Aani Maani is set in the world of Bhutto,the Kebab Seller,fresh out of prison for a crime he didn't commit.It is the story of his daily struggle for his family's upkeep & how seemingly inconsequential change in the world outside,wreaks havoc in their life. Aani Maani India | Fiction | Drama | 2019 |94 min| Hindi; English subtitles Virtual Screening: Friday, August 14th 2020 | Screening : 7.00pm - 10.00pm Zoom Q&A with Film-maker Fahim Irshad Regsiter Now This film is preceded by a short, Kaala Aani Maani is set in the world of Bhutto, the Kebab Seller, fresh out of prison for a crime he didn't commit.It is the story of his daily struggle for his family's upkeep & how seemingly inconsequential change in the world outside, wreaks havoc in their life. Aani Maani is named for a game played by children in Uttar Pradesh, in which they turn in circles while reciting the rhyme Aani Maani - the film denotes the tailspin that enters Bhutto's life as portrayed in the film. Fahim Irshad has also worked on the hit Web Series Mirzapur. DIRECTOR'S PROFILE Fahim Irshad Fahim Irshad is Mumbai based screenwriter and director who has graduated from AJK MCRC Jamia. He has written several shows, including the hit Mirzapur, and couple of films . His feature debute is 'Aani maani'. His short film 'Mubadla' based on partition of India has also been appreciated in many film festivals .

A film for the whole family, Gauru is a story set in the hinterland of Rajasthan. It’s a story of a shepherd community during the time of drought. Gauru - Journey of Courage Austin : SUNDAY AUGUST 7th 2016 1:00-3:00pm 2016/ 124 min / Hindi with English Subtiles A film for the whole family, Gauru is a story set in the hinterland of Rajasthan. It’s a story of a shepherd community during the time of drought. SYNOPSIS : The grandmother (Ila Arun) is on death bed and she has never been to her native place (myka) since marriage. She desires to go to her native place before death but her son Ratnu refuses her by saying that death is the only option at her age, not pilgrimage. 13 yr old grandson Gauru objects to this and questions his father but in times of draught Ratnu can just feed their belly, not their wishes. To solve the financial crisis of the family Ratnu and his wife migrate to the city and Gauru is given the responsibility to take care of the sheep. In times of draught the shepherds migrate to faraway places looking for better pasture. Gauru comes to know that this time the shepherds are migrating very near to grandmother’s village. He comes and shares this with his grandmother, who says that she can’t move an inch and her native place is million miles away! As grandmother can hardly move on her legs, Gauru manages for a donkey for her to ride on. Grandmother agrees to Gauru’s offer by saying, Grandfather came on a horse to take me and grandson is taking me back on a donkey! The rest of the film is a herculean task how Gauru along with his animals and little sister set out on a long journey, the difficulties which they face, their moments of hope and despair. Interested in screening this in your hometown? Write to us COMMUNITY PARTNERS Tickets AUSTIN SUNDAY AUGUST 7th 2016 1:00-3:00pm @ The Marchesa Hall and Theater 6226 Middle Fiskville Rd, Austin TX TICKETS NOT AVAILABLE Co-presented with: TRAILER DIRECTOR'S PROFILE RAMKISHAN CHOYAL Born in a village in Rajasthan, Ramkishan Choyal is a B.Sc Chemistry graduate from Gujarat state with Mass Communication Course. “Gauru” is his debut film as a director. STILLS gauru1 gauru4 gauru2 gauru3 gauru5 gauru6

This short documentary tells the personal journey of actress-comedianne and writer, Rasika Mathur after working on MTV's Wild N Out for five seasons. Truth Teller : Rasika Mathur 16 min/ English SYNOPSIS This short documentary tells the personal journey of actress-comedianne and writer, Rasika Mathur after working on MTV's Wild N Out for five seasons. Drawing on her previous improvisation and stand-up experiences, she demonstrates how performance and real life blend, as she delivers insight into her own childhood fears and her relationship with her parents during her one-woman show. Tania Romero - Tania Romero, Nicaraguan filmmaker, teacher, and scholar, has a degree in Psychology with a Film Studies minor and a Master's in Media Studies. She has worked on several film projects and her credits include editor for a feature documentary "Ya Basta" (2007), the Cannes Film Festival selected shorts "Sarathi" (2010), "Clay" (2012) and assistant director for "A Perfect Cocktail" (2013). She was also producer/director/editor for the short documentary "Helmets from Heath"(2013) which won Judge's Choice at the Faces of Austin competition. Recently, her short "Silla de Ruedas" (2015) was an official selection at the Icaro International Film Festival in Guatemala and the Central American International Film Festival. Tickets TICKETS NOT AVAILABLE TRAILER STILLS rasika1 rasika4 rasika2 rasika3 1/1

25+ internationally acclaimed, South Asian features, documentaries, and shorts screening virtually for US audiences. April 22-26, 2022. 2022 VIRTUAL FILMS Get Virtual Badge The virtual Indie Meme Film Festival, streaming April 22nd - 25th, brings 25+ acclaimed international films to audiences across the US, featuring India's 2021 Oscar Submission, Pebbles , award-winning documentary, A Night of Knowing Nothing, and many more fresh features and shorts to stream at home, including a multi-generational LGBTQ+ program. NOTE: All films are available US-wide with the exception of Any Day Now, which is only available in Texas. NOTE: All films are available on demand. You can begin the film anytime April 22-25. Once you press play, you will have a 48 hour watch window to complete your viewing. ALL FILMS IN-PERSON VIRTUAL ANY DAY NOW Texas Premiere Finland I 2020 I Finnish, Farsi, English I 82 mins I dir. Hamy Ramezan Jussi Award - Best Leading Actor for Shahab Hosseini An Iranian family in Finland await the final decision on their asylum application. While deportation looms, the everyday stuff of life - days at the lake, neighborhood gossip, quiet apartment dance parties - goes on. Read more... Buy Tickets & Watch Online (TEXAS Only) . BARAH x BARAH (12 x 12) India I 2021 I Hindi I 118 mins I dir. Gaurav Madan Diorama Festival - Best Indian Feature Following a photographer of the dead in Varanasi, Barah x Barah is poignant look at the life in one of the oldest Indian cities as it undergoes seemingly imperceptible but steady changes. Read more... Buy Tickets & Watch Online BIRIYAANI India I 2020 I Malayalam I 95 mins I dir. Sajin Baabu Kerala State Award - Best Actress for Kani Kusruti A married Muslim woman is forced out of her village when her brother is accused of terrorist connections. She seeks a new home & fulfillment while surviving systems that marginalize her and prevent justice. Read more.. . Buy Tickets & Watch Online Online Exclusive - only in virtual fest I AM BELMAYA Southwest Premiere Nepal I 2021 I Nepali I 86 mins I dir. Sue Carpenter & Belmaya Nepali British Independent Film Awards - Nominee Best Documentary A revolutionary tale of a young Nepali woman’s determination to challenge social norms and transcend the life she was born into, through documentary filmmaking. Read more... Buy Tickets and Watch Online Online Exclusive - only in virtual fest NOT TODAY Southwest Premiere India I 2021 I Hindi I 92 mins I dir. Aditya Kripalani UK Asian Film Festival - Ray Of Hope Igniting Flame Commendation Aliah, a Bohri Muslim girl from a traditional family, secretly becomes a Suicide Prevention Counsellor. On her first day, an unusual call comes in, which challenges her to confront why she took on the job in the first place. Read more... Buy Tickets & Watch Online Online Exclusive - only in virtual fest A NIGHT OF KNOWING NOTHING Texas Premiere India I 2021 I Hindi, Bengali/Bangla I 97 mins I dir. Payal Kapadia Cannes Film Festival - O eil D'or for Best Documentary In this docu-drama hybrid, the love letters of a young film student, L, to her estranged lover are juxtaposed with the drastic changes to campus life and the political landscape in India, which result in student protests and uprising. Read more... Buy Tickets & Watch Online PEBBLES (KOOZHANGAL) Texas Premiere India I 2021 I Tamil I 75 mins I dir. P.S Vinothraj IFF Rotterdam - Tiger Award (Top Prize) Independent Spirit Awards '22 Nominee A young boy follows his alcoholic father on a quest to find his mother, who has run away from his domestic abuse. The two cross the arid landscape by foot and bus, unsure what will happen at journey's end. Read more... Buy Tickets & Watch Online RK/RKAY Austin Premiere India I 2021 I Hindi I 95 mins I dir. Rajat Kapoor Official Selection - Shanghai International Film Festival, Bucheon Fantastic Film Festival A frustrated filmmaker can't get his latest feature to click. Things take a turn for the worse when the lead character he also plays runs out of the edit and into real life. Read more... Buy Tickets & Watch Online SHORTS PROGRAM Shorts Program A - Beyond the End of the World From sisters surviving a post-apocalyptic Bangladesh to a middle schooler altering reality with her magic eyelashes, these bold, visionary shorts follow characters to the ends of their regular world and beyond. Read more... Buy Tickets & Watch Online FEATURING: Moshari (dir. Nuhash Humayan I 22 mins) In future Bangladesh, sisters face a vampiric threat. Wade (dir. Kalp Sanghvi, Upamanyu Bhattacharyya I 11 mins) In a future version of Kolkata, India, climate change refugees are ambushed by a tiger on the flooded streets. Mono No Aware ( dir. Koushik Sarkar I 20 mins) On a field trip, a girl reflects on life's changes. Noor & Layla ( dir. Fawzia Mirza I 13 mins) Noor & Layla are breaking up. Is it the end of the road for these two Muslim women - or just the beginning? Navozande (Le Musicien) ( dir. Reza Riahi I 15 mins) A story of love, war, and hardship in 13th century Persia. Local Middle Schooler (dir. Sanjna Bharadwaj I 11 mins ) A middle schooler's magic eyelashes are coveted by her friends and the US government. Shorts Program B - Family Stories - Growing up & Standing Out From the Himalayan mountains to the US suburbs, the children at the center of these stories are finding, and asserting, their place in the world. Appropriate for general audiences. Read more... Buy Tickets & Watch Online FEATURING: Grasshoppers Sleep Here (dir. Balaram J I 8 mins) A mowing man arrives at a field to clear it, only to discover a girl sleeping there, determined to protect the insects. Bambirak (dir. Zamarin Wahdat I 13 mins) 8 year old Kati stows away in her father's delivery truck and learns about his life in their new country. Baahar ( dir. Prakshi Malik I 14 mins) A school admission causes tension at a family dinner. Hot Chocolate ( dir. Lila Mali I 3 mins) A son reflects on a family tradition after moving out. An Early Spring ( dir. Pramati Anand I 38 mins) A village girl befriends a solo female backpacker. Chai ( dir. Arshum Rouhanian I 7 mins) Iranian siblings opening a chai stand face unexpected competition from the neighbors selling hot chocolate. Bangladesh, India, Canada, France, Iran, USA I 92 mins I Bengali, Hindi, English w/ English subtitles India, Germany, Afghanistan, USA I 83 mins I Malayalam, Farsi, Hindi, Pahari, German, Dari, English w/ English subtitles Shorts Program C - LGBTQ+ Stories- Reaching For Love Stories of love, family, and connection from the LGBTQ+ community. This year's selections feature both women and non-binary characters and filmmakers. Read more... Buy Tickets and Watch Online FEATURING: The Song We Sang (dir. Aarti NeharshI 20 mins) Roaming the streets of Ahmedabad, two young women may have the chance to fall for each other. A Coup ( dir. Areeba Naveed I 7 mins) A girl comes out to her biased psychiatrist. U for Usha (dir. Rohan Kanawade I 22 mins) Usha, a single mother in rural India, finds herself drawn to a female teacher in ways she never knew possible. Sheer Qorma ( dir. Faraz Arif AnsariI 30 mins) A non-binary character returns home, seeking to reconnect and with their mother & reach understanding. My Mother's Girlfriend (dir. Arun Fulara I 15 mins ) Renuka is in love with another woman, but her adult son, doesn't know. One day, he sees them out celebrating and Renuka's two worlds collide. Shorts Program D - A Matter of Survival An ambitious swimmer in India, an overtaxed social worker in Canada, a blind couple, and more vivid characters face circumstances that challenge their life's path, or even their life itself, and must struggle to survive. Read more... Buy Tickets & Watch Online FEATURING: The Blind Date (dir. Mihir Dhiraj Upadhyay I 17 mins) A blind couple go on a significant beach date. Receiver (dir. Cavan Campbell I 15 mins) Isolated in the night shift, an idealistic telephone counsellor is confronted by an insidious caller. Cycle ( dir. Devashish Makhija I 20 mins) A wronged young tribal woman, in the absence of systemic justice, turns rebel, but struggles to find retribution. Testimony of Ana ( dir. Sachin Dheeraj I 24 mins) A woman recounts the abuse of a modern witch hunt. Kanya ( dir. Apoorva SatishI 15 mins) An adolescent girl's aspirations of becoming a competitive swimmer are challenged when she gets her first period. India, Canada, USA I 91 mins I Hindi,Gujarati, English, Tamil w/ English subtitles India, Pakistan I 94 mins I Hindi, English, Marathi, Urdu w/ English subtitles Follow event on Facebook

The official press release for the 2021 Virtual Indie Meme Film Festival, an event bringing affordable, carefully curated, South Asian cinema to general audiences from April 16 - 25, 2021. IMFF 2021 PRESS RELEASE THE IMFF 2021 PRESS RELEASE IS HERE. To download a PDF of the release click: here . For other 2021 downloadable resources, visit our Press Kit page or contact us at info@indiememe.org Visit our IMFF 2021 Homepage for more.

An Indian-American family must grapple with a new reality when their high-achieving son drops out of college. Love Goes Through Your Mind AUSTIN - May 16th 6-9pm FREE with RSVP 1h 26min | Drama SYNOPSIS An Indian-American family must grapple with a new reality when their high-achieving son drops out of college and returns home a different person than when he left. His parents are unable to accept or admit that their son is now struggling with mental illness, and with his condition worsening, his younger sister, still in high school and reckoning with her own future, takes it upon herself to rescue him. Film followed by a Q&A with Director Ronak Shah. Presented in collaboration with Asian American Resource Center Tickets AUSTIN SCREENING DETAILS FREE Screening, RSVP required. Thursday, May 16, 2019 at 6 PM – 9 PM Asian American Resource Center - City of Austin 8401 Cameron Rd, Austin, Texas 78754 RSVP for FREE Screening

BOMBAY ROSE is a beautiful hand-painted animation created by award winning animator Gitanjali Rao. A romance set on the streets of Bombay, we witness Kamala and Salim's quest for love in this chaotic and beautiful city. Bombay Rose India | Animated Feature | Drama, Romance | 2019 | 93 MIN. |Hindi; English Subtitles ONLINE SCREENING DETAILS Zoom Q&A with filmmaker Gitanjali Rao Previous Screening: Jan 30th 2020 | 7.15pm - 8.45pm Angelika Film Center, Plano Date: April 3rd 2020 Screening Start Time: 7.30pm Q&A with Filma-maker: 9pm Venue: Your home! Members and Badgeholders only - reach out to info@indiememe.org for details. DETAILS SYNOPSIS Escaping from child marriage, Kamala, a young club dancer living in the streets of Bombay, must choose between fending for her family and finding love with Salim, a Kashmiri boy orphaned by the militancy. Painted frame by frame and woven delicately through music, a red rose brings together three tales of impossible loves. Love between a Hindu girl and a Muslim boy. Love between two women. Love of an entire city for its Bollywood stars. Based on true events, the film explores the ruthlessness of a society where the love and life that reigns on the big screen can crush you in its mean streets. Painted frame by frame, the depiction of urban reality has a documentary style, whereas the intricate dream worlds are inspired from the rich and varied folk art styles of India. DIRECTOR’S NOTE Life for most street dwellers in Bombay is a day-to-day struggle for survival. Steeped in deprivation, homelessness and lacking basic human rights, people escape to the cinemas to forget reality. Bollywood, for a few hours, offers this fantasy. But when the same fantasy begins to influence and substitute reality, the balance is lost. I have always wanted to tell the stories about the unsung heroes who live and love in Bombay, never become success stories, yet their struggle for survival makes heroes out of them. The use of frame by frame painted animation enables me to traverse seamlessly between the real and the dream world, poetically rather than realistically. Steering away from the convention of using voices and the acting skills of Bollywood stars who do not belong to the milieu of my characters, I believe in encouraging the animators to use their own acting skills to breathe life into them. BOMBAY ROSE is homage to the undying romantic, living the celluloid dream. TRAILER DIRECTOR'S PROFILE Gitanjali Rao Gitanjali Rao is a Bachelor of Fine Art from Sir J.J.Institute of Applied Art, Bombay. She learnt Animation and film making on the job. Her four independently produced animated shorts, Blue, Orange, Printed Rainbow, Chai and TrueLoveStory have been to over 150 International film festivals and received more than 30 awards. Painted frame by frame, Gitanjali’s films travel seamlessly between harsh urban reality and the dream world created by the psyche, to escape that reality. While her depiction of urban reality has a documentary style, the intricate dream worlds are inspired from the rich and varied folk art styles of India. Her body of work includes animated commercials, pre-production for animated features, logo-motions, as well as graphic novels and illustrated stories. She is also an award winning actor on stage and in films. STILLS SLIDE DECK 1/5

While Jonaki, an 80-year-old woman, searches for love in a strange world of decaying memories, her lover, now old and grey, returns to a world she is leaving behind. Jonaki India, France, Singapore 2018/ | FANTASY DRAMA | 1 HR 35 MIN. | Bengali with English Subtitles 4/27/2019 | 9:20-11:10 pm ATTEND SYNOPSIS While Jonaki, an 80-year-old woman, searches for love in a strange world of decaying memories, her lover, now old and grey, returns to a world she is leaving behind. TRAILER DIRECTOR'S PROFILE Aditya Vikram Sengupta Aditya Vikram Sengupta was born in 1983 in Calcutta, India. At a very young age his interests meandered towards performing arts. He started training in western classical music and was an active dramatist throughout his childhood. Later, he trained himself in animation and film. His student shorts have screened at various international festivals including Clermont Ferrand Short Film Festival, Animafest Zagreb and Sao Paulo International Film Festival. His paintings have been showcased in galleries across India and one of his posters is exhibited at the Religious Art Museum, Tehran. He realised that filmmaking encompasses all his interests, allowing him to express himself in a wholesome manner. Aditya Vikram Sengupta’s debut film “ Labour of Love” created a tremendous buzz in the international film festival circuit. The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival 2014, Giornate Degli Autori, where it won the FEDEORA for best Debut Film. “Labour Of Love” has since featured at over 70 international film festivals including Rotterdam, Busan, London, Tallinn, Munich, Marrakech, Shanghai, Abu Dhabi and IFFLA and has won 13 awards internationally. The film was also feted with 2 awards at the National Film Awards 2015 including the prestigious Golden Lotus for Best Debut Film. Aditya’s next second feature “Jonaki” was officially selected to have its World Premier in the Bright Future section of the prestigious International Film Festival of Rotterdam 2018, where it began its festival journey. Aditya is also currently developing his next project “Memories And My Mother”. The project is the first ever Bengali language feature to be a part of Cannes Cinefondations’ L’Atelier at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016. It was also a part of the NFDC’s co production market at the Film Bazaar in 2015. MAMM has also received funding from France’s distinguished CNC (Cinema du Monde). DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT “Jonaki” is firefly in Bengali. Fireflies are magical. They flicker, and between each flicker of light they have moved on. My grandmother used to tell me that fireflies are part of a Japanese folktale in which the souls of the dead turn into fireflies and wander into the forest. "Jonaki" is inspired from the life of my grandmother, who I was incredibly fond of and shared an indelible bond with. She grew up in a now nearly extinct class of affluent, aristocratic and anglicised family, the kinds that would attend ball dances and had high-teas. However, her life was marked with pain and suffering. Her father passed away when she was just six. Her mother was authoritarian. Despite being in love with a Christian boy, she was forcefully married at the age of 16, and understandably, my grandfather and she never got along. Chronicles of her life became the subject of my bedtime stories. Before she passed away, she lay in coma for 4 days with her eyes slightly open while she kept murmuring in her trance. I wondered what was she thinking? A few months after her death, I began to have terrible nightmares - sometimes waking up in the middle of the night to the sound of explosions and gunshots like the way she had described them to me from her memories of the war. ‘Jonaki’ is an amalgamation of what i imagined was going on in my grandmothers head when she was in coma and the echoes of my nightmare. Is it a recollection of memories and thoughts from the unfulfilled life of an 80-year-old woman. It is a tale of the pain of denied love. It is my attempt to come to terms with my grandmother’s passing. Spaces are just not visual, they are an atmosphere. I wanted the viewers to smell the dampness in the decaying walls of a room that was once the seat of celebration but now an abandoned space filled with roots and creepers. “Jonaki” is an attempt to recreate this experience through cinematic language. It tries to bring the above elements together in a spontaneous, organic and honest mis en scene. CREDITS Cast LOLITA CHATTERJEE, JIM SARBH, RATNABALI BHATTACHARJEE, SUMANTO CHATTOPADHYAY, BURJOR PATEL, INTDRAJIT SINHA, ARUNIMA SINHA, SATYA PRIYO CHAKRABORTY, SUNDERSHIKA TAMANG DIRECTED AND WRITTEN BY ADITYA VIKRAM SENGUPTA PRODUCED BY SAMIR SARKAR DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY ADITYA VIKRAM SENGUPTA & MAHENDRA SHETTY EXECUTIVE PRODUCER VIKRAM MOHINTA COPRODUCER CATHERINE DUSSART PRODUCTION DESIGNER JONAKI BHATTACHARYA EDITOR ADITYA VIKRAM SENGUPTA MUSIC ALEXANDER ZEKKE COLORIST DEBOJYOTI GHOSH & SIDHARTH MEER SOUND HINDOLE CHAKRABORTY AWARDS “Jonaki” was officially selected to have its World Premier in the Bright Future section of the prestigious International Film Festival of Rotterdam 2018. STILLS jonaki7 jonaki6 jonaki5 jonaki3 jonaki4 jonaki2

A mother sings lullabies to her 12 year-old daughter to calm her down, but their reality is much grimmer Back to Festival Program 1/4 Sat. April 15th @ 12:45PM AFS Cinemas Online April 28 - May 1 LORI (MELANCHOLY OF MY MOTHER'S LULLABIES) Nepal I Hong Kong I 15 mins I Drama I Short I 2022 Nepali w/ English subtitles BUY TICKETS WATCH ONLINE 'Special Jury Mention' - Cannes Film Festival From National-Award Winning Director Abinash Bikram Shah A mother sings lullabies to her 12 year-old daughter in order to calm her down. But, when the lullabies end, their reality turns out to be much grimmer and more life-altering. Screens in-person with feature film: IN SEARCH OF BENGALI HARLEM About the Artist Abinash Bikram Shah is a National Award-winning writer/director based in Nepal. An alumnus of Locarno Filmmakers Academy, Berlinale Talents, and Asian Film Academy, he has written, directed, and produced short films that have participated and won at many International Film Festivals. His most recent short film LORI (Melancholy of my Mother’s Lullabies) became the first Nepali film to be officially selected at Cannes Film Festival (2022), where it competed for Palme d’Or Short and was awarded a 'Special Jury Mention'. He has also written several feature films that have premiered in Berlin International Film Festival (2012) and Venice - International Film Critics Week (2015) and went on to become Nepal's Official Entry for the Oscars in Best Foreign Language Film section. Abinash is currently preparing for his feature directorial debut. Credits Crew Writer/Director: Abinash Bikram Shah Producer(s): Benjamin Gru b bs Anup Poudel Vinod Sekhar Darren Shaw Prabin Kumar Rawat Film Editor: Suraj Pau del Cinematography: Ujjal Bastakoti Music: Ranzen Jha Cast: Priti Jha Sujita Sah Ankita Yadav Bikash Yadav Prod. Design: Sandeep Badal Art & Costume: Kala Sangroula Sound: Shrawal Raj Pandey Dikesh Khadgi Shahi Make-up: Sarita Shah

Problems in a relationship come to the surface during a cinematography group exercise. Back to Festival Program 1/2 Weds April 12th @ 6:15PM AFS Cinemas Online April 28 - May 1 FACES USA I 11 mins I Drama I Short I 2023 I English BUY TICKETS WATCH ONLINE LIVE Q&A w/ Texas-based director Kumar Mayank Problems in a relationship come to the surface during a cinematography group exercise. About the Artist Kumar Mayank completed his engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Varanasi and worked a few corporate jobs before getting into filmmaking. Since then he has assisted on and off in TV commercials and feature length films in Mumbai and has worked as a freelancer. He is currently pursuing a Master's degree in filmmaking from UT Austin. His short films have screened internationally at Split Film Festival, Santa Fe Film Festival, Carmarthen Bay Film festival, Filipino Arts and Cinema International, Trenton Film Festival and IntimaLente Ethnographic Film Festival among others and have been awarded at Festival International Signes De Nuit, Bare Bones International Film Festival etc. He is interested in exploring new ways of filmic storytelling to bring to screen the tragedy, comedy and the not-so-extreme of the human condition.

The film reveals the unlikely story of the 2000 year old Indian Jewish community and its formative place in shaping the world’s largest film industry. Shalom Bollywood Austin - Sunday, October 7th 2018 4:00-6:00 pm 2017 ‧ Documentary ‧ 76m ‧ English/Hindi with English subtitles GET TICKETS SYNOPSIS “Shalom Bollywood” reveals the unlikely story of the 2000-year-old Indian Jewish community and its formative place in shaping the world’s largest film industry. When Indian cinema began 100 years ago, it was taboo for Hindu and Islamic women to perform on screen, so Indian Jewish women, who were more liberal and progressive, took on female lead roles, which they then dominated for decades. Because these stars used stage names, audiences assumed they were Muslims or Christians—until now! From the silent era through Bollywood’s golden age, Indian cinema icons share their highs and lows and how their careers pushed the boundaries of Indian-Jewish culture. Interviews plus rare archival footage and retro-style music and animation revive the all-singing, all-dancing cheeky feel of a Bollywood production. CO-PRESENTED WITH GET TICKETS TRAILER Tickets AUSTIN SCREENING Sunday, October 7th 2018 4:00 - 6:00 PM Mixer with some Indian and Jewish snacks 4:00-4:30pm. The film will begin at 4:30pm VENUE Shalom Austin Community Hall Dell Jewish Community Campus 7300 Hart Lane Austin, Texas 78731 CURRENT Indie Meme Members get a DISCOUNT with the code: IM18 GET TICKETS DANNY BEN-MOSHE Producer & Director Danny Ben-Moshe is one of Australia’s leading documentary filmmakers. He won the country’s top documentary prize, the Walkley Award (2014), for his film CODE OF SILENCE, which lifted the lid on sex abuse on the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community. This was commissioned by public broadcaster the Australian Broadcasting Commission. Danny’s latest film is MY MOTHER’S LOST CHILDREN, is an epic family saga told across five continents and six decades, made for for BBC Storyville. Danny has a passion for Jewish stories, and his forthcoming documentary for SBS, THE OUTBACK RABBIS, is an Australian road trip like no other. Danny has also made highly acclaimed non-Jewish themed films beyond Australia. His 2011 feature length documentary about the 1960s CARNABY STREET UNDRESSED, which featured rock legends such as Roger Daltry from The Who, was pick of the week in Britain’s ‘Sunday Times’ and received a four star review in London’s ‘Time Out’. As a vegetarian, Danny nominates India as his favourite never go hungry film shoot location. STILLS shalom4 shalom3 shalom6 shalom5 shalom2 shalom1

The 2020 Indie Meme Film Festival Closing Night & Awards . CLOSING NIGHT & AWARDS SPECIAL GUESTS RAJIV SATYAL Host & Stand-Up Act Rajiv Satyal is a Los Angeles-based comedian/host. His TV-clean act has made him one of the most versatile comedians working today. He began his career in his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio.Rajiv had an unusual entry into standup, doing his act for then-World №1 tennis player Pete Sampras in a locker room. Satyal has some interesting claims to fame: he opened for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in front of 17,000 people. He made the massively viral I AM INDIAN video, which has been seen over 50 million times, shared by Bollywood stars, and used to introduce the Indian Prime Minister in Shanghai and Dubai. He has opened for Russell Peters more than any other Indian comedian. Rajiv has opened for Dave Chappelle five times, and even opened Chappelle’s very first show after his much-publicized African hiatus.A self-described “Indian comedian from Cincinnati” who covers everything from racial issues to soap bottles to his favorite topic – himself, Rajiv has performed for companies like General Electric, General Mills, Quaker and Cisco. He co-founded ‘Make Chai Not War’ – a stand-up show sponsored by the US State Department that traveled to seven Indian cities in 2012 and named his alma mater’s online radio station ‘Bearcast.’ He has also launched and managed a Miss India America’s career and assisted NFL players in defining their lives after football. He has stated that his career goal is to host the Oscars. ADIL HUSSAIN Special Guest Adil Hussain is known for his critically acclaimed performances in award winning films such as Ang Lee's Oscar winning Life of Pi, Subhashish Bhutiani's Hotel Salvation/Mukti Bhavan, Iram Haq's What Will People Say, Danis Tanovic's Tigers, Mira Nair's The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Pan Nalin's Angry Indian Goddesses, Partho Sen-Gupta's Sunrise, Italo Spinelli's Gangor, Prashant Nair's Umrika, Leena Yadav's Parched and Bauddhayan Mukherji's The Violin Player . For his lead role in Hotel Salvation and Maj Rati Ketaki, he received a National Award in India in 2017. He also received the Norwegian National award, known as Amanda Awards for Best Actor and Kanon Prisen award in Norway for Best Supporting actor for his work in What Will People Say in 2018. For Mukti Bhavan which has received over 25 International awards, he has been nominated for numerous Best actor awards and won at the DCSAFF and Rajasthan International Film Festival . He received Best actor award for his work in Lessons in Forgetting at the NJSCF. He is widely known for his roles in English Vinglish, Lootera, Main aur Charles, Dobaara, Aiyaary etc. and has acted in numerous independent as well as commercial films in the Hindi, Bengali , Assamese, Malayali, Tamil film industries as well as in many Indo-European art house films. SURABHI SHARMA Special Guest Independent documentary filmmaker, activist, film festival curator (based in India), Surabhi is the one who made Indie Meme happen. It was through Surabhi’s personal work that the idea to promote Indie Films (not seen by most people in the US) came about. Her feature length documentaries have been screened and awarded at international and national festivals. The films have also been used by grass root campaigns and at universities in India and abroad. Surabhi has a fan following on every continent. Surabhi is now based in Abu Dhabi and Mumbai. She has worked on several feature length documentaries apart from some short fiction films and video installations. Her key concern has been documenting cities in transition through the lens of labour, music and migration, and most recently reproductive labour. Cinema verite and ethnography are the genres that inform her filmmaking. She is currently teaching in the Film and new Media Programme at New York University Abu Dhabi. SCHEDULE SUNDAY May 10th All times in CDT 6:30 - 9:15 pm Eeb Allay Ooo! Screening & Discussion (Full Details HERE) 9:30 - 10:00 pm Introductions to our Guests, and a Special Stand-UP set by Host Rajiv Satyal 10:00 - 10:25 pm Jury Award Announcements 10:25 - 10:30 pm Closing Address MORE DETAILS CLOSING NIGHT DRESS CODE! We'll be taking photos at the closing night so make sure you dress up :)