3rd i

DIL BOLE HADIPPA
2022-09-24 19:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Castro Theatre, 429 Castro Street, San Francisco, CA, 94114, United States
See only at the Castro Theatre, not available online.
Get your Bollywood groove on with 3rd i’s Bollywood at the Castro! Enjoy a blockbuster classic with exuberance and camp on the BIG SCREEN – one of the most fun and popular events at the festival!
Fans know Rani Mukherjee as one of the most beautiful, dynamic women ever to grace a movie screen, and a celebrated actor in Indian cinema. Featuring sparkling comic performances from both Mukherjee and her co-star Shahid Kapoor, as well as dazzling song sequences, this is a rousing, fun-filled musical romance – with cricket, too.
Mukherjee plays a feisty Punjabi woman who just happens to be a brilliant batsman. When the cocky Rohan (Kapoor) returns from overseas to take up coaching a national men’s cricket team, she seeks a position in the lineup. There’s no place on his team for a girl. So, in a conceit right out of Shakespeare, she dons a beard and a turban to fulfill her dream of playing.
Filled with the booty-shaking, percussive joy of Punjabi music, this is a full-on Bollywood masala movie, never shy about deploying Mukherjee’s smoky hotness and the hunky cuteness of Kapoor. Right up to its fantastic closing number, this movie bursts with vibrant, firecracker charm.

MUTINY: Asians Storm British Music
2022-09-24 17:00 | Castro Theatre, 429 Castro Street, San Francisco, CA, 94114, United States
See only at the Castro Theatre, not available online.
Filmmaker Vivek Bald in person for Q&A!
In a thrilling mix of live music performances, candid interviews and rare archival footage, director Vivek Bald charts the meteoric rise of South Asian music in 1990’s Britain and the decades of cultural cross-pollination and political struggle that led up to that historic moment. The documentary features some of the greatest innovators and legendary artists in the South Asian British music scene of the 90s: Asian Dub Foundation, Talvin Singh, State of Bengal, Fun-Da-Mental, Anjali, DJ Ritu, Joi, Black Star Liner and many others.
Mutiny presents the story of a generation that grew up defining itself in an environment of racial violence, while drawing strength from both British street culture and South Asian roots. Nearly every musician interviewed talks about experiencing anti-Asian racism while growing up. Bald shows how identification with England’s black population led them to embrace reggae and hip-hop in addition to Indian sounds like Bollywood soundtrack music, bhangra, and Indian classical music. This led to the Asian Underground movement of English rock in the 90s, with artists mixing the influences of their parents’ cultures with electronica, hip-hop, reggae, and punk that produced unique and powerful new sounds that have become some of the greatest contributions to British music.

AFTER PARTY
9:30pm – 11:30pm
Come to a special “After Party” of Asian Underground beats reminiscent of Mutiny & Dhamaal (Azaad) club events, Global Hip Hop, plus the latest flavors of the diaspora.
Performances by:
Navdeep Music (Mutiny, Anamika)
SETI X
Maneesh the Twister (Surya Dub, Dhamaal) soundcloud.com/surya-dub
Bissap Baobab Village
243 Mission St, SF (btwn 18th & 19th)
9:30pm-11:30pm
Call (415) 826-9287 for more details

SHANKAR’S FAIRIES
2022-09-24 15:00 | Castro Theatre, 429 Castro Street, San Francisco, CA, 94114, United States
See only at the Castro Theatre, not available online.
Filled with wonder and imagination, Irfana Majumdar’s nostalgic and insightful period piece portrays a privileged family in Lucknow, India in the 1960s.
Majumdar’s feature debut delicately weaves together the personal and social lives of a wealthy family, while simultaneously delving into the postcolonial era in which India is newly independent but still remains exploitative and bound by caste and class.
Shankar, a village man with many skills, is an indispensable servant in the house of a senior police officer. His master’s young daughter loves his magical stories about fairy tales, and they share a close bond. Meanwhile, Shankar’s own daughter falls seriously ill in his village while he is away.
These complexities in the narrative explore the structures of class, caste, inequality, and social obligations. Loosely based on a story written by Majumdar’s mother, Nita Kumar, the narrative was filmed in the maternal family home.
Director Irfana has commented:
“The countless moments of daily life shape our future. In our childhood, we both witness injustice and experience wonder. The film asks: how do we reconcile with this? Who do we become? What do we remember?’’
Golden Leopard nominee, Locarno International Film Festival
Gold Hugo nominee, Chicago International Film Festival

Adieu Godard
2022-09-24 13:00 | Castro Theatre, 429 Castro Street, San Francisco, CA, 94114, United States
See only at the Castro Theatre, not available online.
In this wry, arthouse dark comedy, director Amartya Bhattacharyya pays homage to and draws inspiration from his favorite filmmaker, the legendary auteur Jean-Luc Godard and his early 1960s French New wave films.
The elderly Ananda lives in a small village in the rural backdrop of Odisha in northeastern India. He has the reputation of being the village pervert for his obsession with porn, buying DVDs from a local seller and organizing frequent viewing parties with his friends, while ignoring the visible disdain of his wife and daughter. Things go awry for Ananda when his supplier, in a comical mistake, gives him a DVD of Godard’s Breathless, branding it as a “French pornographic film.”
Ignoring his friends’ derision for the lack of nudity and sex, with Breathless, Ananda grows enamored with Godard films, so much so that he decides to hold a film festival of Godard’s films in the village.
Adieu Godard provides a critical commentary on the conventions of commercial cinema.
Bhattacharyya’s narrative technique of Godard vs. porn sets up the debate of cinema as an artistic medium vs. cinema as a distraction from daily menial drudgery. It also ponders the idea of where appreciation of art originates, and how it may not be constrained by the boundaries of socioeconomic class.
Winner – Best Director, Actor and Screenplay – Sipontum Arthouse Intl Film Festival 2022
Winner – Best Film Bengaluru International Film Festival 2022
Winner – Best Film Golden Royal Bengal Tiger, Kolkata INternational Film Festival 2022
Winner – The “Dare to Dream” award at the UK Film Festival (UKAFF) 2022

FOUR SAMOSAS
2022-09-23 19:15 | Roxie Theater, 3117 16th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103, United States
See only at the Roxie Theater, not available online.
Filmmaker/actor Ravi Kapoor and actor Venk Potula in person for Q&A!!
California Premiere
Written and directed by Ravi Kapoor (Miss India America), this fun romantic comedy affectionately incorporates Indian cultural ideals into an American heist movie genre, creating a mixture or “masala” reviewed as the most unique film to come out of this year’s Tribeca Film Festival.
Shot in vibrant, saturated color reminiscent of Wes Anderson, the narrative brims with scrappy, indie-spirit in which underachieving wanna-be rapper Vinny and his neighborhood pals plan to disrupt his ex-girlfriend’s wedding by stealing her family’s jewels from a supermarket safe.
Centered in “Little India” in Artesia, California, the comedy taps into the various aspects of the customs and the food in the area. Through the film’s nuanced and whimsical plot, the characters celebrate various aspects of South Asian American culture with their infectious spirit.

An Encore Special Talk by Robin Sukhadia
2022-06-02 19:00 - 20:00 | Zoom from your own device
3rd i Presents
A special talk by Robin Sukhadia on the healing power of tabla, with a live sound meditation
Free live workshop via Zoom
Limited seats available
Register at: 3rditickets@gmail.com

Supported in part by the California Arts Council
In this special and unique workshop focused on the tabla, Fulbright scholar, musician/composer and 3rd i alum, Robin Sukhadia, will share the history of raga (melody) and tala (rhythm) on the subcontinent of India. He will also present a live tabla sound meditation to give context to the effect tabla can have on bringing peace to the body and mind.
The convergence of Persian/Islamic and Hindu cultures over centuries of time has produced a musical tradition that is full of healing power. While these cultures are in some ways diametrically opposed, they align on the importance of sound and vibration and their connection to the body and to cosmology. Listeners and practitioners today are drawn to this healing power, as Hindustani Classical continues to mesmerize listeners the world over. The primary rhythmic instrument of Hindustani classical music, the tabla, holds a special role in grounding and propelling the energy of ragas (melodic scale explorations), which are designed to provoke introspection and uplift the spirits of the listener.
A Spotify playlist has been curated by Robin to accompany the workshop.
A Master in Fine Arts graduate from the World Music program at the California Institute of the Arts, Robin Sukhadia studies tabla (classical north Indian drums) under Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri at the California Institute of the Arts and the Ali Akbar College of Music in San Rafael, California. His special focus on the musical traditions and rhythms of south Asia informs his approach to musical arrangement and composition on a wide range of concert, film, and album productions. (tablapusher.com) Robin has traveled internationally on behalf of Project Ahimsa, an organization committed to empowering impoverished youth through music education. He performs and teaches extensively, in both classical and contemporary contexts, and has developed innovative music education programs at the Mahatma Gandhi Ashram in Ahmedabad, the Weill Institute at Carnegie Hall, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, the de Young Museum in San Francisco, the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, the Machine Project in Los Angeles and the Sangati Center in San Francisco.

Alka Raghuram, a Filmmaker's Workshop
2022-05-29 14:00 - 15:00 | Roxie Theater, 3117 16th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103, United States
3rd i presents an in-person workshop
FREE admission at the door. Proof of vaccination and masks are required.
In this interactive presentation, Alka Raghuram — filmmaker and artist — will share her works and works-in-progress, her creative process during Covid, and how she creates unique points of view that reflect the characters’ and the filmmaker’s worldview. She’ll offer a sneak peek of her new documentary on mental health, Blueprint of Love.
Supported in part by the California Arts Council
Alka Raghuram is an award-winning filmmaker and a multidisciplinary artist. She has made several fiction, experimental, and documentary films. She was awarded the L’Oreal Woman of Worth Filmmaker Award for her script The Conqueror at Tribeca All Access, and Director of The Year at the IDF Forum, Westlake International Documentary Festival for her feature documentary Burqa Boxers about Muslim women boxers in Kolkata, which won the top prize, Grant Open Doors, at the Locarno Film Festival co-production market. Her script Ayna was a finalist at the Sundance Screenwriters Lab. Alka frequently collaborates with other artists to create narrative performances and installations. Some of her collaborations include “Yatra” with Kathak and Flamenco dancers Pandit Chitresh Das and Antonio Hidalgo Paz; “Agni” with choreographer Charlotte Moraga and musician Alam Khan, and a photo, video and art installation Inspired by Burqa Boxers at the Locarno Film Festival. She recently received Creative Work Fund for a multimedia project called “Invoking The River” about the river Yamuna’s mythological significance and its environmental degradation in collaboration with Chitresh Das Institute of dance. Alka is currently developing a sci-fi fantasy series, Krishna 0110.

A special talk by Robin Sukhadia
2022-04-07 18:00 - 19:00 | Zoom from your own device

In Process With Nishtha Jain
2021-11-14 20:00 | Online, CA, United States
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.

Writing With Fire
2021-11-13 08:00 - 2021-11-17 22:00 | Online, CA, United States
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

White Riot
2021-11-13 08:00 - 2021-11-17 22:00 | Online, CA, United States
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

The Tenant
2021-11-13 08:00 - 2021-11-17 22:00 | Online, CA, United States
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.

The Loyal Man
2021-11-13 08:00 - 2021-11-17 22:00 | Online, CA, United States
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 Ants and The Grasshopper
2021-11-13 08:00 - 2021-11-17 22:00 | Online, CA, United States
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

Pebbles
2021-11-13 08:00 - 2021-11-17 22:00 | Online, CA, United States
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

Coast to Coast: From Mumbai to the Mission
2021-11-13 08:00 - 2021-11-17 22:00 | Online, CA, United States
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.

Americanish
2021-11-13 08:00 - 2021-11-17 22:00 | Online, CA, United States
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.

7 Days
2021-11-12 19:30 | 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

3rd i's 19th Annual Film Festival
2021-11-12 - 2021-11-16 | CA
3rd i’s 19th annual SF International South Asian Film Festival presents some of the best cinema from South Asia and its Diaspora, including stories from India, Sri Lanka, France, UK and the Pakistani community in the US.
November 12–16, 2021
LIVE stream films online + LIVE Zoom Q&A
FRIDAY, November 12
7:30PM, PST • 7 DAYS – watch in California region ONLY
SUNDAY, November 14
8:00PM, PST • In Process With Nishtha Jain – watch in California region ONLY
ON DEMAND films available to watch
November 12-16
Americanish – watch in California region ONLY
Coast to Coast: From Mumbai to the Mission
Pebbles – watch in California region ONLY
The Ants and The Grasshopper – watch in California region ONLY
The Loyal Man – watch in US region ONLY
The Tenant – watch in US region ONLY
White Riot – watch in US region ONLY
Writing With Fire – watch in California region ONLY

Re-Storying the Ramayana
2021-06-03 16:00 - 18:00 | Online, CA, United States
Join us for Re-Storying the Ramayana: A Role-Playing Game Virtual Program, a FREE event by the Asian Art Museum on THURSDAY, JUNE 3 at 4PM PST.
Be a part of bringing the #Ramayana out of the past and into the future with the most recent episode of the speculative cinema project Forest Tales, a queer/crip ecofeminist retelling of the #SouthAsian epic. In this interactive virtual event presented in celebration of #Pride Month, artist Anuj Vaidya and poet and performer Jessica Stokes reimagine the story of the vulture Jatayu using performance, poetry, collaborative storytelling, and role-playing games. Instead of dying after losing a wing as in the original epic, here Jatayu is resurrected with a prosthetic wing, only to face the extinction of his kind. (In India, three species of vulture are currently facing extinction due to the use of a bovine painkiller.) Can we help Jatayu imagine an alternative future and find healing for our disabled ecologies?
ASL interpretation will be provided. Please register for free tickets.

Word to Your Motherland
2020-10-25 19:00 | Online, CA, United States
Join Los-Angeles-born South Asian American Sikh recording artist SETI X for this visual journey exploring Hip-Hop Culture and its relationship with South Asian American youth and their development of self-identity.
Participants will be able to hear music and watch videos of the development of this scene from the early 80’s onwards. SETI X will take the audience on an exploration of the trajectory of artists who have pioneered this space, as well as the current musical landscapes of South Asian American artists reclaiming their culture and expressing themselves through Hip-Hop Music.
As a co-founder of Slumgods, India’s First All Elements Hip-Hop Collective, SETI X has travelled the world representing South Asian American Hip-Hop for the last 10 years. He has shared the stage with the likes of Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Public Enemy, Ziggy Marley, and more. He has appeared on CNN’s Emmy Award Winning Show “United Shades of America” with W. Kamau Bell.
This short film will be followed by a performance and Q&A session with the artist, SETI X.

Knock, Knock, Knock
2020-10-25 16:00 | Online, CA, United States
BAY AREA PREMIERE
This award-winning film, shot in the mountains of stunning Darjeeling, is a psychological thriller that revolves around the deciphering of a puzzle.
Dada (Santilal Mukherjee) makes an annual sojourn to the resort and dedicates himself to designing the perfect crossword. Approached by a local tattoo artist who is fixated on seeing the world through Dada’s eyes (Phuden Sherpa), they strike up a “cat and mouse” relationship–but is this youth a friend or a foe? It’s an enigma for the audience “to solve”!
Knock, Knock, Knock is the latest film from the director of Loev, debuting at the Busan International Film Festival 2019. In addition to winning Best Screenplay at the New York Indian Film Festival, it has received the Gold Remi at WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival, a prize previously awarded to Stephen Spielberg, Ang Lee and the Coen Brothers.
Post-screening discussion with director Sudhanshu Saria.

Road to Ladakh
2020-10-24 20:30 | Online, CA, United States
As an homage to Irrfan Khan, 3rd i is bringing back Road to Ladakh, which premiered at its first film festival in 2003.
Road to Ladakh is a sensual, suspenseful love story revolving around an encounter between two strangers (Irrfan Khan and Koel Purie) thrown together by chance into the magnificent wilderness of Ladakh, near the borders of India and Pakistan. Both are outsiders in this mountainous resort in India, both are lonely, both crave the human contact that their roles in society deny them. A film exquisitely poised on a knife’s-edge between elusiveness and engagement, suspicion and tenderness.
Recently passed in April 2020, Irrfan was possibly the most respected Indian actor of his generation, with memorable turns in The Lunchbox, The Namesake, Slumdog Millionaire, The Amazing Spider-Man, Life of Pi, The Warrior, Paan Singh Tomar and Maqbool. Irrfan has won the Screen Actors Guild Award, National Film Award for Best Actor and one of India’s highest civilian honors, the Padma Shri.
Post-screening discussion with Oscar-nominated director Ashvin Kumar.

Lucky
2020-10-24 16:00 | Online, CA, United States
Delicately crafted, both in story and visual style, this beautiful, emotional tale explores the unusual alliance between an elderly Indian woman (with an irrational fear of Africans) and a South African orphan in post-Apartheid South Africa. Using a muted color palette to reflect themes of nostalgia and family connection, Luthra unravels a complicated story featuring amazing performances from the two main actors. Filmed in Zulu, Hindi, and English, the film is a true international production.
A critical and audience favorite, Lucky is based on Luthra’s earlier short of the same name, which won over 40 international awards including an Oscar nomination. The feature has won Best Actress Abu Dhabi Film Festival, Best Film Bengaluru International Film Festival, and was the official selection of the Toronto International Film Festival, Seattle International Film Festival, and Toronto Black Film Festival.
Luthra’s film will be followed by a discussion with the filmmaker about the South Asian community and its relationship to the Black Lives Matter movement.

Levity and Artivism with Fawzia Mirza
2020-10-23 19:30 | Online, CA, United States
3rd i will showcase comic genius Fawzia Mirza, whose work adeptly uses humor to undo divisive stereotypes and defuse challenging conversations. A queer Pakistani-American actress, director and creator, she is an alumna of the Festival stage, previously screening shorts and also appearing in a live performance in 2015. In this year’s program, we highlight a range of her shorts, from the Bollywood-inspired Queen of My Dreams (2012) and the therapy-couch comedy The First Session (2015), to her documentary work around Pakistan, The Streets Are Ours (2016). We end with her most recent work Saya (co-directed with Anam Abbas, 2018-19) — an ode to Karachi — and I Know Her (2019), a reflection on intimate relationships, which recently made the rounds of the Cannes Film Festival. Fawzia has been hailed a White House “Champion of Change” in Asian American Art & Storytelling, a “Top 10 Creative” (Indiewire), and “10 Filmmakers to Watch” (Independent Magazine).
In the post-screening Q&A, Mirza will discuss her work across theater, TV, and film, and her thoughts on feminist and queer politics in South Asia, specifically Pakistan.

Celebrating Pride with AAM and GAPA
2020-06-25 19:00 | Online, CA, United States
SF Pride is here! Celebrate its 50th anniversary with our community
partner, the Asian Art Museum.
Asian Art Museum
Gay Asian Pacific Alliance (GAPA) Theatre: Celebrating Pride
June 25 at 7pm
Experience spoken word, short plays, and storytelling monologues from an intergenerational collective in a virtual program. RSVP, Free tickets available.

Frameline44: Pride Showcase
2020-06-25 08:00 - 2020-06-28 17:30 | Online, CA, United States
SF Pride is here! Celebrate its 50th anniversary with our community
partner, Frameline.
Frameline44
Pride Showcase
June 25-28
From the comfort of your home, view 16 original programs highlighting some of the best new LGBTQ+ films from around the world. Visit frameline.org for more info.

Documentary Film Screening: "Reason"
2019-12-05 16:45 - 21:00 | Oshman Hall, McMurtry Bldg, 355 Roth Way, Stanford, CA, 94305, United States
Reason/Vivek
by Anand Patwardhan
In what is perhaps his most urgent and thorough exploration of Indian society yet, renowned documentarian Anand Patwardhan charts his country’s slide away from secular democracy and toward divisions of power, caste, and religious belief — and the violence that has followed.
Reason is not an easy film to watch, nor should it be. The film denounces — and depicts — violence perpetrated or fueled by religious nationalists pushing to make India a Hindu state. As Reason builds and expands toward its conclusion, the scale of the dangers India faces becomes clear, and connections are made between the country’s inner conflicts and the similar political fires burning all over the world. Even with countless people of conscience offering resistance, the film ends with yet one more assassination. This time it is a journalist.
Anand Patwardhan is one of India’s most respected documentary filmmakers, known for his socio-political, human rights-oriented films. Reason/Vivek, his most recent film, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2018 and won the Best Feature-Length Documentary at the 31st International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam in November 2018.
Moderated by Usha Iyer, Assistant Professor, Department of Art and Art History, Stanford University
Event Sponsor:
Center for South Asia, Stanford Humanities Center, Office of the Vice President for the Arts, Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies, Department of Art and Art History (Film and Media Studies, MFA in Documentary Film), 3rd i Films

Sir
2019-11-16 19:00 | Palo Alto Art Center Auditorium, 1313 Newell Road, Palo Alto, CA, 94303, United States
A beautifully nuanced, sensual and insightful feature film that premiered at Cannes, Sir delves into the spiritual and romantic connections of two people living parallel yet entirely separate lives. Rohena Gera tentatively explores the forbidden attraction between Ratna (Tillotama Shome), a maid, and her employer Ashwin (Vivek Gomber), a wealthy Mumbai bachelor.
The film gains gravity for its insight into Indian social rigidities that tether both impoverished villagers and well-heeled urbanites, with each character quietly yearning to break free from the narrow bounds of their class and gender-based expectations.
Drawing on similarities to two other critically acclaimed films, Lunch Box and In The Mood For Love, Gera achieves a particular delicacy in her directing, combining an appealing, understated sweetness with an edge, and thwarting all expectations and stereotypes of a typical Indian love story.
“Gera is a female Indian director making her mark celebrating women’s empowerment against dire economic odds… her direction exudes a simple grace that transcends local issues.”
– Variety, Cannes Film Festival Review
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Bangla
2019-11-16 16:45 | Palo Alto Art Center Auditorium, 1313 Newell Road, Palo Alto, CA, 94303, United States
West Coast Premiere
In this playful romantic comedy, Bangla, Phaim, an awkwardly charming 22-year-old Italian-Bengali, panics when he falls in love with an impulsive and spirited Italian girl. The attraction between them is immediate, and Phaim will have to figure out how to reconcile his love with his life full of rules.
Echoing the best of recent cinema hit The Big Sick, the film takes its own unique look at the multicultural experiences of second generation South Asian Europeans in the Italian context, and specifically of those living in Rome. The narrative, which puts a whimsical lens on the clash of cultures as an everyday reality for many second-generation immigrants, is based on the director’s own life, who as the lead plays a fictionalized version of himself.
Highlighted in Rotterdam’s International Film Festival in the Big screen competition section and recently screening at the Chicago Film Festival, Bangla brings in a fresh new voice and pioneer of a new generation of Italian filmmakers.
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