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Chandra and her husband, Dharam, run the Swizerland Homestay, an inn perched above the only road in a small Himalayan village. The terrain poses a problem, as they must transport their son Prakash down the mountain in his wheelchair for doctor's visits and school. Though Chandra believes Prakash needs more medical atte Back to Home Page NOTE: Due to distribution rights, this event is streaming ONLY in the United States. June 25th - 27th Free to Members $5 / non-members Venue: Filmocracy Virtual Screening Fire in the Mountains India I 82 mins I Drama I 2020 I Hindi w/ English subtitles In this astonishing feature debut from director Ajitpal Singh, a mother toils to build a road to take her son, who has limited mobility, to physiotherapy. Her husband, believing a shamanic ritual is the true remedy, sabotages her plans. While trying to stay afloat on the slim profits of their Himalayan homestay, the family begins to fracture. FIRE IN THE MOUNTAINS premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival. It went on to critical acclaim and a flourishing festival run, including serving as the Opening Night Selection at the Indian Film Festival of LA and the Closing Night Selection at the New York Indian Film Festival. "Singh displays a Nuri Bilge Ceylan- level authenticity in his visual, unhurried portrayal of rural life. " - Variety ON DEMAND STREAMING + Q&A FRIDAY, JUNE 25 - SUNDAY, JUNE 27 About the Artist Ajitpal Singh was born in Punjab, India. When he was eight years old, his father ran a cinema hall, and Singh would sneak into the theater to watch Bollywood films. Life took a bitter turn when, due to insurgency, the family suffered huge losses and migrated to Gujarat, where his father worked as a security guard. Still, the filmmaking bug never left him, and after doing some odd jobs, he started writing screenplays. FIRE IN THE MOUNTAINS is Singh's feature debut and premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition. Other honors include an Audience Award for Best Feature at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles and the Jury Award for Best Director at NYIFF. Official Trailer HOW TO WATCH: on TICKET + = WATCH LIVE FROM HOME Create Free Account Credits Crew Writer/Director: AJITPAL SINGH Producer(s): AJAY RAI ALAN MCALEX MAULI SINGH AMIT MEHTA Cinematographer: DOMINIQUE COLIN Editor(s): PARIKSHHIT JHA SIMON PRICE Sound Designer: MOHANDAS VP Production Design: MAUSAM AGGARWAL Cast VINAMRATA RAI CHANDAN BISHT MAYANK SINGH JAIRA HARSHITA TEWARI SONAL JHA Casting Director: TARAN BAJAJ Sound Recordist: KANISHK BHOKLAY Original Soundtrack: ARNAUD VAN VLIET Production Company JAR PICTURES

Meet our 2024 sponsors, patrons and supporters. We are grateful to these organizations to help bring independent films from South Asia to our audience. Our 2024 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 appreciate all of your support, and could not do it without you! Presenting Sponsor IMFF is in part supported by the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin, Economic Development Department. Producing Sponsor Directing Sponsors Scripting Sponsors Gold Sponsors Silver Sponsors We are grateful to our 2015 , 2016, 2017 , 2018, 2019 , 2020 , 2021 , 2022 , and 2023 sponsors. BECOME A SPONSOR

2022 The Cloud Messenger Narrative Feature English, Malayalam, Sanskrit mins 148 In-Person 2022 India Drama, Fantasy, Romance "An avant-garde marvel" - Nidhi Verma (Platform) In-Person Q&A with Director Rahat Mahajan Tickets 2/4/24, 9:00 PM $15.00 AFS Cinema Director Rahat Mahajan After finishing school at the Lawrence School Sanawar in the Himalayan mountains, Rahat enrolled for an M.F.A. at the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles. He developed various projects at the school in collaboration with mentors with diverse backgrounds, helping him grow through a deepening understanding of the craft and an ongoing consolidation of his own worldview. His debut feature film “Meghdoot/The Cloud Messenger” was in the Tiger Competition at The International Film Festival of Rotterdam 2022 and further travelled to BFI London Film Festival, São Paulo International Film Festival and several other festivals across the globe. The film recently won the Special Jury Mention at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. Director: Rahat Mahajan Producer: Sanjay Singh, Rahat Mahajan, Nalin Agarwal Writer: Rahat Mahajan Cast: Ritvik Tyagi, Ahalya Shetty, Raj Zutshi, Kapila Venu, Peesappilly Rajeevan Editor: Crew: Rahat Mahajan, Anil Pingua, Nikhel Kumar Mahajan, Kunal Sharma This Event is supported in part by a Mini Grant from Humanities Texas. Community Partners for the Film More Films

Stripped from nobility and forcibly married to an outcast by the monarchy, a noble woman fights to keep her dignity by rejecting to succumb to her destiny. Aamis India | Fiction | Drama, Horror | 2019 |108 min| Assamese; English subtitles Virtual IMFF 2020 Screening: Saturday, May 9 2020 | Screening : 8.30pm - 10.45pm Texas Premiere Zoom Q&A with Film-maker Bhaskar Hazarika Aamis is an Assamese love/horror story that centers desire, food and the social taboos. A lonely, married woman bonds with a younger man over their shared love of unusual foods. As their excursions become more adventurous, their relationship begins to take a dark turn. SYNOPSIS Married Niri shares a forbidden passion with Sumon, who introduces her to a world of fresh, wild delicacies. But as their unconsummated desire mounts, the two are pushed inexorably towards transgression and taboo. With Special Thanks to our Community Partner: DIRECTOR'S PROFILE Bhaskar Hazarika Bhaskar Hazarika received his MA in Film & Drama from the University of Reading (UK). Bhaskar’s debut film KOTHANODI (2015) was a recipient of Asian Cinema Fund’s Post Production and premiered at Busan International Film Festival 2015. Kothanodi also screened at BFI London Film Festival, Goteborg Film Festival and Jio MAMI Film Festival among "National-award winning director Bhaskar Hazarika says his brief stint in Bollywood left him with the memorable lesson that there is no respect for writers in the biggest film industry of the country. This, the director explained, was at a time when he was trying hard to make his work count in Bollywood, which remained largely unmoved by original, daring ideas. The director said he got the idea for Aamis while watching two people eat KFC chicken." src: Business Standard TRAILER STILLS SLIDE DECK 1/13 CREDITS Cast: LIMA DAS ARGHADEEP BARUAH NEETALI DAS Crew: Writer & Director - Bhaskar Hazarika Producers - Poonam Deol, Shyam Bora Co-Producers - Anshulika Dubey, Priyanka Agarwal Cinematography - Riju Das Editor - Shweta Rai Chamling Production Design - Manas Barua Music - Quan Bay Sound Design - Gautam Nair Re-Recording Mix - Ajaykumar P.B Sound Recordist - Debajit Gayan, Rukmajit Baruah Colourist - Mahak Gupta Costume Design - Meher Ahmed Casting - Ronald Hussain Make Up and Hair - Gautam Chaudhury VFX - Raakesh Medhi Production Control - Himen Bora Chief AD - Ghanashyam Kalita

The film, set in post war Sri Lanka, brings us close to two characters who collide quite accidentally. Top of Page Tickets Top of Page Tickets With You Without You 90mins / Narrative Feature/ Sri Lanka / Sinhala with English Subtitles SYNOPSIS Filmmaker – Prasanna Vithanage The film set, in post war Sri Lanka, brings us close to two characters who collide quite accidentally, and through them we experience the deep and seemingly unbridgeable chasm that conflict almost always creates. Will love help them cross the bridge? Or will the past continue to color the present? A man and a woman from the two ends of the thirty-year-old bloody civil war in Sri Lanka discover that the color of love is blue, and life, shades of grey. TICKETS CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE Tickets TRAILER

The 2020 Indie Meme Film Festival jury and awards. Jury & Awards 2020 JURY AWARD WINNERS DOCUMENTARY JURY RAMA TIRU Jury, Documentary As a Commercial/Industrial photographer, Rama has completed many successful projects in India and Austin. Her art photography evolved from her prowess in classic commercial photography and her technical expertise in Digital techniques. and she has showcased her work in many solo and group art shows. Her breath-taking works of Tibet, Thailand, India, Japan, Peru, Bolivia have been showcased in various venues. She has created one of a kind images by experimenting with alternate image processing and transfers techniques on fabric, wood, and metal sheets. ANDREW LEE Jury, Documentary Andrew Lee began his film career after winning $210k+ in cash prizes on his short films. Andrew produced his first feature doc, DMT: The Spirit Molecule, co-produced SXSW 2017 Audience Award winning documentary Dealt & Slamdance Film Festival 2019 documentary Seadrift about the Vietnamese refugees that settled in Texas which won the 2019 Houston Film Critics TIFA Visionary Award and is set to broadcast on PBS in May 2020. His latest feature doc Jump Shot about the inventor of the basketball jump shot premiered at SXSW 2019 and is set to release digitally in May 2020. He currently serves as the board president of the Austin Asian American Film Festival WINNER WINNER NARRATIVE JURY CELESTE QUESADA Jury, Narrative Born and raised in Austin, Texas, Producer and Creative Director Celeste Quesada's 22+ year career has focused on promoting the finest talent that Texas has to offer. Her work ranges from the production of “one of a kind” special events to the development of integrated PR and marketing strategies that fuse graphic design, branding, web identity and social media. Quesada's client list includes working with legendary Austin musicians, filmmakers and fashionistas of all genres, local architects, designers and numerous non-profit clients including Austin Film Society, Fusebox Festival, SIMS Foundation, American Gateways, El Buen Samaritano, Forklift Danceworks, Chula League, Austin Chronicle and the Austin Music Awards. TIM TSAI Jury, Narrative Tim is a filmmaker whose feature directorial debut SEADRIFT chronicles the racial hostilities that erupted in violence during the early days of Vietnamese refugee arrival on the Texas gulf coast. The film premiered at Slamdance 2019 and will be broadcast on PBS in May, 2020. Previous work include a series of short films on early Chinese Texans for Austin PBS, and editing the non-narrative film YAKONA (SXSW '14 Audience Award) about the San Marcos River. He earned 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 fellow. SANDHYA SHARDANAND Jury, Narrative Sandhya Shardanand is an Austin-based producer who enjoys every step of taking stories from the page to the screen. Her most recent projects are Richard Linklater’s APOLLO 10 ½, which is currently in post-production; BULL, which premiered at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival – Un Certain Regard; and SUPPORT THE GIRLS, which had its premiere at SXSW 2018. Previously she worked alongside director Terrence Malick on THE NEW WORLD, THE TREE OF LIFE and TO THE WONDER. She has an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin. Special Mention SHORTS JURY ASAD KIRMANI Jury, Shorts Asad Kirmani is a Writer/Director and a practicing psychiatrist in Austin, TX. While in medical school he produced and directed All the Wrong Reasons, a full-length comedy feature about a hapless young medical student. While doing his psychiatric residency in New York City he produced and directed Curing Gender, a documentary about the history of psychiatry and transsexuality that has been used educationally by a number of hospitals and institutions across the country, and was shown at the 2013 American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting in San Francisco. He has written and directed three short films, Stress Freud, Pornistan, and Hijabi. Pornistan won the 2013 Flatland Film Festival Chris Caddel Filmmaker Award and was a Finalist for Best Comedy Short at the 2014 Central Florida Film Festival. Hijabi premiered at the Brooklyn Short Film Festival in 2017. It was distributed through the online streaming service Seed&Spark, where it was featured on their “Must-See” list. He is currently in post-production on his fourth short film, How to Wash the Dead. GREG DAVIS Jury, Shorts Fate exerts a powerful pull on our lives. As Greg Davis knows, it can drag you through the mud before it shows you the light at the end of the tunnel. For Davis, fate is his quest for meaning, his desire to connect his experiences with those of people worlds apart. Born and raised in a small East Texas town, After 10 years in the tech sector, he quit his job and went on a yearlong global soul-searching expedition. Greg, who is represented by National Geographic Image Collection, worked his way from local festivals to international exhibitions. His first major solo exhibit for the Museum of the Southwest followed the stories of individual pilgrims to the 2013 Kumbh Mela, the largest religious pilgrimage in history, about which he also completed his first short documentary film, Cloth Paper Dreams. That led to a follow up film,“The Man From Mathura”, that is currently in production. LENG WONG Jury, Shorts Leng Wong is a producer and artist based in Austin, TX. As a producer, she has produced over 50 productions and events including theater, film, festivals, and community events, since 2012. Her latest project was producing the People of Color Comedy Festival (PoCCF), the first of its kind in Texas, in 2019. Leng was also the executive producer for the Austin Asian American Film Festival (AAAFF) who successfully brought the festival back in 2014. She is the founder of Lucky Chaos, a nonprofit arts organization whose mission is to produce works by artists from under-represented communities, with emphasis on personal stories. “Being an artist is about putting your soul out there, in spite of all the fears and doubts because it’s those fears and doubts that make us human and compel us to create.” WINNER AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARDS Thank you to our lovely members for joining us on the virtual journey and putting in the votes for their favourites! The ballots have spoken and we were able to give pride of place to one of our favourite films! WINNER

Sid (Karan Soni) plans to come out to his conservative, community-oriented parents at a local diner. Luckily, he has the power of time travel on his side in this heartfelt sci-fi twist on the coming out story. Streaming April 28-May 1st, 2023 On Filmocracy Back to Festival Program 1/2 Coming Out with the Help of a Time Machine USA I 15 mins I Drama I Comedy I Sci-Fi I 2022 I English WATCH ONLINE Official Selection of Tribeca Film Festival '22, BFI Flare, CAAM Fest 'Best LGBTQ+ Short Film' - DFW South Asian & Cleveland International Film Festival Sid plans to come out to his conservative, community-oriented parents at a local diner. If anything goes wrong, Sid could lose the support of the people who matter to him most. Luckily, he has the power of time travel on his side—and he’ll do everything in his power to emerge from this encounter unscathed. Coming Out With the Help of a Time Machine gives a heartfelt sci-fi twist to tales about family dynamics and acceptance. About the Artist Naman Gupta is an award winning director and writer who has gained recognition for his work that reflects a commitment to diversity and inclusivity.He has a talent for integrating contemporary social issues into entertaining narratives, creating thought-provoking and emotionally engaging stories. Naman is an alumni of Ryan Murphy's Director Shadowing program and the winner of NETFLIX sponsored Tasveer Film Fund, as well as a semi-finalist of NBCUniversal's Launch Director Shadowing Program. His firm short, COMING OUT WITH THE HELP OF A TIME MACHINE, screened at 65+ festivals, including Oscar-qualifying Tribeca, SXSW, Hollyshorts, CAAM Film Fest, & Inside Out Toronto. The film has won 20 Awards in all the main categories and is being converted into a unique "sci-fi immigrant family drama" TV series. Apart from his passion for storytelling, Naman is also fascinated by astro/quantum physics, the mysteries of the cosmos, and enjoys rock climbing. Trailer Credits Crew Writer/Director: Naman Gupta Screenwriter: Janki Parekh Producer(s): Nav Gupta James Orfanos Vijaykumar Mirchandani Neetu Sh arma Exec Producer: Rahul Brahmbhatt Featured Cast: Karan Soni Sangeeta Agrawal Raghuram Shetty Cinematograp her: Derrick Cohan Prod Design: Jack Hagen Composer: Dhruv Goel Film Editor: Lillian Cusumano Sound Mixer: Aobo Huang

Adapted from Assamese folk tales, Kothanodi is a film about four shades of motherhood. Top of Page Tickets Top of Page Tickets Kothanodi India/ 118 min /Assamese with English subtitles Four folk tales from Assam re-imagined as a narrative about four mothers, each facing demons of her own. SYNOPSIS NATIONAL AWARD for the best ASSAMESE FILM in India. Once upon a time, Senehi (Zerifa Wahid), a woman who loathes her stepdaughter Tejimola (Kasvi Sharma), plots her murder when her husband is called away on a distant trip on business. Her husband – Devinath (Adil Hussain) - encounters a woman called Keteki (Urmila Mahanta) who has given birth to an outenga (elephant apple), which rolls around after her. Devinath resolves to unearth the mystery of the outenga. Meanwhile, in another village - a rich woman named Dhoneshwari (Seema Biswas) is getting her daughter Bonlotika (Monisha Bhuyan) married to a python - a wedding that has dire consequences for the girl. As these three stories unfold, another mother - Malati (Asha Bordoloi) - resolves to save her newest born from the clutches of her husband Poonai (Kopil Bora) and his uncle, who have sacrificed all three of her previous babies. In doing so, she unearths a shocking truth. Co-presented by: Interested in screening this in your hometown? Write to us TICKETS NOT AVAILABLE Tickets TRAILER "ONE OF THE MOST INTRIGUING, BEGUILING AND DISTURBING FEMINIST STATEMENTS THAT ONE HAS SEEN ON INDIAN SCREEN IN RECENT TIMES." "HAUNTING SUPERNATURAL FOLK TALES THAT MAKE THE SKIN CRAWL." "ONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING RE-TELLINGS OF POPULAR FOLK TALES ON INDIAN CELLULOID." “A MUST WATCH FOR ANYONE THAT WANTS TO OPEN UP A NEW CONVERSATION ON INDIAN CINEMA AND MAGIC REALITY.” “CRAWLS UNDER THE SKIN, WEDGES ITSELF THERE AND REFUSES TO LEAVE LONG AFTER THE FEATURE HAS FINISHED” “A STRANGE AND MACABRE VOYAGE INTO THE FEARS AND DESIRES OF FOUR INDIAN WOMEN WHO ARE EACH BEARING A HEAVY BURDEN.” "WEAVES ELEMENTS OF FOUR ASSAMESE FOLK TALES INTO A WEIRD, UNSET- TLING TAPESTRY" “CHILLING - THAT’S A ONE WORD DESCRIPTION OF THIS BEAUTIFUL FILM.” “THE MAGIC REALISM, THE SURREAL LANDSCAPE, AND THE TAUT SCREENPLAY MAKE IT A CAPTIVATING VISUAL TREAT.” DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT Kothanodi adapts its story from events and characters in four stories in the Assamese folktales compendium Buri Ai’r Xadhu (Grandma’s Tales). Compiled by Assam’s foremost literary luminary Laxminath Bezbarua in 1911, these folktales are well known and much loved by generations of Assamese children. While the stories in Grandma’s Tales have traditionally been presented as tales for children, Kothanoditries to push them towards darker, unor- thodox directions: here the magic is real, illusions starker, emotions rawer, and horror more visceral. Why make a film based on obscure folklore from a little-known place tucked away in the northeastern corner of India? The world is getting smaller, and with it, more homogenized. Contemporary stories are increasingly irrelevant to their settings. An urban love story set in Bombay is likely to have the same themes as one set in Guwa- hati. This is, perhaps, the perfect time for cinema audiences to enjoy the rich diversity of culture and folklore in the world. In Kothanodi , audiences will be introduced to stories that have universal themes (fear, loathing, envy, love), but are expressed in local style, influenced by storytelling traditions of the numerous communities inhabiting Assam for centuries. Kothanodi can also be looked upon as another example of the dark undertones that lie under the surface of almost every bedtime story in the world, as part of the global trend of alternative adaptations of classic folktales. PRINCIPAL CAST SEEMA BISWAS as Dhoneshwari Seema, a multiple award-winning actress, has worked on several Hindi, Malayalam, and Marathi films in a career spanning 25 years, including Shekhar Kapur’s Bandit Queen (for which she received a National Award in India), Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Khamoshi, and Deepa Mehta’s Water and Midnight's Children. ADIL HUSSAIN as Devinath Starting out from his native Goalpara, Adil earned his chops as an actor in the popular travel- ling satirical troupe – Bhaya Mama. He has since had a successful career on stage and screen, going on to work on major international projects such as Ang Lee’s Life of Pi and Mira Nair’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist and Bollywood hits like Inglish Vinglish. ZERIFA WAHID as SenehiZerifa is a popular actor in Assam, and starred in the Jahnu Barua film Bandhon (2012), among others. She also runs a theatre company that has produced adaptations of works by Girish Karnad, Arun Sarma, and Peter Shaffer. In between films and theatre, she also practises law at the Guwahati High Court. URMILA MAHANTA as Keteki Urmila formally studied acting at the FTII, Pune, and has since gone on to work on many feature in Bombay, Chennai, and Assam. Her filmography includes the National Award- winning Tamil film Case No. 18/9, and Ketan Mehta’s Manjhi – The Mountain Man. KOPIL BORA as Poonai Kopil is a popular Assamese actor who has performed on stage, film, television, and radio for over 12 years. His 2014 film, Jahnu Barua's Ajeyo (Invincible), was screened at the 15th Mumbai International Film Festival, among others. ASHA BORDOLOI as Malati Born and brought up in Nagaon, Asha is a popular actress in Assamese television, film, and theatre. Kothanodi is her fourth Assamese film. Asha is at present working in primetime television and in mobile theatre – Assam’s unique travelling theatre circuit. MONISHA BHUYAN as Bonlotika Monisha is an actor, dancer and teacher from Majuli, Assam. She has an MA degree in Sattriya ¬– Assam’s classical dance form – from the University of Dibrugarh. She teaches dance at the Vivekananda School in Nalbari. Kothanodi is her debut film. KASVI SHARMA as Tejimola Kasvi is a student of Guwahati’s Maharshi Vidya Mandir, and aspires to be a doctor. She is also training as a Kathak dancer and theatre actor. Kothanodi is her debut film. PRINCIPAL CREW BHASKAR HAZARIKA Writer and Director Bhaskar is a New Delhi-based writer and filmmaker. After completing his MA in Film & Drama from the University of Reading, he has worked extensively in Indian films, television, and documentaries. Kothanodi is his maiden film as director. ARUPA PATANGIA-KALITA Dialogues Arupa is one of Assam’s most accomplished novelists, and is a Sahitya Akademi Award winner. Her short stories and novels have been translated into several languages, and she is widely recognized as a beacon of feminist literature from northeastern India. Kothanodi is her first time writing for the screen. VIJAY KUTTY Director of Photography Vijay is a photographer and filmmaker from New Delhi. Starting out as a television journalist, he has worked on over 50 documentary projects around the world. Kothanodi is his first foray in filming for fiction. SURESH PAI Editor A national award-winning editor and FTII alumnus, Suresh has edited several acclaimed feature films such as Madhur Bhandarkar’s Page 3, Rajat Kapur’s Ankhon Dekhi, and Sagar Bellary’s Bheja Fry. AMARNATH HAZARIKA MusicAmarnath is a composer and guitarist who has studied at the Berklee College of Music, USA. His compositional style is influenced by elements of Jazz, as well as Latin and African folk music. Kothanodi is his first feature film as Music Director. GULOK SAHA Art Director Gulok is a veteran art director and an amateur magician. He has earlier worked with some of Assam’s best-known film directors, including Jahnu Barua in Ajeyo(Invincible). He also creates sets for mobile theatre productions. JATIN SARMA Sound Design Jatin is a veteran sound designer who has worked on over 100 feature films, ranging from Assamese films to big Hollywood projects such as A Passage to India and The Jungle Book. His sound studio in Guwahati is an institution in itself, with virtually every Assamese film going through it. RANI DUTTA BARUAH Costume Design Rani Dutta Baruah is a prolific costume designer based in Guwahati. She has created costumes for several films and theatre productions in Assam.

Zahida arrives at a home for the elderly, believing her son will take her back after a week's stay.  Hesitant and apprehensive, she meets Farhat, who is full of hope. However, as the story unfolds, she realizes the future might be different from her expectations. ​ Back to Festival Program Texas Premiere Dry Leaves Pakistan I 10 mins I Drama I 2019 I Urdu w/ English subtitles Zahida arrives at a home for the elderly, believing her son will take her back after a week's stay. Hesitant and apprehensive, she meets Farhat, who is full of hope. Yet as the story unfolds, she realizes the future might be different from her expectations. Director's Note : All of my previous projects had a straightforward narrative, using verbal exposition to propel the story. With Dry Leaves , my goal was to avoid relying on dialogue, instead using framing, composition, and texture to communicate and emotionally connect to the viewers. The film uses 4:3 aspect ratio to give a confined look, the kind aged may people feel while living in a home. The disconnect from family can make one's life colorless, so black and white treatment is employed. + Screens with the feature film, SEVEN AND A HALF GET YOUR FESTIVAL BADGE VIRTUAL SCREENING : SAT. APRIL 24 - 7:30PM CT About the Artist Ali Sohail Jaura is an Independent filmmaker from Karachi, Pakistan with a penchant for evoking emotion and exploring styles of storytelling. In 2015, his debut short, PROHIBITED, won numerous awards around the globe, including Best Foreign Short at the LA Independent Film Awards. In 2017, his travel short, ARZ E PAKISTAN (Land of Pakistan), based on Northern Regions of the country, went on a winning streak and ranked in the Top 10 Tourism films of 2018 by CIFFT (Comité International des Festivals du Film Touristique). His recent short film, NANU AUR MAIN (Grandpa and I), based on grandparent relationships, has been selected in some of the largest South Asian film festivals of USA. Thank you to our community partner(s) for this screening: the Austin Film Society, the Austin Film Commission, and SAIVA! Credits Crew Director: ALI SOHAIL JAURA Writer: MOHAMMAD BELAAL IMRAN Screenplay: AMMAR ZAFAR Producer(s): DHEERAJ JINDAL HAARIS PRAMANI SHAHWR NOORANI Editor: SYED MASHHOOD HUSSAIN JAFRI Cast SAMINA AHMAD as 'Zahida' DURDANA BUTT as 'Farhat' SAFIA BHALAISHA as 'Nurse' Cinematographer: REHMAN ALI MOHAMMAD BELAAL IMRAN Production Design: SYED TAHA ZAIDI Art Director: PARAS GUL Sound Design: ANSER SOOMRO Music : ASIF NOORANI

Yangon, 1998. The film takes place in one evening at the government housing apartment by the railroad where a boy and his mother waiting for the return of the father, a civil servant, to move out another town at Upper Burma. At the last evening the boy tries to understand the complexities of adult r Meal India | 11 MIN. |Bengali Virtual IMFF 2020 Screening Details: Saturday, May 9 2020 | Screening : 7.00pm - 8.15pm Amidst communal tension outside, a dysfunctional family sits together for their customary morning meal. SYNOPSIS Set in the backdrop of ongoing communal tension instigated by rival political factions, MEAL is an 11- minute DIALOGUE-LESS story about one particular household. The atmosphere in the house is clearly that of unease. A woman in the kitchen carrying a bruise underneath an eye stares into the distance until a pressure cooker whistle breaks her dead gaze. A man in another room restlessly stuffs arbitrary things into a suitcase, seemingly preparing to leave the house in a state of fury. A child in school uniform picks up broken remnants from a wall clock. Today happens to be the first day of Madhyamik (the board exams) and he is already late. Also present in the house is an ailing grandfather restricted to a wheelchair who bears witness to it all. The house is in a state of disarray, reflecting the chaos and lovelessness of outside – where everyone is a victim and everyone a perpetrator in equal measure. Amidst all this, the family sits down for one last meal together. DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT Abhiroop Basu ‘Meal' was a very personal experience, something that I have seen very closely growing up. Not exactly what happens in the film eventually, but the chaos inside that apartment and also outside is something very familiar to me. If you see all around us today, people have become very non-chalant and unemotional. The news of a rape doesn't alarm us anymore. We simply turn the page. People are murdered because of their choice of meat. We again, simply turn the page. That tells a lot about where we are headed- a state of lovelessness. And that's what Meal is about. It's not a story of a specific household but it's a story of all of us living in the present time where even faith cannot bring relief anymore and that is why there is a direct attack on the "belief-system" (a recurring theme used throughout the film) at the end of the film. Meal is a result of a seeping frustration in all of us, threatening to unleash. All the characters in the film are neither victims nor perpetrators. They are just end products of a degrading socio- political system where there is no escape nor any respite. STILLS SLIDE DECK 1/6

A recent Sri Lankan immigrant begins another day at her job stacking shelves at the local supermarket. With her limited grasp of English, she struggles to understand or be understood by colleagues and customers alike. Streaming April 28-May 1st, 2023 On Filmocracy Back to Festival Program 1/6 PERIYANAYAKI New Zealand I 11 mins I Drama I 2022 I Tamil, English w/ English subtitles WATCH ONLINE 'Best Short Film' & 'NZ’s Best Audience Award' - New Zealand Int'l Film Festival 'Creative New Zealand Emerging Talent Award' - Director Bala Murali Shingade A recent immigrant from Sri Lanka, 56-year-old Perianayaki’s days always begin at her dead-end job stacking shelves at the local supermarket. As a result of her inability to speak English, she struggles to fit in and build meaningful relationships.Today, on her wedding anniversary, Perianayaki is forced to reconcile with the bittersweet realities of her life. Perianayaki is a slice of life character study that provokes audiences to pause, take notice, and rethink their assumptions about immigrants, particularly those in the service industry who are often rendered invisible. About the Artist Since graduating from the University of Auckland in 2018 with an MA in Screen Production, Bala Murali Shingade has been working as a writer, director and actor for screen and theatre. For his MA thesis film, Bala was awarded the Geoff Evans Prize for Screen Excellence. In 2019, he wrote, directed, and edited 800 LUNCHES, a short film commissioned and funded by the Outlook for Someday. In 2020, Bala was one of six recipients of the Arts Foundation’s Springboard award, which recognizes emerging artists with outstanding potential. PERIYANAYAKI is Bala’s second short film, funded throughScript To Screen and NZFC’s competitive Fresh Shorts program. Credits Crew Director: Bala Murali Shingade Screenwriter: Shreya Gejji Producer(s): Shreya Gejji Exec: Producer: Shuchi Kothari Featured Cast: Jeyagowri Sivakumaran DOP: Tim Flower Editor: Shailesh Prajapati

A young boy addicted to iFatwa, an app that crowdsources religious death sentences, spends his days swiping on the lives of strangers. Back to Festival Program 1/2 Sat. April 15th @ 10:30AM AFS Cinemas Online April 28 - May 1 SWIPE Pakistan I 14 mins I Drama I Animation I Horror I 2020 Urdu w/ English subtitles BUY TICKETS WATCH ONLINE Official Selection of Annecy International Animation Film Festival, AnimaFest Zagreb, and Bengalura International Film Festival '21 A young boy addicted to iFatwa, an app that crowdsources religious death sentences, spends his days swiping on the lives of strangers. The second animated film created by the Lahore-based Puffball Studios, SWIPE is a confrontation of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, extrajudicial violence, and decreasing space for difference and expression. About the Artist Arafat Mazhar is the Director of Engage Foundation, where 9 years of research came together in the seminal report, “The Untold Truth of Pakistan’s Blasphemy Laws,” recognized for its rigor by human rights groups and academics. In 2019, Arafat launched the animation studio, Puffball. Puffball Studio’s debut film was the highly acclaimed Pakistani dystopian short, SHEHR-E-TABASSUM. The film takes inspiration from lessons learned on censorship while researching Pakistan’s notorious blasphemy laws to tell a poignant story about fear and freedom in in Pakistan today. SWIPE is the studio's second film and has screened at many of the world's leading festivals of animation. Trailer Credits Crew Writer/Director: Arafat Mazhar Producer(s): Arafat Mazhar Rasti Farooq Momin Masood Fatima Anwar Film Editor: Haseeb Rehman Sound Mix: Syed Umer Ahmed Featured Cast: Rasti Farooq Arafat Mazhar Fahad Shah Abeer Sheikh Animation: Syed Umer Ahmed Sanabil Hasan Salman Karim Hira Khan Arafat Mazhar Haseeb Rehman