From art-house classics to documentary films, from innovative and experimental visions to next-level Bollywood: 3rd i is committed to promoting diverse images of South Asians through independent film. Our 2011 festival showcases films from South Asia and the South Asian diaspora, including India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Tibet, and USA.
You can find more information about 3rd i by calling (415) 835-4783.
 Big in Bollywood
Bay Area Premiere
Roxie Theater
Wednesday, November 9, 7:20 pm
Dir: Bill Bowles, Kenny Meehan
US, 2011, 70 mins
Bill Bowles and Kenny Meehan, and Producer Tyler MacNiven in Person
Funny and irreverent, Big in Bollywood chronicles Omi Vaidya’s ascendency from an aspiring Indian-American actor in Hollywood to a megastar in faraway Bollywood (in the film 3 Idiots). This eye-opening documentary reveals the fascinating world of Indian cinema, and the culture around it, in a way you’ve never seen before.
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 The Family Circus: Local Shorts
US Premiere
Roxie Theater
Thursday, November 10, 7:20 pm
Dir: Various
US, 2010/2011, 80m
Filmmakers in Person
Live Neo-Benshi Performance
3rd i’s signature local shorts program features the best desi shorts by Bay Area filmmakers.
This year's program puts the family in focus—the nuclear family, the South Asian family, the queer family, and the family of self!
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Followed by Bollyhood Bash! Dance Party @ 10 pm |
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|  Ashes
Bay Area Premiere
Roxie Theater
Thursday, November 10, 9:30 pm
Dir: Ajay Naidu
US, 2010, 77 mins
Director/Actor Ajay Naidu, Actress Heather Burns, Actress Reena Shah, Actor Atul Ohri, and Prodcuers Nina Spensely and Angelo Fabara, in Person
Ashes (short for Ashish) struggles to support himself and his mentally ill older brother. When a group of small-time gangsters on New York's Lower East Side offers him an easy road to wealth, he is caught between familial duties and hardcore crime. A soulful debut from indie favorite Ajay Naidu. More>> |
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 Patang (The Kite)
San Francisco Premiere
Roxie Theater
Friday, November 11, 7:20 pm
Dir: Prashant Bhargava
India/US, 2010, 93 mins
Prashant Bhargava in Person
A gothic family drama set against the dynamic spectacle of India’s largest kite festival, Bhargava’s runaway hit at the Berlin and Tribeca Film Festivals is a sumptuous experience of light, color, and music, about a family coming to terms with its fractured past and fragile dreams.
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 Semshook
San Francisco Premiere
Roxie Theater
Friday, November 11, 9:45 pm
Dir: Siddharth Anand Kumar
Spain/India, 2010, 116 mins
Siddharth Anand Kumar’s superbly crafted film takes us on a spiritual journey across the spectacular and breathtaking Himalayas as we accompany Tenzin, a young Tibetan artist raised in India, on a search for truth and freedom. His journey mirrors the Buddha’s search for enlightenment where he needs to lose himself in order to find his true self.
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|  Gamperaliya (Changing Village)
Classic at the Castro
San Francisco Premiere
Castro Theatre
Saturday, November 12, 12 noon
Dir: Lester James Peries
Sri Lanka, 1964, 108 mins
Introduced by Asoka Handagama
Recently restored and screened to critical acclaim at Cannes (2008), Peries's moving saga of family and class conflict is a cornerstone of Sri Lankan cinema by an undisputed master. Often compared to the elegant and nuanced work of Satyajit Ray.
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 I Am Sindhutai Sapkal (Mee Sindhutai Sapkal)
Bay Area Premiere
Castro Theatre
Saturday, November 12, 2:30 pm
Dir: Anant Mahadevan
India, 2010, 110 mins
Deeply moving and superbly acted, this inspirational film—based on a true story—echoes with strong humanistic themes and invokes a movie like The Color Purple. An Indian village woman overcomes terrible odds to become a savior for abandoned children.
Followed by a panel discussion.
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 A Letter of Fire
US Premiere
Castro Theatre
Saturday, November 12, 5:10 pm
Dir: Asoka Handagama
Sri Lanka/France, 2005, 136 mins
Asoka Handagama in Person
A richly cinematic work, this film confirms Asoka Handagama as a modern master. He boldly mixes Eastern and Western traditions with TV soap opera and experimental theater to create this shocking tapestry focused on an aristocratic family plagued by Oedipal dramas.
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Followed by Reception at the Castro Mezzanine. |
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 Delhi Belly
Bollywood at the Castro
San Francisco Premiere
Castro Theatre
Saturday, November 12, 9:15 pm
Dir: Abhinay Deo
India, 2011, 103 mins
Screenwriter Akshat Verma and Actress Shenaz Treasury in Person
Sexy, bawdy and riotously smart, this explosive comedy takes Bollywood in a whole new direction, doffing its cap to bad-boy films like Snatch and The Hangover. Expect rickshaw chases, upset stomachs, a riot of mix-ups and pursuits, and, of course, two glitzy dance numbers that pay homage to 80s Bollywood! A smashing success in India in spite—or perhaps because—of the “Adults Only” certificate the film received. More>> | |
 Flying Fish (Igillena maluwo)
Bay Area Premiere
Little Roxie
Sunday, November 13, 12 noon
Dir: Sanjeewa Pushpakumara
Sri Lanka, 2011, 124 mins
This daring film from northern Sri Lanka captures the madness in a land where the psychology of war is omnipresent. Three parallel stories capture the attempts of ordinary people to lead normal lives in abnormal circumstances. Reminiscent of the work of Vimukthi Jayasundara (The Forsaken Land).
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 Way of Life
Preview Screening
Roxie Theater
Sunday, November 13, 12:20 pm
Dir: David Driver
US/India/Nepal, 2011, 75 mins
David Driver in Person
Way of Life follows the extraordinary journey of Michael Daube, a young artist who by a series of remarkable events starts a philanthropic organization that serves remote areas of India and Nepal. Exploring the relationship between creativity, life’s work and personal happiness, this film inspires us to consider and appreciate our own best intentions.
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 The Boxing Ladies + Shorts:
Gender/Sexuality in Frame
Bay Area Premiere
Roxie Theater
Sunday, November 13, 2:30 pm
Dir: Various
India/Pakistan/South Africa, 2009/2011, 70 mins
Neelu Bhuman and Jordache Ellapen in Person
Four stellar short films examine issues across the gender/sexuality continuum: Three muslim sisters from Kolkata become national boxing champions in Anusha Nandakumar’s The Boxing Ladies; Siraj ul haq’s Chandni is a poignant tale about a young hijra who finds her place in this world through sufism; Jordache Ellapen’s cane/cain deals with the intersections of migration, desire and sexuality in urban South Africa; Neelu Bhuman’s uplifting Family in Frame follows the filmmaker as she comes out as bisexual to her family. More>> | | |
|  The Image Threads (Chitrasutram)
West Coast Premiere
Little Roxie
Sunday, November 13, 2:40 pm
Dir: Vipin Vijay
India, 2010, 104 mins
Enfant terrible of Indian cinema Vipin Vijay’s feature-film debut enchants, provokes and intrigues, with brilliantly conceived images and sound design. This surrealist tale is a symphony of several parallel threads revolving around an IT professor named Hari, his lover Ramani—a female-like cyber-creature—and his long-dead black-magician grandfather.
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 Play Like a Lion:
The Legacy of Maestro Ali Akbar Khan
San Francisco Premiere
Roxie Theater
Sunday, November 13, 4:30 pm
Dir: Joshua Dylan Mellars
US, 2011, 72 mins
Joshua Dylan Mellars, Alam Khan, and Producer Mojib Aimaq in Person
This celebratory doc on sarod maestro Ali Akbar Khan—revered by musicians the world over, including Mickey Hart, Zakir Hussain, Carlos Santana, John Handy and Derek Trucks, all of whom are featured in the film—is a moving illustration of Khan’s description of music as “food for the soul.” His rich legacy is seen through the eyes of his American-born son Alam Khan, a prodigious musician taught at his father’s feet. More>> |
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 What is Time?
Little Roxie
Sunday, November 13, 6:00 pm
Dir: Shireen Pasha
Sri Lanka/US, 2009, 50 mins
Shireen Pasha in Person
Insightful and thought-provoking, Shireen Pasha’s novel documentary examines time, as a fundamental human experience that societies and cultures have struggled to define and redefine, through the stories of relief and rebuilding in post-tsunami Sri Lanka.
Preceded by Kirthi Nath's short Metta (Loving Kindness) (US, 2011, 10.5 mins).
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 Pudhupettai
Closing Night Film
San Francisco Premiere
Roxie Theater
Sunday, November 13, 7:20 pm
Dir: Selvaraghavan
India, 2006, 168 mins
Selvaraghavan’s box-office smash is a high-octane thriller that follows the unlikely rise of Kokki Kumar (Dhanush) from petty criminal to powerful gang lord in the Pudhupettai slums of Chennai. Operatic in its plot and expressionistic in its visualization, this is South India’s answer to Amores Perros and City of God.
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