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The life of an expat Nepali woman in the United Arab Emirates turns upside down when she loses a small amount of money while trying to buy a laptop for her son in Nepal. April 20, 2024 at 6:00:00 PM AFS Cinema Virtual May 3 - May 5, 2024 North America Premiere Helena Nepal, United Arab Emirates | Short 2023 | 13 mins | English, Hindi, Nepali TICKETS TICKETS Official Selection - Focus South Asia, Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2023 Helena works in the UAE as a waitress. Her son in Nepal has been asking for a laptop for the last four months and has now stopped going to school. Finally, when she’s saved enough money to buy one, she finds out that she’s lost a small amount of cash. When the son calls her, she lies to him saying that she’s bought the laptop and is sending it with her friend. Deep into the lies, in between the pressure from work and from her family, how will she get through this? Restoration Process About the Artist Ayarush Paudel was born and raised in Nepal. After high school, Paudel moved to the United Arab Emirates in order to pursue his passion for storytelling while studying undergraduate education at New York University Abu Dhabi. With his interest lying primarily in narrative stories, Paudel has written and directed a number of projects in the last five years revolving around different issues in Nepal such as the schooling system, gender inequality, the impact of the pandemic, and racism. Trailer For English subtitles, make sure to turn on the YouTube closed captions. Credits Crew: Director: Ayarush Paudel Writer: Ayarush Paudel Producer(s): Sophiya Paudel Film Editor: Ayarush Paudel Featured Cast: Ayushma Shrestha George Jose Yoshina Gautam Sajil Jimmy Samman Sharma Ramesh Rijal 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.

Problems in a relationship come to the surface during a cinematography group exercise. Filmocracy Virtual April 28 - May 1, 2023 Faces USA | Short 2023 | 11 mins | English In-Person Q&A with Texas director Kumar Mayank TICKETS TICKETS Restoration Process 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. Trailer For English subtitles, make sure to turn on the YouTube closed captions. Credits Crew: Director: Kumar Mayank Writer: Kumar Mayank Producer(s): Film Editor: Featured Cast: Olivia Tovar, Jasper Jones 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 story of a homemaker and her everyday life emptional abuse she suffered. 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 United States Premiere A Lazy Noon Bangladesh | Short 2025 | 15 mins | Bangla TICKETS WATCH ONLINE Limited tickets available on site. 23rd Dhaka International Film Festival - Best Short Film Fipresci Award Nira, a highly educated 38-year-old woman who comes from an upper-middle-class family. Her husband is a senior executive at a corporate company, and she is a homemaker. She married with the intention of enjoying a modest and peaceful life. She was going about her regular activities. But, as time passes, she becomes increasingly aware of the emotional abuse she is subjected to. She made the decision to stand up and protect her dignity and self-worth. 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 Monon Muntaka is a Dhaka-based visual artist and cultural activist. Her work focuses on social concerns, culture, women, and gender, as well as its documentation. She is also passionate about films and video art. As a visual storyteller, she is continuously on the lookout for new stories and ways to communicate them visually. Her interactions with a diverse group of multi-talented people, including artists, curators, writers, filmmakers, educators, and researchers, had a significant impact on her life. She took part in several exhibitions, including the British Council's International Collaboration - Artists Make Space, the Goethe Institute Bangladesh's “KᗩᕼIᑕᕼᗩᒪ” show, and the "Dhaka OIC Youth Capital 2020-21." SheDecides 2021 Virtual Gallery, Dui - "Synchronised Encounter", "The Unheard Voices" on Violence Against Women, 2016, "VISIBILITY" at WILL FEST 2018, "Move 4 Women"; on International Women's Day 2019, "De | Real exhibition: A curatorial research project in response to the global pandemic, 2020," and "Texture & Mixture" solo exhibition in 2023. Her work has been shown at ArtIQulate in 2022 and 2023, LensCulture in 2020, "Inonica", "femlens", and "Al Jazeera" in 2021. She is an Adenauer Fellow. Winner of the "Breaking the Silence" short film grant competition in 2022, 12th Photoffee Photographer of the Year in 2022, and recipient of the Prince Claus Seed Awards in 2023. Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Trailer Credits Crew: Director: Monon Muntaka Writer: Monon Muntaka Producers: Rubaiyat Hossain Film Editor: Chaitali Samaddar Featured Cast: Runa Kanchon Adnan Shikha Ananya Singh 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 school boy being questioned by his teacher- his first bitter lesson in social discrimination. As he struggles to understand this silent injustice, he begins to see the world through new, questioning eyes. April 12, 2025 at 5:45:00 PM AFS Cinema Virtual May 2 - 4, 2025 Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Indie Meme Special 10th Year Retrospective Showcase International Premiere Da'Lit Kids India | Short 2024 | 6 mins | Malayalam Followed by the film The Glassworker . TICKETS WATCH ONLINE Limited tickets available on site. A school boy being questioned by his teacher- his first bitter lesson in social discrimination. As he struggles to understand this silent injustice, he begins to see the world through new, questioning eyes. 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 Appu Soman is an animation filmmaker from kerala, currently based in Kolkata as a student of SRFTI (Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute). Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Trailer Credits Crew: Director: Appu Soman Writer: Appu Soman Producers: Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute Film Editor: Featured Cast: Hridhya Raveendran Aromal A R Melvin Babu Aaron P J Dhivahar Muthuveeran Cookie 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 buddhist fable-like story about the guilt of a childhood incident of killing an ant while washing hands in the sink. Animated through photographic sequences painted with golds and grays, the Zen-like visuals sweep into one another with whispering monologues and glitching noises reflecting the realms of cosmos, power, guilt, prayers, and existence. April 20, 2024 at 3:30:00 PM AFS Cinema Virtual May 3 - May 5, 2024 Texas Premiere Phar Yar Sin (The Altar) Myanmar | Short,Documentary 2023 | 11 mins | Burmese TICKETS TICKETS Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen Germany A buddhist fable-like story about the guilt of a childhood incident of killing an ant while washing hands in the sink. Animated through photographic sequences painted with golds and grays, the Zen-like visuals sweep into one another with whispering monologues and glitching noises reflecting the realms of cosmos, power, guilt, prayers, and existence. Restoration Process About the Artist Moe Myat May Zarchi (born in 1994, Myanmar) is a filmmaker, musician and a multidisciplinary artist. Her short films have been screened at Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg, Women Make Waves Int’l Film Festival, Minikino Film Festival and have won awards at Singapore International Short Film Festival (SGIFF), Bangkok Asean Film Festival (BAFF) and UK Asian Film Festival. She was also a finalist in Julius Baer Next Generation Art Prize in Moving Image and won the Prince Claus Seed Awards as an Emerging Artist. In most of her works, Moe loves to explore the metaphysical, identity, femininity and personal aspects through innovative use of visuals and sound. She also founded a cinema magazine and organization called “3-ACT” to support cinema education in Myanmar. https://moemyatmayzarchi.cargo.site/ Trailer For English subtitles, make sure to turn on the YouTube closed captions. Credits Crew: Director: Moe Myat May Zarchi Writer: Moe Myat May Zarchi Producer(s): 3-ACT Film Editor: Moe Myat May Zarchi 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.

In a small town of 1960's India, where cinema is forbidden for women, a 14-year-old embarks on a quest to watch her first film. April 12, 2025 at 8:15:00 PM AFS Cinema Virtual May 2 - 4, 2025 Texas Premiere The First Film India | Short 2023 | 19 mins | Hindi Followed by the film And, Towards Happy Alleys . TICKETS TICKETS Audience Choice Award for Best Short - IMFF 2025, Austin, USA Festival de Cortos de Bogotá - BOGOSHORTS Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival South Asian Film Festival of Montréal – Montréal In a small town in 1960s India, deep-rooted in orthodox traditions, cinema is believed to corrupt young minds, and women are forbidden to watch films. Devi, a 14-year-old girl, is obsessed with films and dreams of watching one in a theater. Her neighbor, Mohan, a 14-year-old mute cinephile boy, narrates stories from his favorite films to her at night. When an unforeseen incident shakes their world, Devi has one last chance to pursue her dream. The First Film celebrates friendship, courage, and the magic of cinema. Restoration Process About the Artist Piyush Thakur is an alumnus of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII). His student short film The Real Millionaire was nominated for the International Grand Prix at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival and traveled globally to more than 75 film festivals, winning multiple awards. He was selected from India for the International Student Film Camp in Serbia. After FTII, he worked as an assistant director to Sanjay Leela Bhansali on the film Bajirao Mastani. He was also selected for the Kyoto Filmmakers Lab in Japan and Platform Busan at the Busan International Film Festival. His latest short film, The First Film, had its world premiere at the Festival de Cortos de Bogotá - BOGOSHORTS in Colombia and was recognized as a 'Short Film Market Pick' by the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival and 'Film Bazaar Recommends' by NFDC Doc Film Bazaar. It won The German Star of India – Audience Award at the Indian Film Festival of Stuttgart and Best Short Narrative International Award at the Nepal Human Rights International Film Festival. Trailer For English subtitles, make sure to turn on the YouTube closed captions. Credits Crew: Director: Piyush Thakur Writer: Piyush Thakur Deepak Lohana Producer(s): Piyush Thakur Film Editor: Piyush Thakur Featured Cast: Priyanka Beriya Vasudev Nishad Tony Chawada Usha Athaley Yuvraj Singh Shibanee Mukherjee Rajveer Mukherjee Ajay Athaley 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.

An Indian family in the USA faces a pivotal choice for their child, caught between moral dilemmas and tough decisions. April 10, 2025 at 11:30:00 PM AFS Cinema Virtual May 2 - 4, 2025 Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Indie Meme Special 10th Year Retrospective Showcase Texas Premiere Nirmalya USA | Short 2024 | 18 mins | Marathi, English TICKETS WATCH ONLINE Limited tickets available on site. An Indian family in the USA is confronted with a difficult decision regarding the future of their newborn child. What choice will they make, and what factors will influence their decision? 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 Aniket grew up in Kolhapur, Maharashtra with aspirations of storytelling through cinema. Throughout his career as a software engineer, he has continued to chase his filmmaking dream, creating short films in his free time. Over the years, he has taken on various roles, including director, editor, cinematographer and producer, in numerous short films. His work has been recognized with several awards. Most recently, he directed and edited a short film titled Nirmalya, which premiered at the California Theater in San Jose as part of the North American Film Association’s Marathi Film Festival. Nirmalya was also screened at the Pune International Film Festival on February 16, 2025, the official festival of the Government of Maharashtra. Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Trailer Credits Crew: Director: Aniket Chandrakant Dhavale Writer: Dr. Bhagyashree Barlingay Mukund Marathe Gautam Pangu Producers: North American Film Association Film Editor: Aniket Chandrakant Dhavale Featured Cast: Priyanka Shinde Jachak Saurabh Jachak Radhika Hingwe Sakshi Pingle Ashley Hufford Alex Pina D'ann Connelly Michael Edenbaum Joseph Branch Monica Dani 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!

Azra is worlds apart from her conservative Muslim mother. Following a tragedy, Azra finds herself on a Bollywood-inspired journey to Pakistan - guided by memories of her mother's youth in Karachi and her own coming-of-age in rural Canada. August 4, 2024 at 9:30:00 PM AFS Cinema The Queen of My Dreams Canada, Pakistan | Narrative Feature 2023 | 96 mins | English, Urdu Live ZOOM Q&A with Writer-Director Fawzia Mirza. TICKETS TICKETS 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. Restoration Process About the Artist 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. Trailer For English subtitles, make sure to turn on the YouTube closed captions. Credits Crew: Director: Fawzia Mirza Writer: Fawzia Mirza Producer(s): Andria Wilson Mirza, Jason Levangie, and Marc Tetreault Film Editor: Simone Smith Featured Cast: Amrit Kaur, Nimra Bucha, Hamza Haq, Ayana Manji, Ali A. Kazmi 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 waking up and finding his wife and baby missing, a worried husband seeks help from community members. Filmocracy Virtual April 28 - May 1, 2023 Learning Not To Drown USA | Short 2021 | 20 mins | English In-Person Q&A with Texas director, Prithvi Raj Karreddula & award-winning composer Mickey J. Meyer TICKETS TICKETS Restoration Process About the Artist Prithvi Raj Karreddula is a Dallas filmmaker from Hyderabad, Telangana, India. He's been a writer and director for both English and Telugu films since 2017. He also possesses a handful of additional skills in film production such as cinematography, editing, and music composition. Prithvi Raj is most known for his short films "Audible Frequency" (2021), "Humans" (2019) and "Bhoomi" (2021). Trailer For English subtitles, make sure to turn on the YouTube closed captions. Credits Crew: Director: Prithvi Raj Karreddula Writer: Prithvi Raj Karreddula Producer(s): Film Editor: Featured Cast: Sri Chilukuri, Corey Pratt, Raymund C. King 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.

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 Texas Premiere BACK THEN - The Story of Live Music in Bombay India | Documentary 2024 | 57 mins | English Recorded Q&A with directors Anindita Dutta Roy and Abhishek Chandran Preceded by a 10-minute music set by Specific Thing. TICKETS TICKETS 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. Restoration Process About the Artist 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. Trailer For English subtitles, make sure to turn on the YouTube closed captions. Credits Crew: Director: Anindita Dutta Roy Abhishek Chandran Writer: Abhishek Chandran Producer(s): Ritwik Ghosh Jitin Hingorani 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.

Fereshteh, a young student in Tehran, must hide the existence of her illegitimate two-month old baby for the night when her parents announce a surprise visit. She and her resourceful best friend must weigh up their true allies. As they traverse the city, their simple mission proves surprisingly treacherous. Filmocracy Virtual April 28 - May 1, 2023 Until Tomorrow Iran | Narrative Feature 2022 | 86 min | Persian, Farsi TICKETS TICKETS World Premiere Selection: Berlinale 2022 Official Selection: Zurich, Istanbul, Stockholm, Edinburgh, & Sao Paulo International Film Festival Fereshteh is studying and working at a printers’ shop in Tehran. She wants to go to the US but is having trouble finding the time for a language course. This is because she also has a two-month-old baby that her parents know nothing about. When they announce at short notice that they are coming to visit, Fereshteh has to hide illegitimate child and everything that would give away her existence. What at first seems resolvable with a phone call to a few friends soon develops into a difficult undertaking. Fereshteh’s quick-witted friend Atefeh offers her support, but their ensuing odyssey through the city only reveals to the pair how limited their options are. In a society that does not grant everyone the same rights, young women have to weigh up carefully who their allies are. Restoration Process About the Artist Ali Asgari was born in Tehran, Iran. He studied cinema in Italy and began his career as an assistant director. After creating several acclaimed short films, he was selected for the Berlinale Talent Campus 2013. Early in his career his short films, MORE THAN TWO HOURS and THE SILENCE, were both selections at Cannes and nominated for a Palme d’Or. His work has premiered and competed at 600+ world festivals, including leading festivals such as Cannes, Venice, Sundance, Palm Springs, Melbourne, Durban, Stockholm, Montreal, Sao Paulo, BFI London, Leeds, & Festival Tous Courts. His films have won more than 100 international awards. UNTIL TOMORROW is Asgari's second feature film and premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale '22). Trailer For English subtitles, make sure to turn on the YouTube closed captions. Credits Crew: Director: Ali Asgari Writer: Ali Asgari Producer(s): Ali Asgari Raphaëlle Delauche Niki Karimi Nicolas Sanfaute Film Editor: Ehsan Vasegh i Featured Cast: Sadaf Asgari Ghazal Shojaei Amirreza Ranjbaran Nahal Dashti 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.

Norwegian academic Samuel died in Santhali village. Bidu wants to keep Samuel's last wish of burying him in the village. With a broken heart and a broken dream, Bidu's five-year-old son Kherwal started looking for a new way of going to Norway, which Samuel promised. Eventive Virtual May 2 - 4, 2025 Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Indie Meme Special 10th Year Retrospective Showcase United States Premiere Kherwal India | Narrative Feature 2023 | 122 mins | Santhali, Bengali, English TICKETS WATCH ONLINE Limited tickets available on site. 29th Kolkata International Film Festival 28th International Film Festival of Kerala 2023-Best Debut Director Indian Cinema Now 16th Jaipur International Film Festival -Awarded for Best Original Script, Best Released Film, Best Cinematography, Best Actor Lead Norwegian academic Samuel passed away in an Indian tribal village, leaving behind a final wish to be buried there. Bidu, a Santhali man, is determined to honour Samuel’s last request. Meanwhile, Bidu's young son struggles with the painful realisation that his cherished dream of visiting Norway, a promise made by Samuel, may never come true. However, hope flickers anew with the arrival of Samuel’s daughter, Lauren, in the village, rekindling the boy’s aspirations and bringing new possibilities to light. 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 Uttam Kamati is an independent Indian filmmaker and photographer with a strong passion for storytelling. His creative journey began by taking on different roles in filmmaking, where he gained experience as an assistant director, and scriptwriter for independent projects. Recently, Uttam Kamati completed his first feature-length film, Kherwal, which showcases his dedication to exploring diverse narratives. His short films, including Hope, have received international recognition. Hope won awards at the Dresden Sustainability Contest in Germany and the FINI Festival in Mexico. As a photographer, Uttam Kamati has earned several prestigious awards, including the Environmental Photographer of the Year (London, 2015), the DMZ International Half and Half Photography Award, and the DMZ Global Peace Award (South Korea), as well as the FIAP Bronze (Turkey). His work has been exhibited in major cities like New York, London, Turkey, and Boston, as well as at renowned institutions across India. Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation Trailer Credits Crew: Director: Uttam Kamati Writer: Uttam Kamati Producers: Uttam Kamati Film Editor: Featured Cast: Debanshu Saren Rabi Baskey Krista Smligdriva Monimala Saren 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!