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The 10th Annual Indie Meme Film Festival comes to Austin in-person from April 9-13, 2025 and is held at the Austin Film Society Cinema IMFF 2025 Jury The 10th Indie Meme Film Festival comes to Austin in-person from April 9 - 13, 2025 and is held at the Austin Film Society Cinemas. Each year, we assemble a prestigious group of filmmakers, industry experts, veteran film festival programmers and other film aficionados. These esteemed jurors dedicate their expertise to selecting the films deserving of recognition in various categories. The winners from each category are revealed during the Closing Night Party. These announcements are then accompanied by special citations presented by the jury. Narrative Jury Documentary Jury Shorts Jury Narrative Feature Jury Chelsea Hernandez Chelsea Hernandez is an Emmy®-nominated Mexican-American Director and Producer based in Texas. Named as DOC NYC’s 2021 40 Under 40 Class, her first feature documentary BUILDING THE AMERICAN DREAM (SXSW, PBS) won a Silver Telly Award for Social Impact and was nominated for a National Emmy in 2021. Chelsea’s producing work spans over 15 years in television and film including United Tacos Of America (El Rey Network series); and That Animal Rescue Show (Paramount +). Her second feature documentary BREAKING THE NEWS (Tribeca), a co-production with ITVS was broadcast on Independent Lens/PBS in February 2024. Chelsea is a Ford Foundation/Just Films grantee, BAVC National Mediamaker Fellow, Firelight Doc Lab Fellow and Tribeca All Access Alum. She is also a member of Brown Girls Doc Mafia and co-founder of Tejanas in Film. Bryan Poyser A two-time Independent Spirit Award nominee, writer/director Bryan Poyser has made 4 features, numerous short films as well as projects for Comedy Central, the USA Network, Ridley Scott Associates and HBO. Bryan’s feature LOVERS OF HATE premiered in competition at the Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for the John Cassavetes Award at the 2011 Independent Spirit Awards. His first feature DEAR PILLOW was also nominated for a Spirit Award in 2005. Bryan’s third feature LOVE & AIR SEX premiered at the 2013 SXSW Film Festival and was released by Tribeca Films. His work for television includes directing the pilot OVERANALYZERS for Comedy Central and writing an episode of the Duplass Brothers HBO series ROOM 104. His most recent short film DON'T YOU GO NOWHERE screened at 40 festivals throughout 2022-2023 and won 18 awards and his most recent feature, LEADS, recipient of an Austin Film Society Grant, will have its festival premiere in the late Spring of 2025. Bryan lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife and daughter and teaches filmmaking as an Associate Professor of Practice at Texas State University. Celeste Quesada Celeste Quesada is an artist, community builder, real estate professional and a two-term Austin Music Commissioner, appointed by Mayor Kirk Watson. Known for creating community by weaving together 25+ years of working within the cultural arts, social impact and home-building space. Quesada loves to inspire, educate, and share her expertise with others. Quesada received her BFA at the University of Texas, co-founded Cine Las Americas, and has worked with numerous non-profits including Planned Parenthood, I Live Here I Give Here, Austin Film Society, SIMS Foundation, HAAM, American Gateways, El Buen Samaritano, Forklift Danceworks, Creative Action, Austin Music Industry Awards and Austin Music Awards. She currently serves on the board of directors for the Austin Film Society and the leadership council for American Gateways. In 2024, Quesada started getting hands dirty with ceramic art. Her artwork can be found at the Get Lucky Gallery in Lockhart, Texas. Quesada is a proud South Austinite living in District 3. She also owns a second residence in Lockhart, Texas with her husband, grammy-winning producer & musician Adrian Quesada; their daughters, Amelie and Marcelle and their canine toddler, Martiza Chichén Itzá Quesada (or Itzá for short). for short). Documentary Jury Khaula Malik Khaula Haider Malik is an Emmy-Award winning filmmaker and programmer based in New York City. She most recently co-produced Apple TV+'s GIRLS STATE. Her work has been supported by the Sundance Institute, HBO, the Doris Duke Foundation, CAAM, Islamic Scholarship Fund, PBS, The Gotham, and others. She is currently in post-production on her first feature doc, THE NOBLES, which has been supported by DOCNYC and the Catapult Rough Cut Retreat. Khaula’s work has been featured in The New York Times, Sight & Sound, PBS and she has worked with Netflix and HBO. She is a graduate of the MFA program at the Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema, and served as a programmer for the True/False Film Festival from 2022-2024. Tim Tsai Tim is a Taiwanese American filmmaker whose feature debut SEADRIFT chronicles the racial hostilities that erupted during the early days of Vietnamese refugee arrival on the Texas Gulf Coast. SEADRIFT premiered at Slamdance 2019 and was broadcast on PBS, garnering awards from the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, the Dallas International Film Festival, the Houston Film Critics Society, and others. Recent work includes editing POWERLANDS (AmDocs '22 Best US Feature), about global Indigenous resistance against resource extraction, and directing MI CASA ES TU CASA (2023), a short documentary on the founders of Woodlake Botanical Garden. Tim holds an MFA in film production from U.T. Austin, served as the former executive director of the Austin Asian American Film Festival, and is a Firelight Media Documentary Labs alum. He is now based in California's Central Valley. Shorts Jury Miriam Chandy Menacherry Miriam is a Fulbright scholar and a filmmaker dedicated to creating a brand of documentaries that have won acclaim in India and internationally. She has been chosen as BAFTA, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Breakthrough Talent from India. She is one of 18 fellows selected in the first cohort of the Global Media Makers Fellowship by Film Independent and US State Department of Education and Cultural Affairs. She is the recipient of the 70th National Film Award for Best Direction for her documentary From the Shadows. Her award-winning films are about everyday heroes, From the Shadows, The Leopard’s Tribe, Lyari Notes, The Rat Race, Robot Jockey, Stuntmen of Bollywood and a 7-part series Back to the Floor. Her films have streamed on Netflix, BBC, National Geographic Channel, Arte France and Al Jazeera. She has done 2 years of research in India on the contribution of Women in Cinema and Collectivism supported by India Foundation for the Arts that has now been supported for further research by the Fulbright-Nehru Fellowship. She is currently a visiting scholar at UT, Austin, Texas until July 2025. Jordan Levin Jordan Levin is a highly accomplished media executive, producer, and strategist with over three decades of experience shaping the entertainment industry. He has played a key role in launching and managing major entertainment franchises across television, film, digital media, and sports. Levin has held leadership positions at The WB (now The CW), Awesomeness, the NFL, Xbox Entertainment Studios, and Rooster Teeth, where he guided content strategy, production, and business operations. He is widely recognized for his expertise in engaging young audiences and driving innovative storytelling across scripted and unscripted formats, documentaries, podcasts, and live events. In 2024, Levin transitioned into academia as a Professor of Practice at the University of Texas at Austin’s Moody College of Communication, where he teaches media production and industry studies while developing a new Sports Production and Broadcasting minor. Alongside his academic role, he continues to serve as a strategic advisor for select entertainment and sports enterprises. Throughout his career, Levin has been a thought leader in media, sports, and technology, contributing to industry boards, speaking engagements, and creative ventures that have left a lasting impact on popular culture. Brad Limov Brad Limov is a postdoc in media, AI, and ethics at UT-Austin. As a scholar, he researches how communities use media to communicate, come together, and take action. In addition to what this means for media industry norms, he has a particular interest in communities of practice and how they interact within online spaces and offline at events. Before making the move to Austin, Brad studied East Asian cinemas at Nagoya University in Japan. His focus on film festivals led him to opportunities as a translator for the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival and as a communicator for Xining FIRST International Film Festival. He was trained in writing and film production as an undergraduate at Colorado College. Brad's academic writing has appeared in media and communication journals like Critical Studies in Media Communication, the International Journal of Communication, and NECSUS European Journal of Media Studies. Jenny Nulf Jenny Nulf is a film distributor and programmer. She currently works as the Theatrical Programs Manager at the American Genre Film Archive, a non-profit focused on film preservation. She has had a dedicated career in film, and previously she has worked as a programmer for Alamo Drafthouse and the Austin Asian American Film Festival, and was nominated four years in a row as Best Film Critic in Austin by the Austin Chronicle. She loves finding audiences for under-the-radar, diverse, and thought-provoking cinema.

In the neighbourhood, chess is a popular pass time with roadside games bringing together men from different strata. Their pawns include morality and religion, causing social and political tensions to erupt when a tournament gets underway. But the men are only the most visible players. Turup (DFW Screening) 1h 12min | 2017 | Hindi with English subtitles Thu 4/26/18, 7:15-9:15 pm Angelika Film Center - Plano 7205 Bishop Rd., Plano, Texas 75024 Film maker in attendance GET TICKETS SYNOPSIS In the neighbourhood, chess is a popular pass time with roadside games bringing together men from different strata. Their pawns include morality and religion, causing social and political tensions to erupt when a tournament gets underway. But the men are only the most visible players. Against this simmering backdrop, a domestic worker with a secret hobby, a young woman in love and a former journalist struggling with married life must make their moves with care. When caste, class, religion and gender come into play, there are boundaries to be negotiated, and the very rules of the game stand challenged. COMMUNITY PARTNERS MEDIA PARTNERS TRAILER TICKETS Turup DFW Tickets DIRECTOR'S PROFILE Ektara Collective is an independent, autonomous, non-funded group of people who seek to combine creative efforts and imagination and collaborate with trained and untrained people to make films that are content wise and aesthetically located in people’s subjective, contextual realities and experiences. Through this process, Ektara has made and produced 2 short fiction films earlier (Chanda Ke Joote, 22mins, 2011; Jaadui Machchi, 38mins, 2013). This is our first fiction feature film. DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT Turup (Checkmate) looks at the contemporary issues of caste, class, gender and growing right wing vigilantism prevalent in the country (India) today. It also brings out resistance and solidarities existing within these realities that quietly yet resolutely subvert the growing repression in their own manner. This film has been made collectively by Ektara Collective over a period of a year. It was made along with the residents of different working class settlements living in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. All of the cast and much of the crew were from the settlements. Other technical and non-technical people came from across the country to become a part of the film. The process of making the film was a collaborative and evolving one where ideas about the script, dialogues, shoot, edit and music were shared, finalised and eventually executed. The film thus is a product of collective effort where each person involved has contributed her/his own unique vision, skill and perspective to it, guiding and often maneuvering it to reach its logical conclusion. FILM CREDITS Producer: Ektara Collective Story, Script, Screenplay: Rinchin and Maheen Mirza Cinematography: Maheen Mirza Editing: Puloma Pal Sound Design: Bigyna Bhushan Dahal Production Design: Sanjay Raraiya, Priyanka Gaikwad, Tina Sharma Music: Dev Narayan Saroliya, Kaluram Bamniya, Narayanji Delmia, Sangeeta Lahiri Shrivastav Direction: Ektara Collective Principal Cast: Moulina Midde, Anil Singh, Madhu Bhagat, Syed Saim Ali, Nidhi Qazi, Hariram Darshyamkar, Aakash Jhamra, Kuldeep Arakka, Sheela Rawat, Abhinav Kumar, Deepak Nema, Hasanuddin, Madhu Dhurve, Geeta Dhrve, Preeti Jagat, Bali Jagat, Neelam Borkar, Seema Deshmukh, Pushpa Yadav, Tushar Pawar STILLS Turup_2 Turup_3 Turup_1

Nestled in the Kashmir valley, lies a small village on the India-Pakistan border, always caught in the crossfire between the two warring nations. One night an eight-year old girl, Nooreh, discovers that the gun battle rages when she sleeps and the bloody duel stops when she keeps her eyes open. Back to Festival Program Texas Premiere Nooreh India I 22 mins I Drama I 2019 I Dogri w/ English subtitles Nestled in the Kashmir valley, lies a small village on the India-Pakistan border, always caught in the crossfire between the two warring nations. One night an eight-year old girl, Nooreh, discovers that the gun battle rages when she sleeps and the bloody duel stops when she keeps her eyes open. Director's Note : Children dream of a beautiful world, unaware that its divided, fragmented and determined to self-destruct Against the wishes of these uncertain times, I gather courage to dream and strength to create. I will continue my quest, to seek truth; truth which is not definite. I will continue to find unheard marginal voices; not to silence others, but to keep them alive. + NOOREH screens with the feature film, NASIR GET YOUR FESTIVAL BADGE VIRTUAL SCREENING : SAT. APRIL 17 - 7:00PM CT About the Artist Ashish Pandey's films have been screened at major festivals and exhibited at art galleries. His latest short, NOOREH, had special success connecting to critics and audiences, winning 'Best Short' at the prestigious Busan International Festival, as well as awards for story & directing at festivals in Australia, Russia, France, Iran, Nepal, India, & Germany. Ashish's work is diverse in form and subject matter. His first short THE CABIN MAN, dealt with the loneliness of an old railway man guarding an abandoned cabin. His second, OPEN DOORS, nestled the plot within the stillness of time and space. NOOREH, set in a border village, was shot in a true border village with locals as actors. Ashish is a graduate from Satyajit Ray Film & Television institute, Kolkata with specialization in Sound. Thank you to our community partner(s) for this screening: the Austin Film Society, and the Austin Film Commission! Credits Crew Writer/Director: ASHISH PANDEY Producer(s): RAJA SHABIR KHAN Cinematography: SUSHEEL GAUTAM Editor: PALLAVI SINGHAL Cast SAIMA LATIEF as 'Noor' SANIA MANZOOR as 'Sania' S AFREEN RAFIQ as "Afreen' Music : DANIEL B. GEORGE Associate Director: RAJA SHABIR KHAN

Set‐up on a pre‐arranged date by their old‐fashioned Indian parents, Ravi and Rita seemingly have nothing in common. The situation turns both awkward and enlightening when they find themselves trapped inside together for a week. All Upcoming Events GET TICKETS Rehana, an assistant professor at a medical college, struggles to keep the harmony between work and family, as she has to play all the complex roles of a teacher, doctor, sister, daughter, and mother. One evening, she witnesses a student storming out of a professor’s office, crying. Deeply impacted, Rehana becomes dedicated to pursuing consequences for the perpetrator. She enters a maelstrom of controversy as she confronts aspects of her university, society, and herself that previously lay dormant. Azmeri Haque Badhon earned international acclaim for her resolute and electric central performance, including 'Best Actress' at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. + BAMBIRAK (short film) (Germany, US I German, Dari I 14 mins I dir. Zamarin Wahdat) When 8-year-old Kati stows away in her father's delivery van, Faruk must juggle his responsibilities as a dad while holding down his first job in a new country. Rehana Bangladesh I 107 mins I Drama, Thriller I 2021 Bengali w/ English subtitles About the Artist Born 1985 in Chittagong, Bangladesh, Abdullah Mohammad Saad graduated with a degree in education and research from the University of Dhaka. Live from Dhaka, his first feature film, was selected at Rotterdam and won the Silver Screen Award for Best Director at the Singapore International Film Festival. His second film, Rehana, was the first film from Bangladesh to be featured in Un Certain Regard at Cannes, won the 'Jury Grand Prize' and 'Best Performance by an Actress' Awards at the Asia Pacific Film Awards, and became Bangladesh's Official 2021 Oscar Submission. Trailer Credits Crew Writer/Director: ABDULLAH MOHAMMAD SAAD Producer(s): JEREMY CHUA EHSANUL HAQUE BABU Cinematographer: TUHIN TAMIJUL

Meet our 2023 sponsors, patrons and supporters. We are grateful to these organizations to help bring independent films from South Asia to our audience. Our Sponsors Thank you to our generous sponsors for their support of Indie Meme's Festivals & Programs. Our corporate, media, institutional, & local business sponsors sustain our work and further the presence of independent South Asian Cinema in Texas. We could not do it without you! IMFF is in part supported by the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin, Economic Development Department. PRESENTING SPONSOR PRODUCING SPONSOR DIRECTING SPONSOR SCRIPTING SPONSORS SMALL BUSINESSES AND ORGANIZATIONS Thank you to our brilliant sponsors, past and present! We are grateful to our 2015 , 2016, 2017 , 2018, 2019 , 2020 , 2021 , and 2022 sponsors. BECOME A SPONSOR

An Indian-American mother's worst fear rises to the surface when she is the victim of racial abuse. Five O'Clock Shadow Short Film | 7:14 mins 4/21/18, 8:30 pm GET TICKETS SYNOPSIS Five O'Clock Shadow is the story of an Indian-American mother who is the victim of racial abuse. Her worst fear rises to the surface and for the first time ever, she asks the question: Do we really belong here? TRAILER DIRECTOR'S PROFILE Sangeeta Agrawal is a first time filmmaker for her project, Five O'Clock Shadow. With more than 30 years of experience on stage, and lead roles in several short films, Sangeeta is the recipient of the Best NRI Actress at the Delhi International Film Festival in 2015. Sangeeta moved to the US in 1985. She has lived in the Washington DC area since then. DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT My first film as writer and director, Five O'Clock Shadow, comes from a very personal place as an Indian-American mother. The story came to me on the morning after the Kansas shooting of two South Asian men. It shocked the community and made headlines all over the world. As the mother of a young man who has a beard, my first thought went to him and his safety. Never in the thirty years of my life in the U.S. did I feel threatened in this way. I simply had to say something about it. And so the story was born. FESTIVAL HISTORY Chicago South Asian Film Festival - 2017 - Chicago Tasveer South Asian Film Festival - 2017 - Seattle DC South Asian Film Festival - 2017 - Washington DC Delhi International Film Festival - 2017 - Delhi - Best Concept - Short Film NRI Award First Friday Film Festival - 2018 - Kansas World Music and Independent Film Festival - 2018 Washington DC - Best South East Asian Film and Best Actor in a DMV Short Film Calcutta International Cult Film Festival - 2017 - Kolkata New Delhi Short Film Festival - 2017 - Delhi - Special Appreciation Award DFW South Asian Film Festival - 2018 -Dallas Women and Minorities in Media Fest - 2018 - Towson University - Mid-Atlantic Emerging Filmmaker The Women's Film Festival - 2018 -Philadelphia STILLS FOS-Still4 FOS-Still3

The Rat Race winds its way through the grimy underbelly of Mumbai, through dimly lit alleys and crowded markets to tell the story of the city’s rat killers. The Rat Race 56min / Documentary / India SYNOPSIS Filmmaker – Miriam Chandy The Rat Race winds its way through the grimy underbelly of Mumbai, through dimly lit alleys and crowded markets to tell the story of the city’s rat killers. Using the vehicle of the rat the documentary explores issues of livelihood to paint a moving account of India at the crossroads. Hindi with English Subtitles Interested in screening this in your hometown? Write to us Tickets TICKETS NOT AVAILABLE TRAILER

Winner of top prizes at the Venice and Mumbai film festivals, Chaitanya Tamhane’s Court is a quietly devastating portrait of injustice, caste prejudice. Court India — 2014 – 116 mins | In Marathi, Hindi, English & Gujarati with English subtitles SYNOPSIS Winner of the Best Feature Film award at the 62nd National Film Awards (India) and the Best Film in Horizons at the Venice International Film Festival, Chaitanya Tamhane’s Court is a quietly devastating, absurdist portrait of injustice, caste prejudice, and venal politics in contemporary India. An elderly folk singer and grassroots organizer, dubbed the “people’s poet,” is arrested on a trumped-up charge of inciting a sewage worker to commit suicide. His trial is a ridiculous and harrowing display of institutional incompetence, with endless procedural delays, coached witnesses for the prosecution, and obsessive privileging of arcane colonial law over reason and mercy. What truly distinguishes Court, however, is Tamhane’s brilliant ensemble cast of professional and nonprofessional actors; his affecting mixture of comedy and tragedy; and his naturalist approach to his characters and to Indian society as a whole, rich with complexity and contradiction. Interested in screening this in your hometown? Write to us SPONSORS AND SUPPORTERS Tickets TICKETS NOT AVAILABLE TRAILER DIRECTOR'S PROFILE Chaitanya Tamhane Born in Mumbai in 1987, Chaitanya Tamhane is an English literature graduate. Six Strands (2010), his first short film, was screened at various international film festivals including Rotterdam, Clermont-Ferrand, Edinburgh, and Slamdance. In 2012, he was selected for the Berlinale Talent Campus at the Berlin Film Festival. Court is his first feature film. The film was awarded the Hubert Bals Fund from the Rotterdam Film Festival. DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT I was surprised by my urge to explore the Indian judiciary. After all, so much has been done and said in the genre of courtroom dramas. But when I attended a nondescript lower court in suburban Mumbai, the sheer lack of drama, and the casualness with which life and death decisions were being made, was what sparked my imagination. Every face has a story of its own; the stenographer who disinterestedly types away all day, the peon who runs errands for a small bribe, the inarticulate lawyers reading out long, technical passages from outdated law books, the appellants who have probably spent years waiting for their case number to be called out. Amidst all this theatre, are the hopes and fears of ordinary people, who cling on to every word they can understand, as their fates are decided. Although the film is set in very peculiar sub-cultures of Mumbai, the attempt is to explore the invisible fabric of a collective. The characters are constantly acting upon the invisible triggers of caste and class politics, patriarchy, and feudalism. The challenge for me was to lend dignity and humanity to these people, despite their flaws. CAST Narayan Kamble Vira Sathidar Vinay Vora Vivek Gomber Public Prosecutor Nutan Geetanjali Kulkarni Judge Sadavarte Pradeep Joshi Sharmila Pawar Usha Bane Subodh Shirish Pawar CREW Writer & Director Chaitanya Tamhane Producer Vivek Gomber Cinematography Mrinal Desai Editing Rikhav Desai Music Sambhaji Bhagat Production Design Pooja Talreja and Somnath Pal Costume Design Sachin Lovalekar Sound Design Anita Kushwaha and Amrit Pritam AWARDS 71st Venice International Film Festival (Orizzonti) Best Film Lion of the Future / Luigi De Laurentiis Award for best debut film 16th Mumbai Film Festival (International competition) Golden Gateway of India - Best Film Silver Gateway of India - Best Director Jury Special Mention for Ensemble Cast 51st International Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival SİYAD International Feature Film Award Vienna International Film Festival FIPRESCI award Hong Kong Asian Film Festival New Talent award Minsk Film Festival Listapad (Youth on the March competition) Best Film Auteur Film Festival (International Competition)(Serbia) Grand Prix Aleksandar Sasa Petrovic - Best Film FIPRESCI Prize Serbia Slobodan Novakovic Molodist Kyiv International Film Festival (International competition) Special mention of the jury Singapore International Film Festival Best Film: Asian Feature Film section (Silver Screen Award) Best Director 2morrow Festival (Moscow) Best Script (Chaitanya Tamhane) Best Cinematography (Mrinal Desai) FICUNAM (Unam International Film Festival) (Mexico) Special mention of the jury (International competition) 62nd National Film Awards (India) Best Feature Film

Support us in bringing independent films from South Asia to our audience. Your membership goes a long way in building our community. Perks apply. 2023 MEMBERSHIP JOIN OR RENEW TODA Y! ...from intergenerational gap between fathers and sons, the apathy of the court system, domestic violence, child trafficking, gender identity or organ transplant; these powerful stories have found a venue through Indie Meme thanks to your support! …we are committed to showcasing children’s films… …delivering you the human spirit, the soul or just a slice of life… ...it’s all part of the larger plan to fuel conversations around cinema... Programming to bring some true stories from South Asia your way. Since we have started we have directly reached over 6000 viewers , have collectively put in 1,000s of hours of volunteering and have more than 250 donors contributing to ensure the success of Indie Meme…and build a community that cares! Please note that $35/year membership to Indie Meme is not tax-exempt. Gold (Fan) Level contributions are tax deductible to the extent provided by law. MEMBERSHIP PERKS Sustain our efforts in bringing you exceptional films & enriching cultural experiences by becoming an Indie Meme Member. Get discounts, early access and special members-only perks! Get up to 20% off every Indie Meme event for the year (unless specified otherwise). Multiple discounted (or free) 2021 festival badges to share with family and friends! Invitation to exclusive ‘meet the maker’ mixers with visiting filmmakers/guests. At least two socials/mixers to build our Meme-er Community! Advance ticket purchase for select films. Also purchase IMFF@Austin badges days before they are available to the public. CHOOSE MEMBERSHIP LEVEL We've changed our Membership process so you're in control, and know exactly what Level you are, and have easy access to receipts, renewal and option to edit the information we have on file for you. Note: All our events are only available in the Texas region. Become a Meme-er! Be a champion of South Asian Cinema and part of the new wave of incredible films.

Ugyen, a reluctant young teacher, just wants to finish his final year of service and move to Australia to pursue music. But when he's assigned to the world's most remote village school, he must reconsider his path and ties to his homeland. Back to Festival Program Sun. April 16th @ 10:30AM AFS Cinemas Texas Premiere 1/1 WHILE WE WATCHED United Kingdom I 94 mins I Documentary I 2022 English, Hindi w/ English subtitles BUY TICKETS * Virtual Q&A with director Vinay Shukla Winner of the prestigious TIFF Amplify Voices Award, The Busan Cinephile Award '22, & the Sabeen Mahmud Award for Courage in Fil mmaking '23 (MISAFF). A Special Presentation of DOC NYC Nominated for 'Political Film of the Year (Cinema For Peace '23), 'Right to Know Competition' (One World International Human Rights Documentary Festival), & 'Activist Documentary Award' (The Hague Movies That Matter '23) 'Best International Documentary' Winner - DocPoint Helsinki, 2023 The primetime Indian TV Journalist, Ravish Kumar, is in trouble. Famous for unflinching takedowns of the ruling establishment, his nerves have begun to fray as the Indian media landscape turns toward a new standard of high-decibel, polarizing, blustering TV debates. Ravi's primetime bulletins have long been valued for solid research, verified evidence, and a sharp commentary with a touch of rustic sass. Yet, as press freedom further deteriorates, Ravish finds himself at the receiving end of harassment, intimidation, threats to his life, and even violence against his family. With a growing target on his back, and the looming issue of his network’s imminent closure, Ravish transforms from a spunky troublemaker into a deeply troubled man, worried for himself, his family, and the soul of his nation. About the Artist Vinay Shukla is a filmmaker, producer, and leading figure in the Indian documentary landscape. His debut feature, the non- fiction political thriller, AN INSIGNIFICANT MAN (co-directed with Khushboo Ranka) was internationally acclaimed, set a new anti-censorship precedent, and went on to become the most theatrically successful documentary film in India. His short BUREAUCRACY SONATA (2011), won the HBO 'Best Short Film' Award at the 2012 South Asian International Film Festival. His work has attracted distinguished partnerships with Sundance, DocSociety, NFDC India, Asian Network of Documentaries, IDFA, and IDFA Bertha. His films have been celebrated at Warsaw Film Festival, Busan International Film Festival, BFI London, Sheffield Doc/Fest, among other leading world festivals. Vinay also produced the globally renowned political strategy board games 'SHASN’, and its sequel, ‘SHASN: AZADI’. Vinay’s highly-anticipated second feature film, ‘While We Watched’ - a non-fiction newsroom drama - is premiering at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival. Thank you to our community partner for this screening! Credits Crew Writer/Director: Vinay Shukla Producer(s): Vinay Shukla Khushboo Ranka Luke W. Moody Exec. Producers: Jess Search Maxyne Franklin Beadie Finzi Vijay Vaidyanathan Cinematography: Amaan Shaikh Vinay Shukla Film Editor: Abhinav Tyagi Cast : Ravish Kumar Sushil Mohapatra Swarolipi Sengupta Sushil Bahuguna Saurabh Shukla Deepak Chaubey Writing Credits: Reshma Ramachandran Amaan Shaikh Vinay Shukla Abhinav Tyagi Sound: Renganaath Ravee Bibin Dev Music by: Joaquin Garcia

Dhh is a heartwarming story of 3 friends (Gungun, Bajrang & Vakil) and their journey towards realising their true potential. An afternoon of sauntering leads them to a magic show and leaves them awestruck. Dhh India | Feature | 2h 8min |Fiction |Hindi/Gujarati with English subtitles 4/22/18, 10:00am-12:15pm GET TICKETS Note: Free screening, please register on the Ticket Page SYNOPSIS Dhh is a heartwarming story of 3 friends (Gungun, Bajrang & Vakil) and their journey towards realising their true potential. An afternoon of sauntering leads them to a magic show and leaves them awestruck. Magic, it seems is a solution for all their problems including mathematics ! The boys write to the Magician asking him for a trick to ace their examinations. Days go by and times get tougher with punishments at school and warnings at home. All hope is lost, but one fine day the Magician replies! His letter arrives with a parcel that claims to hold the key to cracking their examinations. Can this be true? In pursuit of learning from magic Gungun and his friends soon realise, that there is a lot more learning to be done from life itself. FILM SPONSOR COMMUNITY PARTNER TRAILER DIRECTOR'S PROFILE Manish Saini graduated from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad in 2009, specializing in Film and Video Communication. It is here that he discovered and channelized his love for story telling into crafting films. He is inspired by the nuances of daily life and has an eye for seeing whimsy and splendour in the seemingly ordinary and mundane happenings around him. He sees cinema as a mirror to real life, his work so far presents characters and humdrum situations through the lens of humour and irony. He aspires to tell stories that are rooted in Indian life and have a mass appeal but at the same time are equally thought provoking. Manish’s student work has won awards and was showcased in many Indian Film Festivals. Manish founded ‘Amdavad Films’ in 2016 with the intent of realising the project “Dhh”. The production house was founded in collaboration with young entrepreneurs who consist of writers, visualisers, cinematographers, editors, animators and production designers. Amdavad films aims to contribute to the growth of Gujarati Cinema. DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT Childhood is not just a time or a phase in our lives but rather a place in our minds that we often revisit. The story of ‘Dhh’ hopes to take its audience on a nostalgic journey to the days of innocence and unquestioned faith. It is dedicated to all those who as kids believed that magic can truly solve the bigger problems in life. The film tries to convey that a true victory is when you find happiness and not when you score 99/100 and that real success is when you make progress and not just stand 1st in class. Life is an addition of many small instances that seem insignificant, but time often adds them up to teach us immeasurable lessons. The process of learning from life is --w-he-re-t-he -m-ag-ic -h-ap-pe-ns-,- th-is-s-to-ry-a-spi-re-s -to m-agnify this magical experience. CREW Director & Writer - Manish Saini Story - Aditya Vikarm Sengupta & Manish Saini Director of Photography - Prahlad Gopakumar Editor - Niraj Voralia Music - Meghdhanush Lyrics - Juzar Shabbir Sound Designer - Bishwadeep Dipak Chatterjee Background Music - Sagar Desai Sync Sound - Jitamitra Jena Executive Producer - Ajay Kannaujiya Production Designer - Pritesh Maru Costume Designer - Ganesh Ghani Production Head - Aniruddh Rahevar Dialogue - Parth Trivedi, Ninad Parikh & Manish Saini STILLS dhh1 dhh7 dhh5 dhh6 dhh4 dhh2

A newlywed girl patiently waits for a call from her husband, who has left to find work in India. As days pass, longingness turns to loneliness, then resignation to resolve. Back to Festival Program 1/2 Sat. April 15th @ 10:30AM AFS Cinemas Online April 28 - May 1 THE HORSE FROM HEAVEN India I 15 mins I Drama I Short I 2022 Assamese w/ English subtitles BUY TICKETS WATCH ONLINE Indian Oscar Entry for 'Best Live Action Short Film' 'Best Cinematography' - Himalayan Film Festival Kuxhol is traveling to the city with Goti, the horse from heaven. Kuxhol shares the amazing story of their adventures with anyone he meets - claiming Goti is the fastest horse in the world. At first, everyone finds this bizarre as they can see that Goti is not a horse, but a donkey. Yet, eventually, his audience begins to believe in his tale of Heaven’s Horse. About the Artist Maharshi (Tuhin) Kashyap is a final year student at Satyajit Ray Film And Television Institute (SRFTI), Kolkata and a practicing film-maker hailing from Assam. He has written screenplays for three feature length films Boroxun-Songs For Rains, Hero, and Bulu Film. His short film, Kaan Phus Phusot Phus Phusoni, won best student film at International Moving Film Festival, Iran. His recent short, Mur Ghurar Duronto Goti, has been screened at the Cineteca National Museum, Mexico as well as Kolkata International Film Festival and others. His documentary film, Water Water Everywhere was screened at Nagari Film Festival, Urban Lens Film Festival and others. Presently his documentary film Flowers In A Hailstorm, is in post production. Another of his short documentaries, Xilxaku'r Udong Buku, has been recently selected and produced by Charles Correa Foundation under Nagari Film Festival 2022. Credits Crew Writer/Director: Maharshi (Tuhin) Kashyap Producer(s): Nilanjana Rudra Cinematography: Arnab Laha Prod. Design: Vipin Rohilla Cast: Atul Pachani Sound Design: Arnab Borah Somnath Gogoi Sound Mix: Archisman Mukherjee Colorist: Mahak Gupta