A story of a homemaker and her everyday life emptional abuse she suffered. 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 United States Premiere A Lazy Noon Bangladesh | Short 2025 | 15 mins | Bangla TICKETS WATCH ONLINE Limited tickets available on site. 23rd Dhaka International Film Festival - Best Short Film Fipresci Award Nira, a highly educated 38-year-old woman who comes from an upper-middle-class family. Her husband is a senior executive at a corporate company, and she is a homemaker. She married with the intention of enjoying a modest and peaceful life. She was going about her regular activities. But, as time passes, she becomes increasingly aware of the emotional abuse she is subjected to. She made the decision to stand up and protect her dignity and self-worth. 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 Monon Muntaka is a Dhaka-based visual artist and cultural activist. Her work focuses on social concerns, culture, women, and gender, as well as its documentation. She is also passionate about films and video art. As a visual storyteller, she is continuously on the lookout for new stories and ways to communicate them visually. Her interactions with a diverse group of multi-talented people, including artists, curators, writers, filmmakers, educators, and researchers, had a significant impact on her life. She took part in several exhibitions, including the British Council's International Collaboration - Artists Make Space, the Goethe Institute Bangladesh's “KᗩᕼIᑕᕼᗩᒪ” show, and the "Dhaka OIC Youth Capital 2020-21." SheDecides 2021 Virtual Gallery, Dui - "Synchronised Encounter", "The Unheard Voices" on Violence Against Women, 2016, "VISIBILITY" at WILL FEST 2018, "Move 4 Women"; on International Women's Day 2019, "De | Real exhibition: A curatorial research project in response to the global pandemic, 2020," and "Texture & Mixture" solo exhibition in 2023. Her work has been shown at ArtIQulate in 2022 and 2023, LensCulture in 2020, "Inonica", "femlens", and "Al Jazeera" in 2021. She is an Adenauer Fellow. Winner of the "Breaking the Silence" short film grant competition in 2022, 12th Photoffee Photographer of the Year in 2022, and recipient of the Prince Claus Seed Awards in 2023. Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Trailer Credits Crew: Director: Monon Muntaka Writer: Monon Muntaka Producers: Rubaiyat Hossain Film Editor: Chaitali Samaddar Featured Cast: Runa Kanchon Adnan Shikha Ananya Singh 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 This is TMI Short Bengali, English, Hindi, Nepali mins 6 In-Person, Virtual 2023 India Animation, Comedy, Coming of Age Big boobs vs. small boobs, who has it worse? A group of women, over a drink, discusses in what ways being a part of a conservative society affects how we feel about our own breasts- which, at the end of the day, are just lumps of fat. Toronto International Film Festival South by SouthWest (SXSW) In-Person Q&A with Filmmaker Vidushi Gupta Tickets 4/20/24, 10:30 AM All Badges, Shorts Program Ticket AFS Cinema Directors and Animators Subarna Dash & Vidushi Gupta Subarna Dash is an animation filmmaker based in India. She pursued her studies in Animation Cinema at the Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute, Kolkata. She was awarded as one of the “75 creative minds” by the Ministry of I&B, at IFFI, Goa in 2022. Her films have been screened and awarded at prestigious festivals such as Berlinale, TIFF, SXSW, Annecy, etc. Vidushi Gupta is an animator, filmmaker, and storyteller from India. With a background in Animation Cinema from Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute and a current Master's in Visualization at Texas A&M University, she focuses on animated short films, both fictional and documentary. Her animated documentary "This Is TMI" has been screened at prestigious festivals like TIFF, SXSW, Kaboom Animation Festival, and Animafest Zagreb. Director: Subarna Dash, Vidushi Gupta Producer: Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute Writer: Cast: Sneha Das Priyadarshini Subba Rituparna Saha Monjima Mullick Vidushi Gupta Subarna Dash Editor: Crew: Pragadeesh Marimuthu, Sethu Venogopalan This Event is supported in part by a Mini Grant from Humanities Texas. Community Partners for the Film More Films

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. April 16, 2023 at 12:45:00 PM AFS Cinema Virtual April 28 - May 1, 2023 International Premiere Eikhoigi Yum (Our Home) India | Narrative Feature 2022 | 87 mins | Manipuri LIVE, IN-Person Q&A with Director Romi Meitei TICKETS DONATE TO NEPAL Official Selection of the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival FIPRESCI Award for 'Best International Film' at IFFK Belonging to an isolated fishing community at Loktak lake, a young boy, Chaoren, seeks to defy his family's marginalization by excelling in school. When the canoe he uses every day must be sold due to his father’s illness, his spirit is not dampened. He beats the long distance to school by swimming. However, when the Government issues an eviction notice against Chaoren’s family, his strongly held dreams may be dashed by displacement. Restoration Process About the Artist 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. Trailer For English subtitles, make sure to turn on the YouTube closed captions. Credits Crew: Director: Romi Meitei Writer: Romi Meitei Producer(s): Chingsubam Sheetal, Romi Meitei Film Editor: Johni Meitei 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 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 Pebbles India | Narrative Feature 2021 | 75 mins | Tamil TICKETS DONATE TO NEPAL 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. Restoration Process About the Artist 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. Trailer For English subtitles, make sure to turn on the YouTube closed captions. Credits Crew: Director: Vinothraj P S Writer: Vinothraj P S Producer(s): Vignesh Shivan & Nayanthara Film Editor: Ganesh Siva Featured Cast: Karuththadaiyaan Chellapandi 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 The Verdict Narrative Feature English, Tamil mins 135 In-Person 2023 India Drama A middle-aged Indian woman accused of murdering a rich American woman; an innocent husband who loves his wife; a journey of this couple where karma proves at the end “what goes around comes around”. Tickets 6/18/24, 6:45 PM AFS Cinema Writer/ Director Krishna Sankar Director: Krishna Sankar Producer: Prakash Mohandas Writer: Krishna Sankar Cast: Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Sruthi Hariharan, Prakash Mohandas, Vidyullekha Raman, Suhasini. Editor: Sathish Suriya Crew: This Event is supported in part by a Mini Grant from Humanities Texas. Community Partners for the Film More Films

A film based on relationships and family written and directed by Shubhashish Bhutiani and produced by Sanjay Bhutiani. Top of Page Tickets Top of Page Tickets Mukti Bhawan (Hotel Salvation) India /99 minutes / 2016 / DRAMA / Hindi with English subtitles SYNOPSIS An ominous dream convinces 77-year-old Dayanand Kumar that his end could be near. He takes the news to his son Rajiv, knowing he wants to breathe his last in the holy city of Varanasi and end the cycle of rebirth, by attaining salvation. Being the dutiful son he is, Rajiv, is left with no choice but to drop everything and make the journey with his stubborn father. Daya and Rajiv check into Mukti Bhawan (Hotel Salvation) in Varanasi, a guesthouse devoted to people to die there. But as the days go by, Rajiv struggles to juggle his responsibilities back home, while Daya starts to bloom in the hotel. Rajiv gives his father a shot at salvation but as family bonds are tested, he finds himself torn, not knowing what he must do to keep his life together. Interested in screening this in your hometown? Write to us TICKETS NOT AVAILABLE Tickets TRAILER STILLS DIRECTOR'S PROFILE Shubhashish Bhutiani grew up in a small Himalayan town in lndia and attended Woodstock School, Mussoorie. He specialized in Direction as an undergraduate from the School of Visual Arts, New York in 2013. Mukti Bhawan has been invited to reputed festivals like Busan International Film Festival, 2016, DIFF 2016, Dubai, GIFF2017, Sweden, Berlinale EFM and Vesoul Film Festival, France where it won the Critics Choice Award. The film is now scheduled to travel at International Festivals across the globe and theatrical release in India and other countries from April 2017. Shubhashish’s first directorial feature film, Mukti Bhawan-Hotel Salvation World Premiere was held at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival 2016. He was honoured with the XXlIIrd PRIX "ENRICO FULCHIGNONI" Award and UNESCO Gandhi Medal 2016 for the film. His thesis film at SVA, titled ‘Kush’ had its World Premiere at the Venice International Film Festival 2013, where it won the Orizzonti Award for Best Short Film. Kush was also shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short in 2014 and won over 25 International Awards, including the prestigious National Award by the President of India in 2013. Shubhashish was also Nominated and Finalist for the Financial Times/ Oppenheimer Funds as Emerging Voices in Cinema for Asia Pacific 2015. And Forbes India recognized him in 30under30 list in January 2017 for his achievements as a Writer-Director KEY CREW Writer & Director Shubhashish Bhutiani Producer Sanjay Bhutiani Producer Sajida Sharma Producer Shubhashish Bhutiani Executive Producer Dina Dattani Associate Producers Rajkumar Menda, Pravesh Sippy Director of Photography Michael Mcsweeney, David Huwiler First Assistant Director Abbas Raza Khan Dialogues Asad Hussain Production Design Avyakta Kapur Editor Manas Mittal Music Composer Tajdar Junaid Sound Design Ajay Kumar PB, Akhilesh Acharya Costume Design Shruti Weditwar Make Up Jyotika Mirpuri Casting Gopal Dey KEY CAST Adil Hussain Lalit Behl Geetanjali Kulkarni Palomi Ghosh Navnindra Behl Anil K Rastogi

2021 Learning Not To Drown Short English mins 20 Virtual 2021 USA Drama In-Person Q&A with Texas director, Prithvi Raj Karreddula & award-winning composer Mickey J. Meyer Tickets 4/28/23, 12:00 PM Free with IMFF Badge Director Prithvi Raj Karreddula Prithvi Raj Karreddula is a Dallas filmmaker from Hyderabad, Telangana, India. He's been a writer and director for both English and Telugu films since 2017. He also possesses a handful of additional skills in film production such as cinematography, editing, and music composition. Prithvi Raj is most known for his short films "Audible Frequency" (2021), "Humans" (2019) and "Bhoomi" (2021). Director: Prithvi Raj Karreddula Producer: Writer: Prithvi Raj Karreddula Cast: Sri Chilukuri, Corey Pratt, Raymund C. King Editor: Crew: This Event is supported in part by a Mini Grant from Humanities Texas. Community Partners for the Film More Films

April 25, 2026 at 10:30:00 AM AFS Cinema North America Premiere Kanippu (The Prediction) India 2026 Shown as part of the Saturday shorts program TICKETS BUY A BADGE Jojga-NETPAC Asian Film Festival A grieving boatman and an earnest meteorologist share their knowledge of the seas and weather, but find themselves helpless in the face of unpredictable climate. Restoration Process Film restoration process Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation About the Artist Rishi Chandna is a self-taught independent filmmaker based in Goa, India. His short films, TUNGRUS, PARTY POSTER & THE FEAST have shown and won awards at Hot Docs, Visions Du Reel, BFI London FF, IDFA, Clermont-Ferrand, Slamdance and more. His feature film in development, GHOL, was selected in 2021 at the Sundance Script Lab, Cannes Film Market and won the top Fiction Award at Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum. Trailer For English subtitles, make sure to turn on the YouTube closed captions. Credits Crew: Director: Rishi Chandna Writer: Rishi Chandna Rahul Srivastava Producer(s): Rishi Chandna Anita Arjundas Jessica Seddon Rahul Muralidharan Film Editor: Ashwin Arvind Featured Cast: Charles Vinoth Aditi Balan Pranav Theophine Thank you to our community partners for this screening!

Our 2026 Leadership Circle Members Thank you to our generous Leadership Circle members for their support of Indie Meme's Festivals & Programs. Our donors sustain our work and further the presence of independent South Asian Cinema in Texas. We appreciate all of your support, and could not do it without you! Producers Guild Directors Guild Alice Mechaley-Saigal & Anuj Saigal Tushar Patel Writers Guild Anonymous Lead Cast Sonia & Chandrajit Bajaj Aditi Bhargava & Alok Bhanot Suja & Animon Jose Anurag Kumar Samira Mehta Jaya Ramanathan & Ram Raghavan Nanditha & Shawn Siram Anjali & Pamposh Zutshi Supporting Cast Anonymous Bob Bowne Ann McGinley Nora Predey & Ananyaa Ravi Chaula Rana Kala Malini Ranganathan & Vijay Sankaran Shilpa & Venu Shamapant Jaya Thakkar We are grateful to our 2025 donors . DONATE TODAY!

When a mowing man comes to cut down the grass in a field, he finds a girl is sleeping there - determined to protect the insects who call it home. U.S Premiere Back to Film Program Virtual Exclusive WATCH ONLINE: April 22-25th, 2022 Navozande, Le Musicien France I 15 mins I Romance, Historical Drama I 2021 I No Spoken Dialogue BUY & WATCH ONLINE At the time of the attack of the Mongols, a young musician and the love of his life are separated from each other. A story of love, war, and hardship in 13th-century Persia. This film plays with the A MATTER OF SURVIVAL shorts program online. About the Artist Born in Tehran, Iran in 1988, Reza Riahi studied studying Fine Arts in Iran and France while actively collaborating on several cartoon magazines and series. He completed his Masters at the Ecole de la Poudrière in Bourg-Les-Valences for animation. Reza is the writer/director of several award-winning animated shorts: including the highly acclaimed ENTRE CHIEN ET LOUP (Between Dog and Wolf). Broadcast on ARTE in 2014, the short film was selected by festivals in Annecy, Paris, Brussels, Morocco, Hungary. Reza served as artistic director on Nora Twomey’s film The Breadwinner, nominated for major awards including The Oscars®, Golden Globes & Annies and winning both the Audience and Jury Prizes in Annecy. His latest short NAVOZANDE, LE MUSICIEN, premiered at Toronto Int'l Film Festival and has been selected by 70+ world festivals including SXSW, Anima, Aspen Shortfest, Palm Springs and Sonoma. The film won 'Best Animated Short' at Tribeca, Nashville and Ficie. Reza is working on his next short, Songs of the Valley , as well as on the script for his 1st animated feature. Parallel to his activity in animation, Reza Riahi collaborates on fine art & illustration projects, as well as mentoring animation talent in France. He is preparing his next exhibition in Paris for 2022. Trailer

2023 Mithya Narrative Feature Kannada, Marathi mins 98 International Premiere In-Person, Virtual 2023 India Drama, Coming of Age Mithya is a journey along- side Mithun, a 11 year old, who is coming to terms with the loss of his parents. We walk in step with his tottering feet, as they search for solid ground. Can a new house be home, can friendships be forged again or is it all just a search for something long gone! Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival - 2023 Bengaluru International Film Festival - 2024 Virtual Q&A with Filmmaker Sumanth Bhat Tickets 4/18/24, 6:15 PM All Badges, Individual Tickets AFS Cinema Director Sumanth Bhat A software engineer, turned entrepreneur, turned filmmaker, Sumanth has written & directed 4 of the 7 episodes in Ekam, a yet to release web-series, presented by Paramvah Studios. He is also an active member of the writing team at Paramvah. Mithya is his first feature film. Director: Sumanth Bhat Producer: Rakshit Shetty Writer: Sumanth Bhat Cast: Athish S Shetty, Prakash Thuminad Editor: Bhuvanesh Manivannan Crew: Udit Khurana, Midhun Mukundan, Shreyank Nanjappa This Event is supported in part by a Mini Grant from Humanities Texas. Community Partners for the Film More Films

2023 Helena Short English, Hindi, Nepali mins 13 North American Premiere In-Person, Virtual 2023 Nepal, United Arab Emirates Drama Helena works in the UAE as a waitress. Her son in Nepal has been asking for a laptop for the last four months and has now stopped going to school. Finally, when she’s saved enough money to buy one, she finds out that she’s lost a small amount of cash. When the son calls her, she lies to him saying that she’s bought the laptop and is sending it with her friend. Deep into the lies, in between the pressure from work and from her family, how will she get through this? Official Selection - Focus South Asia, Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2023 Tickets 4/20/24, 1:00 PM All Badges, Individual Tickets AFS Cinema Director Ayarush Paudel Ayarush Paudel was born and raised in Nepal. After high school, Paudel moved to the United Arab Emirates in order to pursue his passion for storytelling while studying undergraduate education at New York University Abu Dhabi. With his interest lying primarily in narrative stories, Paudel has written and directed a number of projects in the last five years revolving around different issues in Nepal such as the schooling system, gender inequality, the impact of the pandemic, and racism. Director: Ayarush Paudel Producer: Sophiya Paudel Writer: Ayarush Paudel Cast: Ayushma Shrestha George Jose Yoshina Gautam Sajil Jimmy Samman Sharma Ramesh Rijal Editor: Ayarush Paudel Crew: Pu Jia, Daniel Nivia, Kate Ezubova This Event is supported in part by a Mini Grant from Humanities Texas. Community Partners for the Film More Films