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When two boys are kidnapped in a border town in Nepal, Detective Inspector Pooja is sent from Kathmandu to solve the case. April 12, 2025 at 10:45:00 PM AFS Cinema Special Screening Pooja, Sir Nepal, USA, Norway | Narrative Feature 2024 | 108 mins | Nepali Live Q&A with director Deepak Rauniyar and lead actress Asha Magrati TICKETS TICKETS When two boys are kidnapped in a border town in Nepal, Detective Inspector Pooja is sent from Kathmandu to solve the case, forcing her to leave her wife and her ailing father behind. But when she arrives to investigate, the brewing political unrest and violent protests throw her off course, and she is forced to seek help from Mamata, a local Madhesi policewoman. By putting aside systemic racial and homophobic discrimination and pushing through everyday misogyny, the women solve the case—but at what personal cost? Inspired by real events which took place in Southern Nepal during the 2015 race protests. Restoration Process About the Artist Deepak Rauniyar’s first feature film, “Highway” (2012), was the first film from Nepal to screen at a major global film festival, premiering at Berlinale and later playing at Locarno. His second feature, “White Sun” (2016), debuted at the Venice Orizzonti competition with rave reviews, with the Hollywood Reporter calling it “impressively accomplished” and The New York Times, which included Rauniyar among the “9 New Directors to Watch” list, writing that “White Sun” “captures a place that isn’t seen much in movies.” The film screened internationally at over 100 film festivals, including Toronto, Locarno, Rotterdam, New Directors/New Films, Sydney, and Golden Horse. It won the Interfilm Award at Venice and Best Film at the Singapore and Palm Springs Film Festivals. Nepal nominated “White Sun” for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards. Trailer For English subtitles, make sure to turn on the YouTube closed captions. Credits Crew: Director: Deepak Rauniyar Writer: Deepak Rauniyar David Barker Asha Magrati Producer(s): Deepak Rauniyar Asha Magrati AADI FILMS (Nepal/ US) Rambabu Gurung BAASURI FILMS (Nepal) Alan R Milligan TANNAUSER GATE (Norway) Film Editor: J. Him Lee Alex Gurvits Featured Cast: Asha Magrati Nikita Chandak Dayahang Rai Bijay Baral Aarti Mandal Reecha Sharma Ghanshyam Mishra Parmeshwor Kumar Jha Gaumaya Gurung Pashupati Rai Niraj Shrestha 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.

When two boys are kidnapped in a border town in Nepal, Detective Inspector Pooja is sent from Kathmandu to solve the case. April 12, 2025 at 10:45:00 PM AFS Cinema Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Indie Meme Special 10th Year Retrospective Showcase Special Screening Pooja, Sir Nepal, USA, Norway | Narrative Feature 2024 | 108 mins | Nepali Live Q&A with director Deepak Rauniyar and lead actress Asha Magrati TICKETS WATCH ONLINE Limited tickets available on site. When two boys are kidnapped in a border town in Nepal, Detective Inspector Pooja is sent from Kathmandu to solve the case, forcing her to leave her wife and her ailing father behind. But when she arrives to investigate, the brewing political unrest and violent protests throw her off course, and she is forced to seek help from Mamata, a local Madhesi policewoman. By putting aside systemic racial and homophobic discrimination and pushing through everyday misogyny, the women solve the case—but at what personal cost? Inspired by real events which took place in Southern Nepal during the 2015 race protests. Film Heritage Foundation used the best surviving elements for the restoration – the original camera negative and the 35 mm print preserved at the NFDC – NFAI. Unfortunately, the sound negative was not available. We digitized the sound from the 35 mm print preserved at Film Heritage Foundation. The film elements were repaired by the Film Heritage Foundation conservators and the scanning was done in Prasad Lab in Chennai We found that due to the deterioration of the print, there were vertical green lines on many parts of the film. While the scanning and digital clean-up was done at Prasad under the supervision of L’Immagine Ritrovata in Bologna, the grading, sound restoration and mastering was done at the lab in Bologna. Both Shyam Benegal and Govind Nihalani, the cinematographer of the film, have been involved in the restoration of the film. Restoration Process Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation The screening will be preceded by a performance by Specific Thing. Specific Thing is the project of local musician Román. Sometimes he plays by himself and sometimes he plays with his snazzy band — he loves to do both! And the music? It draws from folk, punk, pop, latin, communism, animals, friends... He likes to keep it cartoony, quick, and catchy. The band released an album in 2025 called "Now Is Actually Not A Good Time". Find more at @specificthing on Instagram. Meet Specific Thing About the Artist Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Deepak Rauniyar’s first feature film, “Highway” (2012), was the first film from Nepal to screen at a major global film festival, premiering at Berlinale and later playing at Locarno. His second feature, “White Sun” (2016), debuted at the Venice Orizzonti competition with rave reviews, with the Hollywood Reporter calling it “impressively accomplished” and The New York Times, which included Rauniyar among the “9 New Directors to Watch” list, writing that “White Sun” “captures a place that isn’t seen much in movies.” The film screened internationally at over 100 film festivals, including Toronto, Locarno, Rotterdam, New Directors/New Films, Sydney, and Golden Horse. It won the Interfilm Award at Venice and Best Film at the Singapore and Palm Springs Film Festivals. Nepal nominated “White Sun” for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards. Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Trailer Credits Crew: Director: Deepak Rauniyar Writer: Deepak Rauniyar David Barker Asha Magrati Producers: Deepak Rauniyar Asha Magrati AADI FILMS (Nepal/ US) Rambabu Gurung BAASURI FILMS (Nepal) Alan R Milligan TANNAUSER GATE (Norway) Film Editor: J. Him Lee Alex Gurvits Featured Cast: Asha Magrati Nikita Chandak Dayahang Rai Bijay Baral Aarti Mandal Reecha Sharma Ghanshyam Mishra Parmeshwor Kumar Jha Gaumaya Gurung Pashupati Rai Niraj Shrestha Restoration Effort Led By: Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, Director, Film Heritage Foundation Restoration Credit: Restored by Film Heritage Foundation in association with Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd.(Amul), the cinematographer Govind Nihalani and the director Shyam Benegal. Funding supported by Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd.(Amul) Thank you to our community partners for this screening!

Metal, electronic, and rap are not associated with Mumbai because it’s hidden in Bollywood’s shadow, but found in every suburb. The misfits who conspire to pervert the course of pop culture are our protagonists in the nostalgia trip called Back Then. April 13, 2025 at 1:30:00 AM AFS Cinema Virtual May 2 - 4, 2025 Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Indie Meme Special 10th Year Retrospective Showcase Texas Premiere BACK THEN - The Story of Live Music in Bombay India | Documentary 2024 | 57 mins | English Preceded by a 10-minute music set by Specific Thing. Recorded Q&A with directors Anindita Dutta Roy and Abhishek Chandran TICKETS WATCH ONLINE Limited tickets available on site. Yellowstone International Film Festival Best Documentary Film Winner 'BACK THEN - The Story of Live Music in Bombay' is a documentary film that takes the viewer back 30 years in time to explore the sounds of the city's musical counterculture as it was. It puts you into the shoes of its mercurial artists, passionate folks behind the scenes, and misfits who went to gigs through the 90s, 2000s, and 2010s. The film puts a spotlight on what happened in the shadowy world of underground live music and answers questions like what it meant to watch an artist live in 1994, what it’s like today, and what kind of underground music was played in 2006. Over the span of 53 minutes, it cruises through real and rare DIY stories all the way from the 1990s, right up to 2023. Film Heritage Foundation used the best surviving elements for the restoration – the original camera negative and the 35 mm print preserved at the NFDC – NFAI. Unfortunately, the sound negative was not available. We digitized the sound from the 35 mm print preserved at Film Heritage Foundation. The film elements were repaired by the Film Heritage Foundation conservators and the scanning was done in Prasad Lab in Chennai We found that due to the deterioration of the print, there were vertical green lines on many parts of the film. While the scanning and digital clean-up was done at Prasad under the supervision of L’Immagine Ritrovata in Bologna, the grading, sound restoration and mastering was done at the lab in Bologna. Both Shyam Benegal and Govind Nihalani, the cinematographer of the film, have been involved in the restoration of the film. Restoration Process Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation The screening will be preceded by a performance by Specific Thing. Specific Thing is the project of local musician Román. Sometimes he plays by himself and sometimes he plays with his snazzy band — he loves to do both! And the music? It draws from folk, punk, pop, latin, communism, animals, friends... He likes to keep it cartoony, quick, and catchy. The band released an album in 2025 called "Now Is Actually Not A Good Time". Find more at @specificthing on Instagram. Meet Specific Thing About the Artist Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Director: Director Anindita is from Calcutta. She has a Master’s in Journalism and experience in acting/directing student films, and digital films in her advertising career. Her husband’s gig-going stories and her discoveries of counterculture having lived across India inspired this debut. With her background in journalism, she never imagined that her first film would be about the subject of ‘live music.’ In the process of making this film, she has tried to recreate her desired youth days in a way the rebel in her would have wanted to live. The inspiration for this movie comes from attending several alternate and underground live music gigs with her partner. She wanted the entire world to see Bombay through this sub-culture lens and witness the magic of ‘these misfits’ featured in the movie. She is a keen observer of the cultural nuances of India and the world and has absorbed more than most, having lived across India. Next, she will document brown women and their esoteric communities. Co-Director: Director Abhishek Chandran has his roots in a small town in Thrisshur, Kerala but grew up in the maximum city, Mumbai. While pursuing mass communication, he made multiple music-videos and short films. While he’s had a career in advertising, his avocations have been musical. Next, he will archive his family tree of 120+ members across the world.This documentary is hugely inspired from his own coming-of-age story with different forms of live music in Mumbai. Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Trailer Credits Crew: Director: Anindita Dutta Roy Abhishek Chandran Writer: Abhishek Chandran Producers: Ritwik Ghosh Jitin Hingorani Film Editor: Featured Cast: Restoration Effort Led By: Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, Director, Film Heritage Foundation Restoration Credit: Restored by Film Heritage Foundation in association with Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd.(Amul), the cinematographer Govind Nihalani and the director Shyam Benegal. Funding supported by Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd.(Amul) Thank you to our community partners for this screening!

A Documentary about a Filmmaker’s aunts, in the spring of their lives Eventive Virtual May 2 - 4, 2025 Aunty Sudha Aunty Radha India | Documentary 2019 | 49 mins | Hindi TICKETS TICKETS Madrid International Film Festival – Spain JIO MAMI 21st Mumbai Film Festival New York Indian Film Festival – NY Three hours outside India's capital is a village called Lahra. This film follows two widowed sisters, aged 86 and 93, who have retired to this village, and whose days are spent with their adopted family of domestic help. Pulling along with their walkers (because of bad knees that turned inoperative a decade ago) the sisters do as they please, pay heed to no one and don’t bother with unsolicited advice. They don’t let their ailments unsettle them much and remain largely unfearful of death. With a rare acceptance of old age and all that it brings, they spend their time gossiping, watching T.V., soaking in the sun and bonding with the help of a hearty sharing of community life. With the filmmaker being their niece who visits their home for the first time, the film resolutely assumes the tone of this oddball group of people – a facile easy-going manner, that gazes lightly at the passing of days. And yet, from this light-heartedness, emerge lessons. Of courage and perseverance, of camaraderie and care-giving, of destiny and faith, and the most significant one: when we engage in conversations of death, we improve the quality of life. Restoration Process About the Artist After receiving a B.A. degree in English Literature in Mumbai, Tanuja Chandra completed further studies towards a Master of Fine Arts degree in Film Direction and Writing in the U.S.A. She returned to India and directed the television shows and co-wrote the scripts of Mahesh Bhatt’s films, Zakhm and Tamanna, both of which won National awards, and Yash Chopra’s Dil Toh Pagal Hai. She began independent film direction in 1998 with Dushman and directed Sangharsh, Sur, Zindaggi Rocks, and the English language, Hope and A Little Sugar in 2008, amongst others. Several of her films received awards and her English film received recognition in international film festivals. In 2017, her most recent film, Qarib Qarib Singlle released, a romcom starring Irrfan Khan and Parvathy, and a collection of short stories by her, called Bijnis Woman was published by Penguin Random House. Two short films by her streamed on Zee5 and Eros Now. She’s working on the script of her next feature, along with developing content for longer format projects. In the past, she has written articles for newspapers and magazines regularly, and is working on her next book. Trailer For English subtitles, make sure to turn on the YouTube closed captions. Credits Crew: Director: Tanuja Chandra Writer: Producer(s): Anupama Mandloi Film Editor: Chandan Arora Featured Cast: Radha Rani Sharma Sudha Garg 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.

On the night before leaving her small-town home, Sejal discovers her widowed mother has stopped taking the medication she relies on for her mental health. As Sejal tries to confront her, her mother remains lost in making aloo poori—a farewell meal steeped in family ritual. April 12, 2025 at 3:30:00 PM AFS Cinema Virtual May 2 - 4, 2025 Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Indie Meme Special 10th Year Retrospective Showcase Texas Premiere Aloo Poori USA | Short 2025 | 13 mins | English, Hindi TICKETS WATCH ONLINE Limited tickets available on site. Chicago South Asian Film Festival Red Rose International Film Festival Planet Female Global StoryFest (Best Student Film) Aloo Poori follows the story of a mother and daughter during their last day of living together in a small town in Western Pennsylvania. Sejal is on the cusp of leaving her home and mother behind, unsure if she’s scared to go, or scared to stay. Her mother Madhuri is avoiding a recent mental health diagnosis and her daughter's departure by throwing her heart into her cooking. The two have never had to function without each other, and on the eve of Sejal’s departure, they realize they might not know how to-- grappling with what forgiveness and farewell truly mean to them. Film Heritage Foundation used the best surviving elements for the restoration – the original camera negative and the 35 mm print preserved at the NFDC – NFAI. Unfortunately, the sound negative was not available. We digitized the sound from the 35 mm print preserved at Film Heritage Foundation. The film elements were repaired by the Film Heritage Foundation conservators and the scanning was done in Prasad Lab in Chennai We found that due to the deterioration of the print, there were vertical green lines on many parts of the film. While the scanning and digital clean-up was done at Prasad under the supervision of L’Immagine Ritrovata in Bologna, the grading, sound restoration and mastering was done at the lab in Bologna. Both Shyam Benegal and Govind Nihalani, the cinematographer of the film, have been involved in the restoration of the film. Restoration Process Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation The screening will be preceded by a performance by Specific Thing. Specific Thing is the project of local musician Román. Sometimes he plays by himself and sometimes he plays with his snazzy band — he loves to do both! And the music? It draws from folk, punk, pop, latin, communism, animals, friends... He likes to keep it cartoony, quick, and catchy. The band released an album in 2025 called "Now Is Actually Not A Good Time". Find more at @specificthing on Instagram. Meet Specific Thing About the Artist Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Aditi Sridhar (she/her) is a narrative and documentary filmmaker dedicated to telling culturally specific stories that challenge perspectives and foster action-oriented conversation. Raised in small town Pennsylvania, her storytelling practice is deeply rooted in the intersection of community, identity, and place. She recently produced a feature-length documentary on Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson, exploring how his Pittsburgh roots shaped his iconic body of work. Aditi has worked at Warner Brothers Pictures and is an alum of the AMPAS Gold Rising Program, where she was selected as a Trophy Presenter at the 95th Academy Awards. Her directorial debut short film, PIVOT, was featured at festivals across the country, including the Chicago South Asian Film Festival, Fargo Film Festival, and DC South Asian Film Festival. She is currently developing new projects that blend homegrown storytelling with global perspectives, with a focus on amplifying underrepresented voices in media. Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Trailer Credits Crew: Director: Aditi Sridhar Writer: Aditi Sridhar Producers: Aditi Sridhar Owen Gambill Film Editor: Featured Cast: Sangeeta Agrawal Anvita Gattani Advika Ravishankar Mike Puthumana Restoration Effort Led By: Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, Director, Film Heritage Foundation Restoration Credit: Restored by Film Heritage Foundation in association with Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd.(Amul), the cinematographer Govind Nihalani and the director Shyam Benegal. Funding supported by Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd.(Amul) Thank you to our community partners for this screening!

"Land of Dreams" is a documentary by filmmaker Ambarien Alqadar that intimately chronicles the journey of Virender Rana, a Sikh taxi driver from India, as he navigates the challenges and aspirations of immigrant life in America. Eventive Virtual May 2 - 4, 2025 Texas Premiere Land of Dreams USA, India | Documentary 2025 | 40 mins | Punjabi, Hindi, English TICKETS TICKETS Filmed for nearly a decade, Land of Dreams is an intimate portrait of Virender Rana, a taxi driver from India, chasing his dream of telling his story in America. While he points the camera at his own life and films a Bollywood style movie, the film follows his journey of coming to America, finding joy as part of a larger Sikh community and that of taxi drivers and laying roots as an immigrant. As he joins the elite Uber Black fleet hoping for his dreams to come true, he faces challenges of being a brown immigrant on the streets of post 9/11 America. Land of Dreams is a letter of solidarity and hope to anyone who has searched for a home and a land for their dreams in a place where they were not born. Restoration Process About the Artist Ambarien Alqadar is a filmmaker, screen writer and a first generation immigrant. Shaped by the experience of growing up in Jamia Nagar, New Delhi, the metaphor of border crossing is central to her creative practice as she works between documentary, narrative and experimental forms. Her first documentary- Who Can Speak of Men? was acclaimed as a "revolutionary for its portrayal of Indian Muslim women" at BFI Flare and selected to several prominent festivals. Four Women and a Room and The Ghetto Girl are experimental video essays exploring intersections of history, embodied experience and memory. Currently she is working on Stray Girls- a short narrative presented by Anurag Kashyap and her first feature narrative- Nisa (WOMAN). Ambarien is an alum of Jamia Millia Islamia, India and Temple University U.S. where she was a Fulbright-Nehru Fellow. She was a speaker at the International Documentary Association 2020, Decolonizing the Documentary and Rising Beyond the Ceiling: 100 stereotypes shattering Muslim women from India in the United States (Film & Media Arts). She lives between New Delhi and Chicago where she teaches at School of Cinematic Arts, DePaul University. Trailer For English subtitles, make sure to turn on the YouTube closed captions. Credits Crew: Director: Ambarien Alqadar Writer: Producer(s): Ambarien Alqadar Film Editor: Ambarien Alqadar 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.

Having recently arrived in America with her husband and son, Hema finds herself culturally displaced and must redefine her identity as a dependent mother. An encounter with a young Marathi man threatens to upend her already fragile existence. April 12, 2025 at 3:30:00 PM AFS Cinema Virtual May 2 - 4, 2025 Texas Premiere Hema USA, India | Short 2024 | 16 mins | Hindi, English TICKETS TICKETS San Francisco Frozen Film Festival (SFFFF) PROOF Film Festival - Gold Jury Award Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) - Audience Choice Award After immigrating to Los Angeles from India with her husband and son, Hema finds herself navigating the daunting task of settling into American life while grappling with a deep yearning for her homeland. The complexities of cultural adjustment weigh heavily on her, and she seeks comfort and familiarity in maintaining connections to her roots. However, her delicate balance is unexpectedly disrupted when she crosses paths with a young Marathi man. This encounter stirs a mix of emotions within her, from nostalgia to uncertainty, threatening to unravel the fragile stability she has managed to establish in a foreign land. As she confronts this unexpected challenge, Hema is forced to reevaluate her identity and aspirations, torn between the pull of her past and the realities of her present life in America. Restoration Process About the Artist Ritvik Dhavale is a writer and director who has spent half his life in Pune, India, and the other half in Cupertino, California. This bicultural experience deeply influences his storytelling, which often explores themes of cultural assimilation and identity. Ritvik''s journey into filmmaking began in high school theater. He furthered his education by earning a B.A. in Screenwriting from UCLA in 2017. Professionally, he gained experience working as an assistant in the CAA Media Finance Group, served as a coordinator in the Sundance Feature Film Program, and was a creative assistant in the Netflix Original Independent Film Team before fully dedicating himself to filmmaking. Ritvik's unique perspective, shaped by his experiences in both India and the United States, continues to influence his work as he explores narratives that bridge these two worlds. Trailer For English subtitles, make sure to turn on the YouTube closed captions. Credits Crew: Director: Ritvik Dhavale Writer: Ritvik Dhavale Producer(s): Aishwarya Sonar Shaurya Nanavati Film Editor: Raghav Puri Aashish D'Mello Featured Cast: Rajshri Deshpande Kapil Talwalkar Samrat Chakrabarti Neil Iyer 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 fisherwoman takes on a powerful local politician by hosting a feast for him using an unforgettable secret dish that could save her dying lake. April 12, 2025 at 3:30:00 PM AFS Cinema Virtual May 2 - 4, 2025 Texas Premiere Virundhu (The Feast) India | Short 2024 | 25 mins | Tamil TICKETS TICKETS Jury Award for Best Short - IMFF 2025, Austin, USA Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, February 2024, World Premiere - Special Jury Prize Winner, International Competition Sydney Film Festival, June 2024 A fisherwoman takes on a powerful local politician by hosting a feast for him using an unforgettable secret dish that could save her dying lake. Restoration Process About the Artist Rishi Chandna is a self-taught independent filmmaker based in Mumbai and Goa. Currently he is in development of his first feature-length fiction film titled GHOL/THE CATCH. The project has been mentored at the 2021 Sundance Screenwriters Lab, and selected at the Cannes Film Market 2021, the 2021 NFDC Film Bazaar Co-Production Market and the 2021 Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum where it won the top HAF Fiction Award for a non – Hong Kong project. The Feast (‘Virundhu’ in Tamil) is his first work of short fiction and was awarded the Special Jury Award at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival in February 2024. The film is part of an anthology of three short fiction films Rishi is making, that represent marginalised communities dealing with issues of climate change and political disenfranchisement in the context of water pollution, access and inequality. His debut short film, TUNGRUS (2018), a black comedy about a Mumbai suburban family divided over eating their dominating pet rooster, was shown at Hot Docs, Visions Du Reel, BFI London Film Festival, IDFA and became an Oscar-qualifying short documentary after winning at Slamdance Film Festival. Tungrus has released online on the prestigious New York Times’ OP-DOCS, PBS POV SHORTS, The Criterion Channel and several other platforms such as Atlantic Selects, Amazon Prime, Vimeo (Staff Pick) and Aeon Magazine. His second short film, PARTY POSTER (2022), a satirical documentary about the political poster culture in India, has shown at Palm Springs International Film Festival, Krakow Film Festival, DocAviv, Glasgow Short Film Festival and more, and was also launched online on New York Times’ OP-DOCS. 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: D. Antony Janagi GeorgeVijay Anbarasi 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.

From National-Award winning filmmaker, Dr. Biju, comes a collection of six cinematic sketches that depict the various means by which fascist governments conspire to silence their own people. Filmocracy Virtual April 28 - May 1 The Portraits India | Narrative Feature 2021 | 91 min | Malayalam TICKETS TICKETS Critic's Choice Award' - Rajasthan International Film Festival 2021 'Life Award' - Imagine India International Film Festival , Spain 2022 THE PORTRAITS is a collection of six cinematic sketches that depict the various means by which fascist governments conspire to silence their own people. From the state hunting down citizens for suspected Maoist links to suppression of the people's struggles against ecocide, mechanization, and labour exploitation - the film investigates scenes of resistance and complacency. The film serves as a single canvas where all the different faces of state tyranny against its people come together, forming a collage that depicts the grotesque portrait of fascism. Restoration Process About the Artist A three time National Award winning filmmaker, Dr Biju (Dr. Bijukumar Damodaran) is considered one of the most important contemporary voices in Indian cinema. A true visionary who brings authentic Indian stories to international audiences. His first film SAIRA screened in the Cannes Film Festival's 'Cinema of the World' section in 2007. Since then, his 12+ subsequent films have screened at many world festivals and won numerous awards including the coveted 'Golden Goblet' Award for 'Best Artistic Achievement' at Shanghai Film Festival. Festivals that have selected his work include Cannes, Montreal, Shanghai, Telluride, Moscow, Cairo, Iran (Fajr), Eurasia Almaty, Jeonju, Tallinn, Oporto, JOGJA Indonesia, Dhaka, IFFK and IFFI. He has been invited as a member of the jury in many well-known festivals across the world including Iran, Russia, Indonesia and many Indian festivals like Pune, IFFK etc. He served on the jury for India’s National Film Awards in 2012 and India’s Oscar Selection Committee in 2015. Trailer For English subtitles, make sure to turn on the YouTube closed captions. Credits Crew: Director: Dr. Biju (Dr. Bijukumar Damodaran) Writer: Producer(s): Akshay Kumar Parija Film Editor: Davis Manuel Featured Cast: Prakash Bare Saheer Muhammed Rajeevan Velloor Sankar Ramakrishnan Krishnan Balakrishnan Shyam Reji Sajitha Madathil Uma. K.P Reshma Thomas 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.

Michael Okeke, a Nigerian living in New Delhi wants to get his MBA and settle in India. But his part-time job as a drug dealer will jeopardize his plans, not to mention the open racism he is facing. December 8, 2024 at 10:30:00 PM AFS Cinema Dilli Dark India | Narrative Feature 2023 | 101 mins | English, Hindi, Yoruba, Pidgin, Bengali, Gujarati In-Person Q&A with Director Dibakar Das Roy TICKETS TICKETS Official Selection of the Mumbai Film Festival, Tallinn Black Nights, and the New York African Film Festival Michael Okeke is one of the many Nigerians living in the city, part of a larger African diaspora which is often looked down upon by the locals.. Michael is studying for his MBA and dreams of joining the booming corporate sector in India, but is hopelessly stuck. He works as a small-time drug delivery guy to make ends meet. His search for gainful employment lands him in the fringes of society, where the only person who takes him in is a sketchy godwoman by the name of Maansi. While Maansi may not discriminate between black and white, she also seems to find no difference between right and wrong - a sentiment echoed in every aspect of the city's DNA. As Michael navigates this treacherous landscape, we are taken on a journey into Indian society’s tricky relationship with race, colour, and identity. Restoration Process About the Artist Dibakar Das Roy left a career in advertising in the USA to come back home to learn filmmaking on the job; writing, producing and directing under his banner www.braincell.in DILLI DARK is his first feature film. He spends his time between Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata. Trailer For English subtitles, make sure to turn on the YouTube closed captions. Credits Crew: Director: Dibakar Das Roy 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.

12 year old Bhyal, a lower caste black-smith boy, and his friend, Laba, are bullied into making iron wheels for their upper-caste peers. Exhausted by the situation, they're compelled to break social conventions and take matters into their own hands. A cinematic examination of the caste system in a small mountain village in Nepal. April 15, 2023 at 3:30:00 PM AFS Cinema Virtual April 28 - May 1, 2023 Wheels on the Bus Nepal | Short 2022 | 16 mins | Nepali, English TICKETS TICKETS Best Director - Short Film at Hanoi International FF Restoration Process About the Artist Surya Shahi received a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Acting) and a BA in International Studies from Elon University, USA in 2018. Since graduating, he has been in Nepal building a school and hostel in his home region of Humla, where WHEELS ON THE BUS was shot. He works part time as an acting teacher at Oscar International College of Film Studies in Kathmandu, Nepal. Surya worked on the Nepali short film A CURIOUS GIRL (2017) as a casting director, acting coach and assistant director. He was the creative producer and an actor in the musical short RATO TALO (2019) and also worked as an acting coach on the short FILAM (2020). He is currently working on his second short film as director, THE CURTAIN. Trailer For English subtitles, make sure to turn on the YouTube closed captions. Credits Crew: Director: Surya Shahi Writer: Surya Shahi Producer(s): Film Editor: Featured Cast: Man Bahadur Tamata, Damaru Bhatta, Suman Bohara 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 turbulent newsroom drama that intimately chronicles the working days of broadcast journalist Ravish Kumar as he navigates a spiraling world of truth and disinformation. April 16, 2023 at 2:30:00 PM AFS Cinema Texas Premiere While We Watched United Kingdom | Documentary 2022 | 94 min | English, Hindi Virtual Q&A with director Vinay Shukla TICKETS TICKETS Winner of the prestigious TIFF Amplify Voices Award, The Busan Cinephile Award '22, & the Sabeen Mahmud Award for Courage in Filmmaking '23 (MISAFF). A Special Presentation of DOC NYC Nominated for 'Political Film of the Year (Cinema For Peace '23), 'Right to Know Competition' (One World International Human Rights Documentary Festival), & 'Activist Documentary Award' (The Hague Movies That Matter '23) 'Best International Documentary' Winner - DocPoint Helsinki, 2023 The primetime Indian TV Journalist, Ravish Kumar, is in trouble. Famous for unflinching takedowns of the ruling establishment, his nerves have begun to fray as the Indian media landscape turns toward a new standard of high-decibel, polarizing, blustering TV debates. Ravi's primetime bulletins have long been valued for solid research, verified evidence, and a sharp commentary with a touch of rustic sass. Yet, as press freedom further deteriorates, Ravish finds himself at the receiving end of harassment, intimidation, threats to his life, and even violence against his family. With a growing target on his back, and the looming issue of his network’s imminent closure, Ravish transforms from a spunky troublemaker into a deeply troubled man, worried for himself, his family, and the soul of his nation. Restoration Process About the Artist Vinay Shukla is a filmmaker, producer, and leading figure in the Indian documentary landscape. His debut feature, the non- fiction political thriller, AN INSIGNIFICANT MAN (co-directed with Khushboo Ranka) was internationally acclaimed, set a new anti-censorship precedent, and went on to become the most theatrically successful documentary film in India. His short BUREAUCRACY SONATA (2011), won the HBO 'Best Short Film' Award at the 2012 South Asian International Film Festival. His work has attracted distinguished partnerships with Sundance, DocSociety, NFDC India, Asian Network of Documentaries, IDFA, and IDFA Bertha. His films have been celebrated at Warsaw Film Festival, Busan International Film Festival, BFI London, Sheffield Doc/Fest, among other leading world festivals. Vinay also produced the globally renowned political strategy board games 'SHASN’, and its sequel, ‘SHASN: AZADI’. Vinay’s highly-anticipated second feature film, ‘While We Watched’ - a non-fiction newsroom drama - is premiering at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival. Trailer For English subtitles, make sure to turn on the YouTube closed captions. Credits Crew: Director: Vinay Shukla Writer: Vinay Shukla Producer(s): Vinay Shukla Khushboo Ranka Luke W. Moody Film Editor: Abhinav Tyagi Featured Cast: Ravish Kumar Sushil Mohapatra Swarolipi Sengupta Sushil Bahuguna Saurabh Shukla Deepak Chaubey 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.