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 10:30:00 AM 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!

A young boy convinces a fisherman to take him out to sea, but once they are far from shore, the boy’s true intentions are revealed — leaving us to wonder if his plan succeeds. April 12, 2025 at 10:30:00 AM AFS Cinema Virtual May 2 - 4, 2025 Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Indie Meme Special 10th Year Retrospective Showcase North America Premiere Blue India | Short 2024 | 12 mins | Tamil TICKETS WATCH ONLINE Limited tickets available on site. Special prize from Arctic Open International Film Festival 2024, Russia A young boy persuades a fisherman to take him out to sea. Once there, he reveals his true intentions, sparking the fisherman’s anger. The film leaves us wondering whether the boy ultimately succeeds in his plan. 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 Praveen Kumar Nagendran is an engineer-turned-filmmaker in the Tamil film industry, in India. He worked as the first assistant director in the film Maaveeran (Tamil). In 2024, he directed his first short film "Blue". Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Trailer Credits Crew: Director: Praveen Kumar Nagendran Writer: Praveen Kumar Nagendran Producers: Philomin Raj Film Editor: Tamilselvan Sakthivel Featured Cast: Palani Murugan Hemanathan 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 is about the propagation of evil curses in the form of a beautiful ring that invokes greed. The story revolves around a simple man who stumbles upon the ring and steals it. April 12, 2025 at 12:45:00 PM AFS Cinema Virtual May 2 - 4, 2025 Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Indie Meme Special 10th Year Retrospective Showcase International Premiere Ouroboros India | Short 2024 | 6 mins | N/A Followed by the film The Glassworker . TICKETS WATCH ONLINE Limited tickets available on site. Birsa Munda international film awards- best horror short film 13th Mumbai shorts international film festival - best student animated film 17th jaipur international film festival - best upcoming film award The film is about the propagation of evil curses in the form of a beautiful ring that invokes greed. The story revolves around a simple man who stumbles upon the ring and steals it. 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 Animation Film student at Satyajit Ray film and television institute of India, writer, director, animator, CS Engineer. I make 2d animations and dabble with all aspects of an animated film production pipeline from writing to storyboarding to actual animation and post. A story teller striving to show the world things never seen before! Bringing to light all that shrouded in the realm of thoughts! Films inspire perspectives in me, molded me in more ways than one, perhaps a film can change the world for the better! Ever since I can remember, drawing and doing crafty things with my hands has been a lot of fun and a huge part of my identity. I have dabbled in all kinds of art techniques, from oil paintings to sculptures, from making posters to graphic design, But my life as an artist truly began the day when for the first time I made an animation, seeing my drawings living and breathing, I knew that I wanted more. I wouldn't have known it at the time that it would forever change me. The medium of storytelling has helped me to identify my ultimate goal as an artist- to move the masses for the better. Films and art have a profound effect on the masses, it has the power to bring about real change, like it did with me. I feel that if a story can bring about change from within an individual, perhaps it can change the world for the better as well! I put my heart and soul to every artwork I create. Every film I make, every time my drawings come to life, it always has elements that are a reflection of my own deepest inner self. Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Trailer Credits Crew: Director: Anuj Choudhary Writer: Anuj Choudhary Producers: Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute 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!

2023 Something Like an Autobiography Narrative Feature Bengali mins 82 North American Premiere In-Person, Virtual 2023 Bangladesh, Germany, India Drama Farhan and Titi are a director-actor couple living in Dhaka. In a conservative and patriarchal Muslim society, they are criticized for not having children even after 10 years of marriage. Busan Film Festival, Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival Recorded Q&A with Filmmaker Mostofa Sarwar Farooki Screens with Helena Tickets 4/20/24, 1:00 PM All Badges, Individual Tickets AFS Cinema Director Mostofa Sarwar Farooki Director: Mostofa Sarwar Farooki Producer: Redoan Rony Writer: Mostofa Sarwar Farooki, Nusrat Imrose Tisha Cast: Nusrat Imrose Tisha, Mostofa Sarwar Farooki, Iresh Zaker, Dolly Zahur Editor: Momin Biswas Crew: Tahsin Rahman, Pavel Areen This Event is supported in part by a Mini Grant from Humanities Texas. Community Partners for the Film More Films

2022 What Are You Searching? Short Hindi, English mins 35 Virtual 2022 India Family, Drama Tickets 4/28/23, 12:00 PM Free with IMFF Badge Director Princy Pal Princy Pal is filmmaker based out of Delhi. She is an alumnus of the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute, 2019, where she completed a postgraduate degree in cinema, specializing in direction and screenwriting. Pal's is deeply interested in exploring film as a medium of narrative, non-narrative, imagery, sound, and vision that can transcend the world of the audience's experience. Pal also has hobbies in photography, creative writing, and music. Director: Princy Pal Producer: Writer: Princy Pal Cast: Indira Tiwari, Shabnam Thakur, Jaivanti Devi Editor: Crew: This Event is supported in part by a Mini Grant from Humanities Texas. Community Partners for the Film More Films

When two boys are kidnapped in a border town in Nepal, Detective Inspector Pooja is sent from Kathmandu to solve the case. April 12, 2025 at 5:45:00 PM AFS Cinema Special Screening Pooja, Sir Nepal, USA, Norway | Narrative Feature 2024 | 108 mins | Nepali Live Q&A with director Deepak Rauniyar and lead actress Asha Magrati TICKETS DONATE TO NEPAL When two boys are kidnapped in a border town in Nepal, Detective Inspector Pooja is sent from Kathmandu to solve the case, forcing her to leave her wife and her ailing father behind. But when she arrives to investigate, the brewing political unrest and violent protests throw her off course, and she is forced to seek help from Mamata, a local Madhesi policewoman. By putting aside systemic racial and homophobic discrimination and pushing through everyday misogyny, the women solve the case—but at what personal cost? Inspired by real events which took place in Southern Nepal during the 2015 race protests. Restoration Process About the Artist Deepak Rauniyar’s first feature film, “Highway” (2012), was the first film from Nepal to screen at a major global film festival, premiering at Berlinale and later playing at Locarno. His second feature, “White Sun” (2016), debuted at the Venice Orizzonti competition with rave reviews, with the Hollywood Reporter calling it “impressively accomplished” and The New York Times, which included Rauniyar among the “9 New Directors to Watch” list, writing that “White Sun” “captures a place that isn’t seen much in movies.” The film screened internationally at over 100 film festivals, including Toronto, Locarno, Rotterdam, New Directors/New Films, Sydney, and Golden Horse. It won the Interfilm Award at Venice and Best Film at the Singapore and Palm Springs Film Festivals. Nepal nominated “White Sun” for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards. Trailer For English subtitles, make sure to turn on the YouTube closed captions. Credits Crew: Director: Deepak Rauniyar Writer: Deepak Rauniyar David Barker Asha Magrati Producer(s): Deepak Rauniyar Asha Magrati AADI FILMS (Nepal/ US) Rambabu Gurung BAASURI FILMS (Nepal) Alan R Milligan TANNAUSER GATE (Norway) Film Editor: J. Him Lee Alex Gurvits Featured Cast: Asha Magrati Nikita Chandak Dayahang Rai Bijay Baral Aarti Mandal Reecha Sharma Ghanshyam Mishra Parmeshwor Kumar Jha Gaumaya Gurung Pashupati Rai Niraj Shrestha 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.

After the death of the family patriarch, a mother and daughter’s precarious existence is ripped apart by figures from their past. They must find strength in each other if they are to survive the malevolent forces that threaten to engulf them. April 18, 2024 at 3:45:00 PM AFS Cinema Virtual May 3 - May 5, 2024 Texas Premiere In Flames Pakistan, Canada | Narrative Feature 2023 | 98 mins | Urdu TICKETS DONATE TO NEPAL Cannes Directors Fortnight 2023 Sitges International Film Festival Mariam lives with her younger brother and their mother, Fariha, in a tiny apartment in Karachi. When Mariam’s maternal grandfather passes, his brother tries to manipulate them into signing over their apartment to him, a common occurrence in Pakistan, where women’s property rights are fragile. Mariam’s mother, grieving and isolated, is easy to influence. Mariam, distraught by her mother’s foolishness, finds solace in a secret romance with a fellow student, Asad. When their relationship takes an unexpected turn, Mariam becomes consumed by nightmares. Meanwhile, her mother, caught between her coercive Uncle and a murky legal system, is oblivious to her daughter’s deteriorating mental state. Mariam’s nightmares begin to bleed into reality. Mother and daughter must come together if they hope to overcome the real and phantasmal forces that threaten to engulf them. Restoration Process About the Artist Zarrar Kahn is an award-winning Pakistani-Canadian filmmaker whose film IN FLAMES premiered at the 76th Cannes Film Festival as part of the Director’s Fortnight. His works have been screened and awarded in over 100+ film festivals, including TIFF, Locarno, and BFI London. In Flames, his feature directorial debut, has garnered critical acclaim and prizes worldwide - including the Golden Yusr for Best Picture at Red Sea FF and the Grand Prize - International Newcomer Award at Mannheim-Heidelberg FF. Born in Karachi, and currently based out of Toronto, Kahn is committed to telling stories that amplify historically marginalized communities. Trailer For English subtitles, make sure to turn on the YouTube closed captions. Credits Crew: Director: Zarrar Kahn Writer: Zarrar Kahn Producer(s): Anam Abbas Film Editor: Craig Scorgie & Zarrar Kahn Featured Cast: Ramesha Nawal, Omar Javaid, Bakhtawar Mazhar, Adnan Shah Tipu, Mohammad Ali Hashmi, Jibran Khan 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 woman is haunted by debt collectors, and one wants to harvest something more. Is the figure in her head, or does she owe a cosmic debt? April 25, 2026 at 8:15:00 PM AFS Cinema Texas Premiere Burnt Orange USA | Short 2024 | 11 mins | English Live Q&A with writer-director-producer Sharmila Ray Followed by the film Fucktoys TICKETS DONATE TO NEPAL Sidewalk Festival, Birmingham, AL - 2025 Micheaux Festival, Los Angeles, CA - 2025 A phone call wakes Madison Mason up from a nightmare. On the other end is a student loan officer, looking to collect a debt. Madison, explains she can’t pay the current debt. Throughout the day, the calls persist, but Madison does her best to ignore the rings - until she decides to confront it. This time an eerie voice on the other end says they want to collect something else- Her molars! Spooked… Her friend, Taylor decides to come over to shake the fear. Feeling more at ease, Madison falls asleep on her couch only to wake up to find “The Man” from her nightmare has come to collect in real life. Restoration Process About the Artist Sharmila Ray, is a mixed race Indian and Filipina writer, director, producer based in Los Angeles. She began her career in documentary film. "YOU FOLLOW: A SEARCH FOR ONE’S PAST" was a feature that followed her best friend, Nisha Grayson, on the search for her birth mother in Goa, India. The film garnered attention in the adoption community. Sharmila’s short narrative film Devotee was recognized in the LA Asian Pacific Film Festival as well as internationally at the Jaipur Film Festival. Her recent short Burnt Orange will be making its US debut at the Sidewalk Festival in Birmingham, AL. This year Sharmila is a part of the Rideback Rise circle cohort: An accelerator program for mid-career POC creators. While making a ton of passion projects Sharmila has worked in costumes, art and post production on union sets to gain professional experience. She shared that experience by mentoring for Notre Dame High School and has been a judge for the Los Angeles Public Library: The Teens of L.A. Film Fest. She also enjoys painting, practicing the akashic records and tarot. Sharmila loves taking afternoon strolls through a museum and prefers the beach over the desert, but will never object to an outdoor adventure. Trailer For English subtitles, make sure to turn on the YouTube closed captions. Credits Crew: Director: Sharmila Ray Writer: Sharmila Ray Producer(s): Sharmila Ray Matthew Keene Smith Livi Nichols Bobby Javier Film Editor: Alex Regalado Featured Cast: Kausar Mohammed Kent Isaacs Vivian Bang 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.

When a mysterious gatecrasher appears at their wedding, Madhav and Sufi are forced to face past secrets and reflect on what makes a family. Filmocracy Virtual April 28 - May 1, 2023 Queer Parivaar India | Short 2021 | 27 mins | English, Bengali TICKETS DONATE TO NEPAL Restoration Process About the Artist Shiva Raichandani is a multidisciplinary non-binary artist whose works harness the power of storytelling to create inclusive spaces for positive gender-expansive representation in media. Shiva is a screenwriter, director, and producer for film and TV. As an awardee of the inaugural Netflix Documentary Talent Fund, they directed a short film called PEACH PARADISE, which premiered on TikTok’s first-ever live film showcase. Shiva’s independent short QUEER PARIVAAR won the prestigious BAFTA-qualifying Iris Prize ‘Best British Short’ award, making it available for broadcast and streaming on Channel 4. Trailer For English subtitles, make sure to turn on the YouTube closed captions. Credits Crew: Director: Shiva Raichandani Writer: Shiva Raichandani Producer(s): Film Editor: Featured Cast: Shiva Raichandani, Taru Devani, Asifa Lahore 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.

Norwegian academic Samuel died in Santhali village. Bidu wants to keep Samuel's last wish of burying him in the village. With a broken heart and a broken dream, Bidu's five-year-old son Kherwal started looking for a new way of going to Norway, which Samuel promised. Eventive Virtual May 2 - 4, 2025 Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Indie Meme Special 10th Year Retrospective Showcase United States Premiere Kherwal India | Narrative Feature 2023 | 122 mins | Santhali, Bengali, English TICKETS WATCH ONLINE Limited tickets available on site. 29th Kolkata International Film Festival 28th International Film Festival of Kerala 2023-Best Debut Director Indian Cinema Now 16th Jaipur International Film Festival -Awarded for Best Original Script, Best Released Film, Best Cinematography, Best Actor Lead Norwegian academic Samuel passed away in an Indian tribal village, leaving behind a final wish to be buried there. Bidu, a Santhali man, is determined to honour Samuel’s last request. Meanwhile, Bidu's young son struggles with the painful realisation that his cherished dream of visiting Norway, a promise made by Samuel, may never come true. However, hope flickers anew with the arrival of Samuel’s daughter, Lauren, in the village, rekindling the boy’s aspirations and bringing new possibilities to light. 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 Uttam Kamati is an independent Indian filmmaker and photographer with a strong passion for storytelling. His creative journey began by taking on different roles in filmmaking, where he gained experience as an assistant director, and scriptwriter for independent projects. Recently, Uttam Kamati completed his first feature-length film, Kherwal, which showcases his dedication to exploring diverse narratives. His short films, including Hope, have received international recognition. Hope won awards at the Dresden Sustainability Contest in Germany and the FINI Festival in Mexico. As a photographer, Uttam Kamati has earned several prestigious awards, including the Environmental Photographer of the Year (London, 2015), the DMZ International Half and Half Photography Award, and the DMZ Global Peace Award (South Korea), as well as the FIAP Bronze (Turkey). His work has been exhibited in major cities like New York, London, Turkey, and Boston, as well as at renowned institutions across India. Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Trailer Credits Crew: Director: Uttam Kamati Writer: Uttam Kamati Producers: Uttam Kamati Film Editor: Featured Cast: Debanshu Saren Rabi Baskey Krista Smligdriva Monimala Saren 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!

< Our Team Board of Directors Sharmila Mehta Fundraising Chair Sharmila is a culturally fluent professional with a Master’s in Advertising and over 15 years of corporate marketing experience across the U.S. and India. She brings strategic insight, clear communication, and a strong aesthetic sensibility to everything she does. Based in Austin, she has spent the last 12 years helping clients navigate real estate with confidence and care. As a seasoned Realtor, she blends deep local knowledge with a personalized, client-first approach. A passionate advocate for storytelling, Sharmila is especially drawn to independent films that spark dialogue and carry powerful social messages. A long-time believer in the impact of meaningful cinema, she has been a fan and supporter of Indie Meme since its inception and is now honored to serve as a Board Member. Having lived in seven cities across four countries, Sharmila values cultural diversity and builds meaningful connections with ease. She approaches both work and life with empathy, creativity, and curiosity.

An elderly woman struggles with the choice of selling her beloved vintage car, Aasmani. April 26, 2026 at 3:45:00 PM AFS Cinema AASMANI India | Short 2026 | 33 mins | Hindi, English Live Q&A with writer-director-producer Sayani Gupta moderated by Rubi Sanchez Shown as part of the Family Shorts Program TICKETS DONATE TO NEPAL Best Short Script at the Independent Short Awards LA. Honourable Mentions at Tokyo Film & Screenplay Awards Best Short Audience Choice Award - Indie Meme Film Festival 2026 An elderly woman struggles with the choice of selling her beloved vintage car, Aasmani. Restoration Process About the Artist Sayani is an acclaimed Indian actor. An alumna of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII, Pune), she has built a 14-year career defined by fierce & unconventional choices across film, theatre, and streaming. This has been a 17 year long dream that has finally come to fruition. Trailer For English subtitles, make sure to turn on the YouTube closed captions. Credits Crew: Director: Sayani Gupta Writer: Sayani Gupta Producer(s): Sayani Gupta Movies Sumitra Gupta Foundation For Arts One India Stories Film Editor: Paramita Ghosh Featured Cast: Revathy Asha Daria Bedi Abhay Kaul 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.