3rd i

7 Days
2021-11-12 19:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Online, CA, United States
Directed by Roshan Sethi
USA/English
2021
86 min
THIS IS A LIVE VIRTUAL SCREENING AND INCLUDES Q&A.
Witty, charming and delightful, 7 Days perfectly captures the absurdity of this contemporary moment. Premiering at Tribeca Film Festival, this feel-good romantic-comedy is about an Indian American couple forced to shelter in place, after their first date.
Very soon, we find that Ravi (Karan Soni) and Rita (Geraldine Viswanathan) — pleasant as they are in person — don’t exactly connect. Then the comedy flows effortlessly as they find themselves trapped by COVID’s shelter in place orders (the film was shot during the pandemic as well), and it turns out that neither one is what their parents made them out to be.
The captivating leads, the natural chemistry between them, and the culturally specific spin on romantic-comedy’s familiar tropes provide a fresh and winning take on this old genre.
“Optimistic and full of heart, director/co-writer Roshan Sethi’s debut captures love in the time of COVID and will leave you on a feel-good high.” — The Tribeca Film Festival

Americanish
2021-11-13 08:00 - 2021-11-17 22:00
Directed by Iman Zawahry
USA/English
2021
90 min
Americanish, directed by Iman Zawahry, is a romantic comedy that highlights the stories of three young Pakistani-American women looking for love in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York.
A coming of age narrative, the film follows the joys and tribulations of career-driven sisters (Sam and Maryam Khan) and their newly-immigrated cousin (Ameera), who must navigate the consistent — and sometimes conflicting — demands of romance, culture, work, and family.
Americanish offers a heartwarming and fresh perspective on classic romantic-comedy tropes, delving into the tension that arises between competing societal and cultural norms, and the complexity of trying to both honor and break from cultural traditions.

Coast to Coast: From Mumbai to the Mission
2021-11-13 08:00 - 2021-11-17 22:00
3rd i’s signature shorts program brings California filmmakers into conversation with filmmakers from South Asia and the Diaspora. With genres ranging from comedy to contemporary music, and short-form documentaries to dramatic narratives, this year’s edition tackles stories of relationships, identity, environment, LGBTQ and social justice with compassion.
Theetu (Untouchability), Haresh Narayanan (India, Canada, 2021, 6:40 mins)
An ironic and humorous critique of how one does not forget their caste, even when buying carrots.
Sunday, Arun Fulara (India, 2020, 10 mins)
When the middle-aged Kamble makes his weekly visit to the neighbourhood barber shop, it’s not just for a shave. He can’t wait to be touched by Jaan, the new young barber he has a crush on.
Turbulence, Mahesh Pailoor (USA, 2021, 3 mins)
A short doc on photojournalist Luis Sinco’s awe inspiring images, documenting a very turbulent year in Los Angeles.
7pm, Vick Krishna & Piyali Syam (USA, 2020, 3:34 mins)
A young couple cling to any form of connection amid a global pandemic that prohibits human interaction.
AGNI (Fire), Alka Raghuram (USA, 2021, 5:45 mins)
A dance meditation on our world burning, featuring music by Alam Khan and
choreography by Charlotte Moraga of the Chitresh Das Institute.
Now That We’ve Met, Nitya Turaga, (USA, 2019, 4:54 mins)
Nina, set up on a blind date, immediately decides the only thing in common she has with her date, Jay, is that they’re both Indian. Jay, a hopeless romantic, begs to differ.
The Shower, Mahesh Pailoor (USA, 2019, 14 mins)
Two worlds collide when Maya’s oldest friend shows up at her baby shower, single and child-free.
The Plunge, Simon Ryninks and written by Omar Khan (UK, 2019, 10 mins)
A hilarious and sexy romp ensues when a couple in love find themselves ready to take the next step.
CONTRACTOR 014352, Simon Ryninks (UK, 2018, 13 mins)
Comedy-Drama Sci-Fi — With Omar Khan . Real and imaginary worlds collide when a lonely data entry clerk reaches through his computer screen, in search of a genuine connection.
Feet Don’t Fail Me Now, Joy Crookes, (UK, 2021, 3:18 mins)
Bangladeshi-Irish-British Singer songwriter Joy Crookes incorporates in this new music video details about relationships, self-reliance, culture, and her South London roots through her music.

Pebbles
2021-11-13 08:00 - 2021-11-17 22:00
Directed by P.S. Vinothraj
India/Tamil with subtitles
2021
75 min
SAN FRANCISCO PREMIERE

The arid, mountainous landscape of southeast India, Tamil Nadu, makes for a rewarding and sublime visual experience in the gorgeously shot Pebbles. Smart, nuanced, and disturbing, the narrative delves deep into the life of a young boy, Velu, who is dragged between villages by his abusive alcoholic father. Writer-director P.S. Vinothraj’s exquisite and deeply sympathetic lens moves beyond a reductive father-son drama with brief yet significant episodes about the people they casually encounter and the simmering landscape around them.
The film seamlessly and simply digs into a larger, unforced statement about toxic patriarchy, limited resources, and the silent, enduring place of women as enablers of life. Velu is the story’s moral core, powerless in the face of his father’s rage yet aware of right and wrong and the destructive nature of wounded patriarchal impotence. The boy’s eyes, silently registering his father’s abuse, convey everything needed — from bewilderment and hurt to determination and resistance.
Pebbles, P.S. Vinothraj’s debut film, is a sublime stretch of pure cinema and a must-see for cinephiles.
India’s official entry for the Oscars 2022!
Winner of the Tiger Award, 2021 Rotterdam Film Festival

The Ants and The Grasshopper
2021-11-13 08:00 - 2021-11-17 22:00
Directed by Raj Patel, Zak Piper
Malawi/English with subtitles
2021
74 min
Referred to as the “rock star of social justice writing’’, Raj Patel co-directs this intimate and empowering exploration of a major issue of our time — global climate chaos. The film takes us from a small rural village farm in Malawi, Africa, to our own urban village in Oakland, California.
Patel follows Anita Chitaya and her mentor Esther Lupafya. These women have a gift; they can help bring abundant food from dead soil, make men fight for gender equality, and end child hunger in their village. Now they decide to embark on a journey through the U.S. in an effort to convince Americans that climate change is real. Along the way, they visit Midwest farms and urban food cooperatives, witnessing national divisions — from the rural-urban divide, to schisms of race, class and gender — in their quest to save their home from drought.
The Ants and The Grasshopper holds up a mirror on our society with a straightforward honest lens. The only way we’re going to deal with the trauma that is now beginning to afflict us, Bill McKibben (founder of 350.org) says, is by building the ethic of solidarity around the world. This film suggests a starting point for these conversations.
Raj Patel’s award-winning books include Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System. The Value of Nothing was a New York Times and international best-seller. He is the co-author with Jason W. Moore of A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things. His acclaimed latest book, co-authored with Rupa Marya, is entitled Inflamed: Deep Medicine and The Anatomy of Injustice.
Winner, Moving Mountains Award, Mountainfilm Telluride 2021
“Ultimately, the message of the film is a call to care… and to acknowledge the interconnectivity that links us all, for better or worse, across an imperiled world.” – The Guardian
“I am blown away. You have found a hero of such grace and intelligence and power, and you had the good sense to get out of the way, center the narrative on her.” – Michael Pollan

The Loyal Man
2021-11-13 08:00 - 2021-11-17 22:00
Directed by Lawrence Valin
France/Tamil with subtitles
2020
37 min

French-Sri Lankan director Lawrence Valin offers up a gripping coming-of-age crime romance by immersing us in the gritty Tamil underworld of iconic Paris, France. Valin skillfully performs double-duty in this film, acting and directing with aplomb. In the role of the character Aathi — an enforcer for the mob — he must confront his allegiance to his mob boss when he falls in love with a trafficked woman, Minale, who is under the boss’s control.
The film contrasts the vulnerability of Minnale against the indifference of the enforcer Aathi, offering a complex portrait of displacement and its violence. While their shared loss of culture and homeland has the capacity to bring them together, their vastly different positions of power creates a chasm between them. Does loyalty matter more to Aathi than the cost of human life? Will Minnale gain her freedom from her enforced obligations, and will Aathi gain his humanity and give up his life as a callous trafficker? Experience this cinematic tour-de-force from a fresh new voice from the South Asian diaspora.
Includes a post-screening discussion with director Lawrence Valin

The Tenant
2021-11-13 08:00 - 2021-11-17 22:00
Directed by Sushrut Jain
USA/English, Hindi with subtitles
2020
111 min
Sushrut Jain returns to 3rd i this year (Beyond All Boundaries, 2013) with his “dramedy” The Tenant, starring Shamita Shetty in a story of an unlikely friendship.
When Meera (Shetty) moves into a housing complex in the suburbs of Mumbai, she is immediately the target of gossip, desire and disdain from the other tenants. The film introduces viewers to how teenagers negotiate India’s conservative gender codes, and exposes how women, when living on their own terms, are the target of patriarchal criticism. With sensitive perception, director Sushrut Jain drives home these cultural realities through the story of a boy learning how to treat a woman with dignity. Is Meera a woman of bad character like everyone says, or the smart, sensitive person he knows? How he reacts will determine the man he will grow up to be.

White Riot
2021-11-13 08:00 - 2021-11-17 22:00
Directed by Rubika Shah
UK/English
2019
80 min

Rubika Shah’s incendiary, inspiring and award winning documentary commemorates a vital national music protest movement from the 1970s, Rock Against Racism (RAR), which is as relevant today in our Trumpian era as it was back then.
The doc takes us to a time when right-wing populist demigods like Enoch Powell preached hate in the British parliament and skinheads attacked West Indian and South Asian communities. As neo-Nazis recruited the nation’s youth, RAR’s multicultural punk and reggae gigs provided rallying points for resistance. As co-founder Red Saunders explains: “We peeled away the Union Jack to reveal the swastika.”
The campaign grew from fanzine roots to 1978’s huge antifascist carnival in Victoria Park, featuring X-Ray Spex, Tom Robinson, Steel Pulse and of course The Clash, whose rock star charisma and gale-force conviction took RAR’s message to the masses. Blending fresh interviews with archival footage, Shah’s documentary delves into exploring the power of grassroots activism, while doubling as a contemporary call to arms against racism.
Includes a post-screening discussion with director Rubika Shah.
“The past is present. White Riot illuminates how the Rock Against Racism movement rose up against violent extremism in recent British history and how that need for resistance persists in the twenty-first century.” – Audrey J. Golden, Film Review, Louder Than War Online Magazine

Writing With Fire
2021-11-13 08:00 - 2021-11-17 22:00
Directed by Rintu Thomas, Sushmit Ghosh
India/Hindi with subtitles
2021
93 min

In a cluttered news landscape dominated by men emerges India’s only newspaper run by Dalit women. With smartphones, they break traditions on the frontlines of India’s biggest issues and within the confines of their homes, redefining what it is to be powerful.
Investigative reporter Meera emerges as a central character in this triumphant documentary — one of the fearless founders of the online newspaper, Khabar Lahariya. The newspaper and its online YouTube channel are dedicated to uncovering abuses of government malfeasance, patriarchy, and the rampant gender and caste violence that victimizes the voiceless and the powerless in India.
Director-producers Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh produce films that have the power to create transformative social impact. They are invested in the power of nonfiction storytelling, with a strong eye on social justice stories. Rintu and Sushmit were recognized for their filmmaking work with a President’s Medal in 2012, the highest honor given to filmmakers in India. Five years in the making, Writing With Fire is their first feature documentary.
Includes a post-screening discussion with director Rintu Thomas, and a panel discussion with Christina Thomas Dhanaraj and Yashica Dutt and Preeti Gamzeh.
Winner Audience Award, World Cinema Documentary, Sundance Film Festival 2021
Winner Special Jury Award: Impact for Change, Sundance Film Festival 2021
“Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh’s debut feature follows the brave journalists of India’s only women-run newspaper, blending the personal and professional with a deft touch.” – Indiewire
“Rousing, inspirational tribute to the pride of grassroots Indian journalism.” – Variety

In Process With Nishtha Jain
2021-11-14 20:00
THIS VIRTUAL EVENT WILL BE FOLLOWED BY A LIVE AUDIENCE Q&A (for viewers in California only)
Director Nishtha Jain is an award-winning Indian filmmaker best known for her documentaries Gulabi Gang and Lakshmi and Me. Most notably, she has been awarded the prestigious Chicken & Egg Award which recognises international women documentary filmmakers. She has won numerous awards including Amnesty International Awards for Human Rights, Best Documentary, International Association of Women in Radio and Television and best documentary awards at international film festivals. She is a 3rd i alum, having screened City of Photos, Lakshmi and Me, At My Doorstep, Family Album, Gulabi Gang, and her first short fiction (Proof), at the festival in previous years.
This year, we are thrilled to offer a process-peek into her current research on the farmers’ struggle to retain their sovereignty as food growers. Her research brings a close-up view of the large-scale protests against corporatization of Indian agriculture. As the food growers painstakingly cultivate resistance, they begin to reap an early harvest in the form of camaraderie and re-connection, remembering that theirs is a long history as keepers of this nation’s humanity and independence.
In this program, the filmmaker will share her experiences and reflect on the nuances of storytelling in the documentary form. She will offer her insights as an outsider looking in at one of the most significant protests in recent Indian history that transpired in surprising ways.
