which reshaped his understanding of film as a powerful art form. His previous works including the short films Anveshana and Inkosaari, and the music video Head over Heels have garnered significant viewership on YouTube, solidifying his presence in Telugu cinema. While his previous work leaned toward mainstream appeal, Fragments of Us marks a more introspective approach, delving into a personal style of cinema. Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Trailer Credits Crew: Director: Sushanth Nallapareddy Writer: Sushanth Nallapareddy Krishna Poojitha Producers: Dundinath Gunda Anil Sankaramachi Prithvi Raj Karreddula Film Editor: Sachin Dheeraj Sushanth Nallapareddy Featured Cast: Shalini Bathina Sri Chilukuri 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 middle aged Indian woman visits a Texas cattle ranch and learns the meaning of true grit. April 10, 2025 at 11:30:00 PM AFS Cinema Virtual May 2 - 4, 2025 Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Indie Meme Special 10th Year Retrospective Showcase World Premiere Cowboys and Hindus USA | Short 2025 | 16 mins | English TICKETS WATCH ONLINE Limited tickets available on site. A depressed, affluent, middle aged Hindu woman, ASHA, accompanies her domineering husband to a Texas cattle ranch. While there, she befriends a cattle woman who takes the Hindu woman under her wing and teaches her all about cowboy culture. Asha soon finds purpose on the ranch and in her life. She discovers the meaning of true American grit. 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 Tejal Desai is an award-winning screenwriter. He was awarded the most coveted and prestigious screenwriting award, the Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (AMPAS) for his comedy script LINDA AND HENRY. Subsequently he was hired by Disney Studios to develop and write a sequel to PINOCCHIO. His screenplay, COWBOYS & HINDUS, won the Final Draft Big Break Screenplay competition and was honored on stage alongside Aaron Sorkin at Final Draft’s Hall of Fame Awards. COWBOYS & HINDUS also won the Cinestory Screenplay Competition and was named a semifinalist at the Sundance Screenwriting Institute. Tejal has also written on assignment for Focus Features and Lifetime Television. He produced the feature length drama, ABCD, starring Madhur Jaffrey which premiered at the 43rd London Film Festival and won Best Independent Film at the Houston Film Festival. Currently, Tejal finished writing and directing the short films of Cowboys and Hindus and plans to shoot the feature version in 2026 with Priya Deva and Adil Hussain to star. He ha also finished writing and directing a comedy called Dad’s Final Wish, about a dying man’s final wish is to find his childhood bully and beat him before he dies. Tejal currently lives in Austin with his wife and two sons. Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Trailer Credits Crew: Director: Tejal Desai Writer: Tejal Desai Producers: Andrew Lee Kirtana Banskota Film Editor: Featured Cast: Priya Deva Samir Khan Paula Saletnik Tara Amin 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!