Q&A with filmmakers!

From comic relief to social insights, the 2025 edition of 3rd i’s signature short films spans vast differences—both literally and metaphorically—with films and filmmakers from South Asia to California and throughout the Diaspora. This year’s selection of narratives and docs lifts up stories of immigration, relationships, identity, gender and sexuality, and social justice.

HARIJ WEDS SAJILI, Prataya Saha (USA, 2025, 19 min)
A whimsical tale about a young bride in India who fakes her suicide to reclaim her freedom, with the help of a sex worker.

ZARI, Shruti Parekh (USA, 2025, 19 min)
American teen Neelu feels like a fish out of water amidst preparations for her sister’s wedding in Delhi—until she forges a brief and unexpected connection with Zeyb, a quiet sari-store clerk who moonlights as an internet drag queen.

THE TEST,  Benjamin Sutton (UK 2025, 4 min)
A hilarious short film about a man who gets more than he bargained for from a routine eye test. 

ESPERANZA, Shruti Parekh (USA, 2023, 18 min)
When an immigrant taxi driver in upstate New York takes a hopeful young couple to an unmarked Canadian border crossing, he must confront how far he will go for his American Dream.

THE PATEL MOTEL STORY,  Amar Shah and Rahul Rohatgi (USA, 2025, 13 min)
The Patel Motel Story reveals how South Asian immigrants, led by one undocumented man’s journey from Gujarat, built a hotel empire—transforming American hospitality through resilience, identity, and belonging.

PORELESS, Harris Doran (Co-produced by Fawzia Mirza), (USA 2025, 13 min)
Fun and farcical—a fabulous queer Muslim beauty entrepreneur must figure out how to compete in a Shark Tank-like product pitch contest after suffering an untimely allergic reaction.