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< Our Team Mugdha Mahalanabish Festival Team Festival Programming Mugdha is a writer based in the US. Her debut feature screenplay won the 2025 Writers Ink Screenwriting Lab competition. She is currently using the awarded grant money to write and direct her first short film.

< Our Team Shivani Mittal Festival Team Festival Operations

2023 Bahadur: The Brave Narrative Feature Nepali, Kumaoni, Hindi mins 84 North America In-Person, Virtual 2023 India Drama A nationwide lock-down is imposed in India during the coronavirus pandemic. While all Nepalese migrant labourers are boarding the vans to leave for Nepal, Hansi sees this as an opportunity to earn more money for his ailing son in the emerging labour crises. His brother-in-law, Dil Bahadur, offers him illegal work in a godown. One day they find alcohol there that they sneak out for fun. Things take a tragic turn when Dil Bahadur is accused of stealing money instead. Hansi encourages him to leave for Nepal. However, Nepal has closed its border during the pandemic and the migrants have no place to go. Their innocent mischief has led to a tragedy of an irretrievable accord, ignorant of the pawns they have become at the mercy of the bigger powers at play. Kutxabank New Director’s Award — San Sebastián International Film Festival Recorded Q&A with Filmmaker Diwa Shah Tickets 4/21/24, 3:30 PM All Badges, Individual Tickets AFS Cinema Director Diwa Shah Diwa Shah is the recipient of the Kutxabank New Directors Award at the 71st San Sebastián International Film Festival. She has studied Creative Writing from the esteemed Durham University, UK. Bahadur The Brave is her first feature length project that got selected in the WIP Lab by NFDC Film Bazaar and won the Prasad Lab DI award. It world premiered at the 71st San Sebastián International Film Festival and won the Kutxabank New Director’s Award. It also won the Silver Gateway Award at the Jio Mami Mumbai Film Festival. Her second project was selected for the screenwriters lab by NFDC Film Bazaar and is currently under development. Director: Diwa Shah Producer: Visvesh Singh Sehrawat, Thomas AjayAbraham Writer: Diwa Shah Cast: Rupesh Lama, Rahul Mukhia Editor: Viraj Zunjarrao Crew: Modhura Palit, Rakesh KJ, Thomas AjayAbraham This Event is supported in part by a Mini Grant from Humanities Texas. Community Partners for the Film More Films

< Our Team Alka Bhanot Advisors Co-Founder & Advisor Co-Founder of Indie Meme, Alka has extensive experience producing for Indian Television and was the Executive Producer for the first Late Night Show, ‘Movers & Shakers’ in India, which won numerous awards. In Austin, since 2003 her film credits include Bryan Poyser’s ‘Dear Pillow’ (2003) Winner, Best Narrative Feature, Atlanta Film Festival, Margaret Brown’s ‘Be Here To Love Me’ (2006) a film about the life and music of Townes Van Zandt and ‘Sunshine’(2009) a documentary about adoption and single parenthood by Karen Skloss which aired as part of the Independent Lens series on PBS. She also worked on the ‘Trevor Romain Video Series’ (2005) an animated kids show which aired on PBS.

< Our Team Staff Laura Donnelly Director of Development Laura Donnelly founded and scaled Latinitas, one of the nation’s most culturally relevant STEAM education nonprofits. What began as a University of Texas at Austin class project grew into a national and international organization empowering over 45,000 girls, teens, and non-binary youth through media and technology programs across 25 states and 10 countries. Under her leadership, Latinitas raised more than $10M in funding and was selected as a charity partner by JCPenney and the Barbie Foundation, commemorated with a Latinitas STEM Barbie. A former journalist and PR executive, Donnelly now consults with nonprofits on strategy, development, communications, and operations. She joined Indie Meme Film Festival in 2025 to expand its development efforts and is also an award-winning filmmaker, educator, and founder of Street Genius, a creative nonprofit for boys.

Pari is a young Nepalese woman, an aspiring actress and gifted dancer. She lives in a claustrophobic run-shack in Pokhara with few prospects for the future.   When she befriends a charming Indian theatre actor, Abhinash, it seems her Bollywood dreams may be in reach. Back to Festival Program Texas Premiere Pari of Pokhara Nepal I 23 mins I Drama I 2019 I Nepalese w/ English subtitles Pari is a young Nepalese woman, an aspiring actress and gifted dancer. She lives in a claustrophobic run-shack in Pokhara with few prospects for the future. When she befriends a charming Indian theatre actor, Abhinash, it seems her Bollywood dreams may be in reach. He coaches Pari in her acting and expands her world as they explore the surrounding lakes & mountains. However, Abhinash is secretly a part of a human trafficking network, sending pictures of Pari to his handlers. As the relationship deepens, he becomes conflicted about his actions and power over her future. + Screens with SHORTS PROGRAM 4: True to You GET YOUR FESTIVAL BADGE VIRTUAL SCREENING : SUN. APRIL 25 - 3:00PM CT About the Artist Babar Ali is a Pakistani filmmaker, living and working in Dubai. Many of his previous films centered on women’s issues, especially in the developing world where people are vulnerable to conditions caused by poverty and inequality. He started to research human trafficking when mentoring a young student doing a project on the subject. He found the statistics staggering: an estimated 5,000 – 10,000 women trafficked from Nepal to India alone each year. Human trafficking earns global profits of ~ $150 billion for traffickers. PARI OF POKHARA is the first original production of IYMS Films, the production company of the International Youth Media Summit . The annual IYMS brings together filmmakers from all over the world to create media that inspires young people to challenge the issues destroying the peace and well-being of their societies. It's his hope that PARI OF POKHARA will give a human face to this global tragedy and bring awareness to this issue. Trailer Thank you to our community partner(s) for this screening: the Austin Film Society, and the Austin Film Commission! Credits Crew Writer/Director: BABAR ALI Editor: BABAR ALI Producer(s): MASHOOR ABDELF TOUH FAWZY SAPAN HAMAL EVELYN SEUBERT BABAR ALI Cast TAHA KHAN HENA NAGARKOTI SUMI SAUMYATA Prod. Design: AQIB JAFRY Asst. Director: AQIB JAFRY Cinematography: ASIR AHMED KHAN

The 30 min documentary, MY CHILD IS GAY AND I AM HAPPY, is a series of interviews of some remarkable parents, whose children represent the LGBTQ community. It shows their journey, from being unsuspecting and often unaccepting, to being the caring, supportive parents they are today. My Child is Gay and I am Happy Friday, Jan 18th 2019 The Austin School of Film 2200 Tillery Street Austin,TX 78723 INDIA | Documentary |30min | Marathi & English with English subtitles AUSTIN SCREENING Wednesday, November 14th 2018 | 7:30 PM AFS Cinema, 6406 N IH-35 Suite 3100, Austin, Texas 78752 SYNOPSIS The 30 min documentary, MY CHILD IS GAY AND I AM HAPPY, is a series of interviews of some remarkable parents, whose children represent the LGBTQ community. It shows their journey, from being unsuspecting and often accepting, to being the caring, supportive parents they are today. In each case, the parent and the child are a source of great inspiration to the community. The film is an important documentary which gives the viewer, a peak into the lives of the LGBTQ community in the conservative society of India, where homosexuality used to be a crime and it was only recently decriminalized by the Supreme court in a historic ruling. The film premiered at Kashish Mumbai International Queer Film Festival, 2016. Later screened at many Universities and International Film Festivals, namely Prague India Film Festival, Seattle Film Festival, as part of Kashish Forward - visited 12 - 15 Universities, Institutes and Colleges. IIM Ahmedabad, IIT-B - Mumbai, Jadhavpur University, HR College, Sophia College Mumbai amongst a host of other colleges, all over India. COMMUNITY PARTNER DETAILS Indie Meme Mixer & Short Film Screening Date: Friday, January 18 at 7:30 PM @ The Austin School Of Film 2200 Tillery Street Austin,TX 78723 The event is free for Indie Meme Members and Guests Get/Renew your 2019 membership here - https://www.indiememe.org/membership Film to be preceded by SARI screened at the 1st IMFF Youth Program 2018 This film is about a mother showing her child how to wear a sari, but reveals a surprise at the end. This is spreading a message to accept people for who they are. Directed by Ana Dragomir and a team from Anderson High School consisting of Dhruv Ruttala and Aunteek Naser. Drinks & Dessert sponsors TRAILER DIRECTOR'S BIO SOPAN MULLER has worked with various genres. His experience in filmmaking of more than 20 years, has been extensive, having handled practically every format of filmmaking - from Advertising & Corporate films to Documentaries and Feature Films to Television. Sopan was involved in feature films in the dirction and production departments of Dev Benegal’s ‘ENGLISH, AUGUST’ and ‘SPLIT WIDE OPEN’ and Sunhil Sippy’s ‘SNIP’. He co-produced Dev Benegal’s ROAD, MOVIE. The film travelled to all the major international film festivals – Berlin, Toronto, Tokyo and Tribeca. STILLS

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

< Our Team Hitesh Vijay Oswal Festival Team Festival Ticketing

< Our Team Kailee Andrews Festival Team Festival Programming

Introducing the incredible jurors behind the Indie Meme 2023 Jury Awards. We're proud to be joined by a range of active and insightful professionals with backgrounds in filmmaking, media, technology, festivals, organizing, academia, and more.  2023 JURY Introducing the accomplished jurors behind the Indie Meme 2023 Jury Awards. We're proud to be joined by a range of active and insightful professionals with backgrounds in filmmaking, media, technology, festivals, organizing, academia, and more. NARRATIVE JURY Sumaiya Malik Sumaiya Malik is a fast-paced local Austin journalist with words at mainstream publications such as Community Impact, Austin-American Statesman, Austin Chronicle ,and Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine. She has also extensively written about the South Asian community in the Austin South Asian newspaper. In 2014, she co-founded Austin Arts and Drama Initiative, a local non-profit supporting South Asian culture and the arts. From 2016-2020, she served on the community advisory board of Austin PBS. In 2021, she was among the top five journalists to be a part of Texas Observer/NPR NextGen investigative workshop. In 2022, she served as an associate producer of a true crime podcast published by the UT Drag and available on Spotify. The same year, she produced a sonic ID that was aired on KUT. She is Pakistani American, a mother of two cool kids and a proud Longhorn like them. In 2020, she went back to graduate school at the University of Texas at Austin to receive a master’s in journalism and media from the Moody College of Communications. Sachin Dheeraj Sachin Dheeraj is a DGA Student award-winning filmmaker who studied at The University of Texas at Austin as part of the MFA program in Film & Media Production. His work has been screened at prestigious film festivals such as Hot Docs, Raindance, EnergaCAMERIMAGE, and Krakow. Sachin strives to tell stories that demand urgent conversation and seeks to engage with people, places, and communities that are slowly disappearing. He aims to affirm their existence through cinema by preserving their lives and memories. His pre-thesis film, TESTIMONY OF ANA, won the National Film Award (Swarna Kamal/Golden Lotus) for the Best Non-Feature Film issued by the Government of India and the Best Short Documentary Award at the Oscar-qualifying 13th International Documentary & Short Film Festival of Kerala. The film also secured distribution on reputed platforms such as MUBI and Kinoscope. He received the prestigious President's Award for Global Learning at UT Austin and the Austin Film Society Grant in 2020. Sachin won the competitive Panavision New Filmmaker Program Equipment Grant and the UT Graduate Continuing Fellowship (an award given to support the final year of an outstanding graduate student) to implement his MFA thesis project, MEN IN BLUE. Kat Albert Kat Albert is a creative place maker, festival starter, and filmmaker. Her films and videos often have a female protagonist and range from gritty to magical realism and experimental. She graduated from Texas Tech University and worked in advertising and marketing in Chicago before relocating to Austin. She is also a guest teacher and lecturer on filmmaking. Her films have played at festivals around the world. In 2018, Kat started the Lake Travis Film Festival to bring a cultural experience to the suburbs. LTFF explores stories and films that have authenticity, vision, and passion. This year, she is working with her studio ‘Studio-e2’ in Santa Fe to create a new arts district to showcase emerging artists in multiple disciplines. DOCUMENTARY JURY Mikki Teneyuca Mikki Teneyuca is a passionate South Austinite who has dedicated her adult life to serving the community. As a native of South Austin, Mikki has deep roots and a strong sense of belonging to the area. She has two Master degrees and has devoted her career to improving processes for the State of Texas as a senior process improvement consultant, with a focus on making services accessible and streamlined for the most vulnerable community members. Mikki is also the founder of Reel Austin LLC, a platform that captures the stories of Austin's community and culture. Through her work, she ensures that the city's rich history is documented and preserved for future generations. Mikki also serves as a commissioner on the City of Austin Ethics Review Commission Board and she serves on the board of OPRC, a local nonprofit that provides reentry resources for individuals returning home to Austin from incarceration. She’s committed to social justice and serving the community. Cara Harpole Cara Harpole is a writer and producer, who is currently working on an animated video series for Work Force Solutions Capital area. She started as a videographer and editor for the Air Force where she won the “best video” during her stay at the Department of Defense Information School (DINFOS). She later earned a degree in film at the University of New Orleans. Her love for documentary film pushed her to become an organizer for Austin Documentary Fans (Reel Doc Fans) where she grew the membership from 464 to over 4,400 members under her watch. In addition, she has screened documentaries for Austin Film Fest for two seasons. “Documentaries check all of the boxes when it comes to my curious mind and quest to learn about people, places and things” she said. SHORTS JURY Dr. Z Rubi Sanchez Lozoya Dr. Z. Rubi Sanchez Lozoya teaches Film Studies at the University of Tennessee Knoxville. She specializes in Indian cinema and film cultures, cultural studies of South Asia, and transnational feminisms. Dr. Lozoya has presented on these subjects at different national conferences and invited talks at Stanford University, Duke University, and University of California Berkeley. She is currently working on her upcoming book, Female Lead, which focuses on the effects that streaming platforms, like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, have on the creation and distribution of independent Hindi films made by women and about women. Karen Skloss Karen Skloss has worked as an editor for over 20 years on documentary & narrative features including the acclaimed dramedy, SUPPORT THE GIRLS (dir. Andrew Bujalski), which was listed as a top movie pick by former president Barack Obama. She began her career with the celebrated documentary, "BE HERE TO LOVE ME: The Story of Townes Van Zandt” (dir. Margaret Brown). Karen recently co-produced and edited, “Have You Got It Yet?” (dir. Roddy Bogawa) about Pink Floyd’s legendary original songwriter Syd Barrett, which will be theatrically released in spring 2023 through Mercury studios. Her work has been shown on HBO, in the MOMA, in wide theatrical release, and in film festivals internationally. She began her career in film as a child actor and made her narrative directorial debut with the psychedelic coming-of-age film, THE HONOR FARM, which premiered at the SXSW Film Festival and is available through Gravitas Ventures. SUNSHINE, her first documentary feature as director, was nationally broadcast on PBS's Emmy Award-winning series, Independent Lens. A native Austinite who has worked for years in Austin’s eclectic and cross-pollinating creative community, Karen has also edited shows for Jerry Bruckheimer Television, A&E, Discovery, TLC, and TNT, in addition to producing commercial campaigns for New Balance, Cannondale and Charge Bikes. She is a drummer and vocalist who was a founding member of Moving Panoramas and is currently a member of the psych duo SKLOSS. Deepa Donde Deepa Donde is an independent film, television, and radio producer based in Austin, Texas. Her work has appeared on the following outlets: NPR, Huffington Post, PBS, BBC, CBS and NBC. In addition to her work with the Futuro Media Group, Deepa also serves on the board of The Austin Film Festival. She has in the past served on the advisory boards of Fusebox: Contemporary Multi-Disciplinary Art Festival, Youth Radio (NPR’s premier provider for youth orientated content), Girls Impact The World Film Festival, as well as on the board of Ballet Austin. Deepa has spent the last ten years within the philanthropic space, serving on the Board of Futuro Media, and was elected Chair of the Board in 2016. The Pulitzer Prize winning nonprofit produces multimedia journalism that explores and gives a critical voice to the diversity of the American experience. Based in Harlem and founded in 2010 by award-winning journalist Maria Hinojosa, Futuro Media is committed to telling stories from points of view often overlooked by mainstream media. Deepa received her Bachelor of Arts Degree with Honors in Medieval History from Brown University. She is close to completing her first independent narrative feature film, PERIPHERY and developing a documentary feature. Alexander Rosales Alexander Rosales is a Latino director/filmmaker based in Dallas, TX. After graduating from the University of Texas at Arlington in 2015 with a BFA in Film/Video and earning the Outstanding Graduating Senior, he freelanced as a camera operator, traveling worldwide for various projects. In an effort to narrow his focus, Alexander returned to his hometown and spent 4 years at the University of Texas at Austin, graduating with an MFA in Film & Media Production in the Winter of 2022. His work has been screened at the Austin Film Festival, deadCenter Film Festival, Palm Springs International ShortFest, and many more. His award winning short film TEJANO NIGHT, was a recipient of an Austin Film Society (AFS) Grant and was selected for over 50 program selections worldwide. Alexander currently works in both the Dallas/FT. Worth metroplex and Austin, TX as a freelance director and video producer, helping businesses and nonprofits with content creation via storytelling. Follow event on Facebook

fter being shunned by his homophobic father for his sexuality and his lover for not being a woman, Manob finds himself travelling to the city for a sex change operation. However, as he struggles with his identity, he faces challenges and questions he may not be ready to confront yet. Miss Man India | 24 MIN. 52 SEC. |Bengali, English Subtitles Virtual Screening Details: "Shorts Showcase" Sunday, Nov 8 2020 | Screening : 7.00pm Register SYNOPSIS After being shunned by his homophobic father for his sexuality, and his lover for not being a woman, Manob finds himself travelling to the city for a sex change operation. However, as he struggles with his identity, he faces challenges and questions he may not be ready to confront yet. DIRECTOR'S BIO Tathagatha Ghosh Hailing from a small Indian town, Tathagata has always believed in telling stories of people from different social backgrounds. People who do not have a voice of their own. His last short films “The Demon” (Doitto) and "Miss Man" has travelled to numerous prestigious international film festivals like BFI Flare, Tallgrass Film Festival, Cheries-Cheris, Wicked Queer, International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala to name a few and has won several awards. STILLS SLIDE DECK 1/4