The lives of three characters change when they unexpectedly have to confront and come to terms with their past. April 13, 2025 at 3:00:00 PM AFS Cinema Austin Premiere Puratawn (The Ancient) India | Narrative Feature 2024 | 100 mins | Bengali Recorded Q&A with writer-director Suman Ghosh TICKETS DONATE TO NEPAL Best Feature film- Washington DC South Asian Film Festival Best Actress (Sharmila Tagore)- Washington DC South Asian Film Festival Best Feature Film- Indian Film Festival at Houston Rittika returns to her ancestral house with her husband Rajeev to celebrate her mother’s 80th birthday. After reaching her house she finds that her mother is not the same as she had always believed her to be. Initially jolted with this realization, she slowly comes to terms with her condition and its irreversibility. Through her mother she comes to change her perspective on life and being. What seemed like an ostensibly routine and ritualistic event turns to a larger metaphysical enquiry into human existence and how the past dictates our current state. The film deftly braids in questions of failing memory, cherishing the past, a fear of obsolescence and reconciliation into a haunting, moving story that is at its heart about burying the ghosts of the past in order to make peace with what has happened so that one can move on. Restoration Process About the Artist Suman Ghosh is a National Award winning Indian filmmaker. He has made 9 feature films and 2 documentary films. He had his film training at Cornell University in New York. His first feature film "Footsteps" starring Soumitra Chatterjee and Nandita Das won 2 National Awards in 2008. It was shown at numerous film festivals including Vancouver, Karlovy Vary and IAAC New York. His second feature film "Dwando" also starring Soumitra Chatterjee, was a part of the Indian Panorama at IFFI Goa in 2009. His next feature film "Nobel Thief", starring the Indian megastar Mithun Chakraborty was world premiered at the Busan IFF and was an official selection at the BFI, London Film festival. The film received the "Best Indian Film"; award at the Bengaluru International Film Festival in 2012. His next feature film "Shyamal Uncle Turns off the Lights" has had a warm reception from critics and audiences all over the world. It was world premiered at the Busan Film Festival in South Korea and had its North American Premiere at the MoMA, NY. It won the "Outstanding International Feature Award"; at the ReelWorld Film festival in Toronto. It is being distributed in North America by Global Film Initiative. His next feature film "Kadambari" starring Konkona Sen Sharma and Parambrata Chatterjee. It is based on the life of Rabindranath Tagore and his controversial relationship with his sister-in-law Kadambari Devi. It was screened at several film festivals worldwide and received the Best Feature Film Award and the Best Actress for Konkona Sen Sharma at the Washington DC South Asian Film Festival in 2015. His next film “Peace Haven” world premiered at Busan IFF and was an official selection at MAMI and NYIFF. His debut Hindi feature film is titled “Aadhaar” which World premiered at the Busan IFF and is awaiting an all India release later this year. In 2023 he made the documentary on legendary film director and actress Aparna Sen titled “Parama: A Journey with Aparna Sen” which is scheduled to begin its festival journey later this year. In 2023 his film "Kabuliwala"was a major box office success in Bengal and also been to several top film festivals of the world including Shanghai Film Festival and Washington DC International Film Festival. His latest film "Puratawn" (The Ancient) is releasing in India on the 11th of April. Trailer For English subtitles, make sure to turn on the YouTube closed captions. Credits Crew: Director: Suman Ghosh Writer: Suman Ghosh Producer(s): Rituparna Sengupta Film Editor: Aditya Vikram Sengupta Featured Cast: Sharmila Tagore Rituparna Sengupta Indraneil Sengupta Thank you to our community partners for this screening! This program was made possible in part with a grant from Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

A boatman and a meteorologist share their knowledge of the seas and weather, but find themselves helpless in the face of unpredictable climate. April 25, 2026 at 10:30:00 AM AFS Cinema North America Premiere Kanippu (The Prediction) India | Short 2026 | 23 mins | Tamil Shown as part of the Saturday shorts program TICKETS DONATE TO NEPAL Jojga-NETPAC Asian Film Festival A grieving boatman and an earnest meteorologist share their knowledge of the seas and weather, but find themselves helpless in the face of unpredictable climate. Restoration Process About the Artist Rishi Chandna is a self-taught independent filmmaker based in Goa, India. His short films, TUNGRUS, PARTY POSTER & THE FEAST have shown and won awards at Hot Docs, Visions Du Reel, BFI London FF, IDFA, Clermont-Ferrand, Slamdance and more. His feature film in development, GHOL, was selected in 2021 at the Sundance Script Lab, Cannes Film Market and won the top Fiction Award at Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum. Trailer For English subtitles, make sure to turn on the YouTube closed captions. Credits Crew: Director: Rishi Chandna Writer: Rishi Chandna Rahul Srivastava Producer(s): Rishi Chandna Anita Arjundas Jessica Seddon Rahul Muralidharan Film Editor: Ashwin Arvind Featured Cast: Charles Vinoth Aditi Balan Pranav Theophine Thank you to our community partners for this screening! This program was made possible in part with a grant from Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

After decades of dormancy, the aging icons of Parsi theater return to the state for a final curtain call. The documentary chronicles the joy & resilience of the cast as they prepare to go out with a bang. Filmocracy Virtual: April 28th-May 1st The Show Must Go On India | Documentary 2022 | 60 min | English, Gujarati, Hindi TICKETS DONATE TO NEPAL Official Selection of Bangkok International Documentary Awards & Cambridge Film Festival After decades of dormancy, the aging icons of Parsi Theatre return to the stage, putting aside their walking sticks and wheelchairs for one final curtain. Plunging into rehearsals, this documentary chronicles the resilience of a singular cast of characters that want nothing more than to go out with a bang. For most of them it will be the last time on stage after careers spanning over half a century. As the film tumbles headfirst into the creative chaos of rehearsals, we are given an intimate portrait of the bonds shared between veteran stars and youngsters and a joyous celebration of old age. When a great tragedy befalls the cast on the eve of the final show will the show go on, despite the odds? Restoration Process About the Artist Divya Cowasji is a photographer and documentary filmmaker who lives in a small town in central India. Her work as a documentary filmmaker won her a National Award in 2015. Divya was also awarded the Inlaks Shivdasani Scholarship for two semesters studying Analogue & Alternate Processes in Photography at the International Center of Photography in New York. In 2021, she was the recipient of the India Photo Festival Grant. In the same year, she was selected as a Fellow in the American Film Showcase Documentary Workshop (USC School of Cinematic Arts). Her personal work focuses on the telling of oral histories, on ideas of home and family, memory, place, play and the body. Her photographs have been exhibited Objectifs Women in Film & Photo, Singapore (2021), India Photo Festival, Hyderabad (2021), Vantage Point Sharjah (2021), Glasgow Gallery of Photography (2020), Angkor Photo Festival, Cambodia (2020), and Chennai Photo Biennale (Winner Portfolio Review with Agence VU, 2020). --- Jall Cowasji is a cinematographer and filmmaker from a small town called Mhow in central India. At the age of ten, his grandmother introduced him to a video camera, and the rest is predictable history. He is currently shooting PIRATES, a Disney+ India action-drama series set in Somalia, his longest and most demanding project to date. His recent work includes segments of ‘Omnivore’, the upcoming docu-series for Apple TV, led by Cary Joji Fukunaga. A 2020 graduate of the MFA Film Program at NYU Tisch, Jall has worked across cultures, including in India, South Africa, Norway, Sicily, and the US. His work was nominated for the 2019 ARRI Volker Bahnemann Award for 'Outstanding Cinematography'. His creative approach is rooted in the search for simplicity, and he believes in a work environment that holds kindness and composure as integral to the creative process. Trailer For English subtitles, make sure to turn on the YouTube closed captions. Credits Crew: Director: Divya Cowasji & Jall Cowasji Writer: Producer(s): Film Editor: Featured Cast: Thank you to our community partners for this screening! This program was made possible in part with a grant from Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

2023 The Queen of My Dreams Narrative Feature English, Urdu mins 96 In-Person 2023 Canada, Pakistan Comedy, Drama Queer Pakistani grad student, Azra, is worlds apart from her conservative Muslim mother. When her father suddenly dies on a trip home to Pakistan, Azra finds herself on a Bollywood-inspired journey through memories, both real and imagined; from her mother’s youth in Karachi to her own coming- of-age in rural Canada. Live ZOOM Q&A with Writer-Director Fawzia Mirza. Tickets 8/4/24, 4:30 PM AFS Cinema Writer/ Director Fawzia Mirza Fawzia Mirza is a Canadian film and TV actress, writer, producer, and director. Her work includes the web series Kam Kardashian and Brown Girl Problems and the 2017 film Signature Move. Director: Fawzia Mirza Producer: Andria Wilson Mirza, Jason Levangie, and Marc Tetreault Writer: Fawzia Mirza Cast: Amrit Kaur, Nimra Bucha, Hamza Haq, Ayana Manji, Ali A. Kazmi Editor: Simone Smith Crew: Alysha Brilla, Matt Irwin, Jesse Griffiths, Meher Jaffri, etc. This Event is supported in part by a Mini Grant from Humanities Texas. Community Partners for the Film More Films

A middle aged Indian woman visits a Texas cattle ranch and learns the meaning of true grit. April 10, 2025 at 6:30:00 PM AFS Cinema Virtual May 2 - 4, 2025 World Premiere Cowboys and Hindus USA | Short 2025 | 16 mins | English TICKETS DONATE TO NEPAL A depressed, affluent, middle aged Hindu woman, ASHA, accompanies her domineering husband to a Texas cattle ranch. While there, she befriends a cattle woman who takes the Hindu woman under her wing and teaches her all about cowboy culture. Asha soon finds purpose on the ranch and in her life. She discovers the meaning of true American grit. Restoration Process About the Artist Tejal Desai is an award-winning screenwriter. He was awarded the most coveted and prestigious screenwriting award, the Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (AMPAS) for his comedy script LINDA AND HENRY. Subsequently he was hired by Disney Studios to develop and write a sequel to PINOCCHIO. His screenplay, COWBOYS & HINDUS, won the Final Draft Big Break Screenplay competition and was honored on stage alongside Aaron Sorkin at Final Draft’s Hall of Fame Awards. COWBOYS & HINDUS also won the Cinestory Screenplay Competition and was named a semifinalist at the Sundance Screenwriting Institute. Tejal has also written on assignment for Focus Features and Lifetime Television. He produced the feature length drama, ABCD, starring Madhur Jaffrey which premiered at the 43rd London Film Festival and won Best Independent Film at the Houston Film Festival. Currently, Tejal finished writing and directing the short films of Cowboys and Hindus and plans to shoot the feature version in 2026 with Priya Deva and Adil Hussain to star. He ha also finished writing and directing a comedy called Dad’s Final Wish, about a dying man’s final wish is to find his childhood bully and beat him before he dies. Tejal currently lives in Austin with his wife and two sons. Trailer For English subtitles, make sure to turn on the YouTube closed captions. Credits Crew: Director: Tejal Desai Writer: Tejal Desai Producer(s): Andrew Lee Kirtana Banskota Film Editor: Featured Cast: Priya Deva Samir Khan Paula Saletnik Tara Amin Thank you to our community partners for this screening! This program was made possible in part with a grant from Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

A father decided to revenge a lawyer who rapes his teenage daughter. Eventive Virtual May 2 - 4, 2025 Texas Premiere Dadresi (The Claimant) Iran | Short 2024 | 20 mins | Persian TICKETS DONATE TO NEPAL Fajr International Film Festival, Iran - Winner Best Short Film Tehran International Short Film Festival, Iran - Winner Best Direction Accolade Global Film Competition, United States - Winner Best Woman Filmmaker “Claimant" is about a father who discovers that his teenage daughter was assaulted and raped, so he decides to confront and punish the rapist, but since the culprit is a very proficient lawyer he uses laws in a way that he not only escapes from justice but also legally make the father the criminal. Restoration Process About the Artist I was born in 1979. I studied cinema and dramatic literature in art university and I received my PHD in art research. For many years I was mostly active in academic fields and I taught interdisciplinary courses between art and humanities in universities such as the Art university of Tehran. In recent years I have increased my artistic activities such as screenwriting. I had rewritten the script of "Conjugal Visit" (2021) (directed by Omid Shams). Claimant is my first short film as a writer and director. Trailer For English subtitles, make sure to turn on the YouTube closed captions. Credits Crew: Director: Nadereh Sadatserki Writer: Nadereh Sadatserki Producer(s): Film Editor: Featured Cast: Thank you to our community partners for this screening! This program was made possible in part with a grant from Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

< 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 Staff Carissa Savage Social Media Specialist Carissa is a social media and email marketing specialist specializing in promoting films and events through digital platforms. Since joining Indie Meme, she’s enjoyed connecting audiences to South Asian cinema through engaging posts, newsletters, and community-driven storytelling.

< Our Team Staff Madhavi Deshpande Film Festival Coordinator Madhavi Deshpande is a long-time "Memer" and has been part of the Indie Meme team for several years. She joined the IM staff in 2023 as the IMFF 2023 Coordinator, and has continued to serve in that position again in 2024.

< Our Team Devang Pathak Festival Team Festival Programming Devang Pathak is a professional screenwriter, researcher, and script consultant based in Mumbai. He started his writing journey on Anurag Kashyap’s feature film adaptations of Suketu Mehta’s Maximum City. He has also been a journalist and writer whose work has been published in publications such as Quartz, Film Companion, BuzzFeed and The Hindu. A lifelong cinephile and advocate for the big screen experience, he started an offline forum and Substack newsletter in 2025 called Revival Cinema Project, which promotes community solutions for systemic issues and challenges in Indian cinema.

< Our Team Staff Denise Garza Steusloff Executive Director Denise Garza Steusloff is a seasoned professional with expertise in project management, event planning, and travel coordination. She earned her bachelor’s degree in hospitality management from St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas. Currently, she serves as the Executive Director of Indie Meme, a non-profit organization based in Austin that promotes independent South Asian cinema. Steusloff has been actively involved in the Austin film community for many years. She began volunteering with Cine Las Americas in 1998 and eventually became the Festival Director. Her dedication to the organization led her to serve on its board, where she contributed significantly to its mission of supporting Latinx, Latin American, and Indigenous filmmakers. Denise is also a member of Women in Film & Television, Austin, and Tejanas in Film, reflecting her commitment to supporting women in the industry.

< Our Team Anjali Kaul Zutshi Executive Board Past President Anjali Kaul Zutshi is the Chief Development Officer for the Texas Historical Commission (THC), and Executive Director of the Friends of the THC. She has over 28 years of fundraising, organizational development, and strategic planning experience in the non-profit sector in Texas – as an independent consultant from 2007 – 2016, collaborating with land conservation, youth, children, and aging services focused non-profits, and for 12 years before that as the Associate State Director and Texas Development Director for the Trust for Public Land’s Texas State Office. Through her work over the last 28+ years, Anjali has established a successful track record of working with non-profits on building sustainability through effective management, and with funders on building partnerships for effective mission support and delivery. Anjali is an architect by training, and also earned a Master of Science degree in Community and Regional Planning from UT-Austin. She also holds a Certificate in Fundraising Management (CFRM) from the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. A graduate of Leadership Austin, Anjali has served on multiple national, state, and local boards. Anjali currently serves as a member of the Advisory Council for the Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life at the University of Texas at Austin, and on the Advisory Board of the University of North Texas Department of Linguistics.