3rd i

WHILE WE WATCHED
2023-10-20 19:15, 2023-10-20 21:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Roxie Theater, 3117 16th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103, United States
Filmmaker Vinay Shukla in person!
San Francisco Premiere
A riveting and essential film, WHILE WE WATCHED, directed by 3rd i alum Vinay Shukla (AN INSIGNIFICANT MAN), is an award-winning gem of a doc and not to be missed. It is an urgent reminder that we have much to lose if we can no longer tell fact from fiction. The film smartly captures the state of contemporary news media with a powerful character study of Ravish Kumar, prime-time Indian TV news anchor and journalist, and his unshakable quest to speak the truth and to hold power to account.
Shukla’s documentary poignantly chronicles the challenges Kumar faces as he strives to uphold standards of independence and accountability in the press. The emphasis of the film is on Kumar, and his perseverance against the normalization of authoritarianism, which forms the heartbeat of the story.
WHILE WE WATCHED is fast-paced, with sharp and unflinching commentary, and is essential viewing for anyone interested in how journalism and democracy are under threat. Although the film is rooted in India, its depiction of how misinformation is eroding fact-based news could apply to many countries.
WINNER – Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), Amplify Voices Award 2022
WINNER – Busan International Film Festival, Busan Cinephile Award 2022

San Francisco International South Asian Film Festival 2023
2023-10-20 19:15 - 2023-10-22 20:00 | Roxie Theater, 3117 16th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103, United States
Join us for 3rd i’s 21st Annual San Francisco International South Asian Film Festival, October 20-22 at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco, with special guests celebrating 21 years of community and diversity!
View the schedule of films here.

A NIGHT OF KNOWING NOTHING
2023-10-21 13:00 | Roxie Theater, 3117 16th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103, United States
Payal Kapadia’s documentary film, A NIGHT OF KNOWING NOTHING, is a brilliant, dreamlike, poetic exploration of the political and social changes occurring in India.
Through a series of letters read aloud to an absent lover, we learn about the fears, desires, and philosophical identity of a young woman named L, a student at the Film and Television Institute of India. Through these reflective words, along with a variety of documentary images and an evocative music score, writer-director Payal Kapadia has constructed an astonishing fragmentary work that witnesses India’s resurgent extreme nationalism.
A NIGHT OF KNOWING NOTHING is a poetic testament to the inseparability of life, film, politics, and dreams, while functioning as an essential portrait of the ongoing struggle of resistance.
The film quotes Milan Kundera’s observation, “The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting.” Kapadia added, “We wanted the film to have a feeling of timelessness. Almost like the viewer is in the future, and looking back at this time. Maybe it is easier to gain perspective when one looks back at the past.
Winner – Cannes Film Festival, Golden Eye, Best Documentary Award
Winner – Toronto International Film Festival Amplify Voices Award
Winner – Indian Film Festival of Melbourne, Best Documentary Award

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BANGLA SURF GIRLS
2023-10-21 15:00 | Roxie Theater, 3117 16th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103, United States
BANGLA SURF GIRLS, directed by Elizabeth D. Costa, is an inspiring and immersive documentary that takes us into the heart of Cox’s Bazar, a beach town in Bangladesh, where we witness the transformation of young girls who join a local surf club and dream of freedom from traditional expectations.
The memorable, educational and heartfelt storyline of the film intimately captures the raw emotions of the family, and the complex pressures on poor, working-class girls. Balancing the freedom of the waves with the restrictive realities of their circumstances, the film allows us to experience the thrill and struggle of coming of age. SURF GIRLS will have you rooting for the young women each time they overcome a wave or hurdle.
Director Elizabeth D. Costa is a first-time Bangladeshi filmmaker who honed her career as a script supervisor for Tareque and Catherine Masud (THE CLAY BIRD, 2002 Cannes Film Festival). The film is written and produced by Lalita Krishna.
WINNER – Portuguese Film Festival, Women in Surf Award
WINNER – Paris Surf & Skateboard Film Festival, Best Surf Documentary Award

WINNER – Bushwick Film Festival New York, Best Feature Documentary Award

THE GOLDEN THREAD
2023-10-21 17:15 | Roxie Theater, 3117 16th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103, United States
Filmmaker Nishtha Jain in person!
Bay Area Premiere
A visually spectacular and symphonic ode to manual labor and the jute factories of West Bengal, India. THE GOLDEN THREAD documentary, directed by 3rd i alum and multi-award-winning filmmaker Nishtha Jain (GULABI GANG, LAKSHMI AND ME), with its magical long takes and beautifully composed shots, fully immerses the audience into the world of the golden fiber or jute.
The film shifts from the jute fields of West Bengal to weaving in gigantic mills where the fiber is processed, and where not much has changed since the industrial revolution. As Jain mentions, “powered by steam and sweat, work is a dance to the rhythms of the century-old machines”. And in between scenes, we meet the workers on their lunch breaks, smoking ganja to keep going, and singing at night while dreaming of becoming movie stars.
“My stories are complex,” Jain says of her films, “They lie in the gray. (THE GOLDEN THREAD) is not just a one-line story. It’s about jute. It’s about this factory. It’s about the ecosystem. It’s about factories being made obsolete. It’s about how these factories work, and the people (who work in them).”
Special Mention – DOXA Documentary Film Festival, Feature Documentary Award
Nominated – Munich International Documentary Film Festival, Viktor Award

AGRA
2023-10-21 20:00 | Roxie Theater, 3117 16th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103, United States
Fasten your seatbelts and proceed with caution, the new arthouse film AGRA, from 3rd i alum Kanu Behl (TITLI), which opened to rave reviews at the Cannes Film Festival, is an audacious and riveting film that looks into Indian family dynamics, patriarchy, and sexual frustration within limited physical space in metropolitan homes in India.
Guru, a young man in his twenties, works in a call center in Agra and falls in love with Mala, a work colleague. However, he still lives with his parents. And when Guru announces that he wants to marry Mala and have her move into the house, nothing goes as planned.
Kanu Behl skillfully uses AGRA to explore sexual repression through vivid sexual imagery and to examine dysfunction and physical space. And how the lack of space, in a country of over a billion, affects the way people live their lives. The film is captivating and intense, but not for the faint of heart.
PREMIERED – Director’s Fortnight section at the Cannes Film Festival to a standing ovation
WINNER – Indian Film Festival Of Melbourne, Best Indie Film Award & Best Actor, Mohit Agarwal

TIKTOK, BOOM
2023-10-22 12:30 | Roxie Theater, 3117 16th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103, United States
What does it mean to be a digital native? TIKTOK, BOOM dissects one of the most influential platforms of the contemporary social media landscape. Directed by CODED BIAS filmmaker Shalini Kantayya, the film keenly examines the algorithmic, sociopolitical, economic, and cultural influences and impact of the history-making app. This rigorous exploration balances a genuine interest in the TikTok community and its innovative mechanics with a healthy skepticism around the security issues, global political challenges, and racial biases behind the platform. A cast of Gen Z subjects, including influencer Feroza Aziz and beatboxer Spencer X – the son of an Ecuadorian immigrant father and a first-generation Asian-American mother – remains at its center, making this one of the most needed and empathetic films exploring what it means to be a digital native.
With this new director’s cut, Kantayya, an Emmy-nominated Sundance Fellow, continues her engagement in the space where technology meets, amplifies, and opposes our humanity. Her incisive, current look at the power and complexity of tech continues to advance a conversation that is bettered by her careful stewardship.
Nominated – Sundance Film Festival, Grand Jury Prize
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KATHAL (JACKFRUIT)
2023-10-22 14:30 | Roxie Theater, 3117 16th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103, United States
Click above for FREE tickets! Preceded by short film DOS BROS FORCE.
KATHAL (Jackfruit), directed by Amit Ashraf, is a fun, quirky, and enjoyable comedy for the whole family. At its core, KATHAL is a creative and exuberant story about the adventures of two mischievous kids, but on its edges, the film is an enlightening satire around class and gender discrimination.
Two kids from the wrong side of the tracks sneak into a posh gated community to try and steal the world’s largest jackfruit. The kids’ getaway is blocked when they learn the fruit is too big to be pulled through the escape hole, and they are forced instead to try and sell the jackfruit to the eccentric residents. What started as a simple playful heist turns into an adventure that tests their friendship.
Director Amit Ashraf gave the recipe for making KATHAL: Mix “some childish mischief from THE LITTLE RASCALS, add gems of truths revealed by each strange encounter from THE LITTLE PRINCE, and spin it all together in RICK AND MORTY creator Dan Harmon’s famous story circle, and voila! KATHAL takes shape.” Ashraf is a 3rd i Fest alum (UDHAO), and also runs a film company dedicated to making children’s content.
WINNER – Ahmedabad International Children’s Film Festival, Best Story
WINNER – Cannes World Film Festival, Best Comedy

DOS BROS FORCE, Jyothi Kalyan Sura (USA, 2022, 15 min)
An adorable and loving tale set in Los Angeles, 1996, about the Sura family, a financially struggling Indian immigrant household. For her 9th birthday, peppy little Isha has only one wish – to get $12 dollars to play video games. Unable to convince her parents, she devises an ingenious plan with her 11-year-old brother to raise money. The innocent act will change their lives forever.
WINNER – FilmGood, Best Short Film
WINNER – Canadian Cinematography Awards, Best Short Film

3rd i’s SHORTS: FROM MUMBAI TO THE MISSION
2023-10-22 16:00 | Roxie Theater, 3117 16th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103, United States
Filmmakers Rucha Chitnis and Alka Raghuram in person!
3rd i’s signature shorts program brings filmmakers into conversation together from South Asia to California and throughout the Diaspora. From short-form documentaries to dramatic narratives, and genres ranging from Sci-Fi to comedy to horror, this year’s edition tackles stories of relationships, identity, and social justice.
GANGA, Alka Raghuram, (3rd i Fest alum) (USA, 2023, 2:23 min)
An experimental first-person account of the sacred significance of rivers in Indian mythology, and their environmental degradation.
VAN VERSUS VIKAS (Forest Versus Progress), Rucha Chitnis, (3rd i Fest alum) (USA, 2023, 15 min)
A film chronicling the resistance of an Adivasi (tribal/indigenous) family, along with other activists, to the destruction of forests and surrounding ecosystems from development projects in Mumbai.
FLY, Aditya Verma, (India, 2023, 3 min) (Animation)
Meet Sange, Anicat, and Fakeer, intergalactic animated characters who adventurously travel through space and time on their surfboards and jet packs.
THE LIE GAME, Kalyan Sura (USA, 2018,15 min)
A delicate, profound, and seductive short film about a computer scientist and her lost love, and about the fundamental choices defining us.
I DON’T FEEL LIKE KNOWING YOU (Ancora Non so), Maaria Sayed, (Italy, 2023, 15 min)
Sensual, sun-drenched, and breezy scenes pull us into Fatema’s experience of adolescence as an exploratory and sensual time. Fatema is an Indian Muslim teenager living in an Italian small town. She spends her summer blending in with her friends, but when a burqa-clad teenager moves into her neighborhood, their cultural similarities are brought to the surface.
CRAZY FOR BOLLYWOOD, Imran J. Khan (USA, 2022, 6 min)
Raj introduces his family to his unique girlfriend, Priyanka: a woman who believes life is a Bollywood movie and she is the heroine.
MOSHARI, Nuhash Humayun (Bangladesh, 2022, 21 min)
Rich with allegory and pathos, MOSHARI serves up a terrifying dystopian world where death comes at night. Set in Dhaka, Bangladesh, among the last surviving members of mankind, two sisters must learn to protect themselves from mysterious blood-sucking nocturnal demons. Winner of the 2022 SXSW Midnight Shorts Grand Jury Prize.

JOYLAND
2023-10-22 18:00 | Roxie Theater, 3117 16th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103, United States
JOYLAND is a visually gorgeous and subversive family drama set in the bustling megacity of Lahore, Pakistan. Pressured to earn his own salary, soft-spoken house husband Haider is hired to perform in an erotic dance show. He’s attracted to the lead performer, an irrepressible trans woman named Alina Khan, and their relationship takes unpredictable turns.
This striking feature upends traditional gender roles and identities through a story of complex and imperfect expressions of love. JOYLAND is funny and deeply poignant, and written with such sensitivity by director Saim Sadiq that it leaves you thinking about the invisibility of desire long after you’ve left the theater. Celebrate this startling and groundbreaking film at the Festival!
“Funny, forward, and bracingly political…Pakistani director Saim Sadiq’s sensuous film mounts an indictment of misogyny and transphobia without ever lecturing us.”– Anthony Lane, The New Yorker
“Extraordinary… a revolutionary film.”– Hannah Bae, The San Francisco Chronicle
WINNER – Cannes Film Festival, Jury Prize and the Queer Palm Prize
WINNER – Independent Spirit Awards, Best International Film
SHORTLIST – 95th Academy Awards, Best International Feature

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3rd i Co-presents "To Kill a Tiger"
2023-11-04 15:30 | Roxie Theater, 3117 16th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103, United States
Q&A with director Nisha Pahuja, moderated by Sara Dosa (Academy-Award Nominee, FIRE OF LOVE).
Join us Saturday, November 4, at 3:30 PM for a special screening of the powerful award-winning documentary TO KILL A TIGER at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco!
In To Kill a Tiger, Ranjit, a farmer in Jharkhand, India, takes on the fight of his life when he demands justice for his 13-year-old daughter, the survivor of sexual assault. In India, where a rape is reported every 20 minutes and conviction rates are less than 30 percent, Ranjit’s decision to support his daughter is virtually unheard of, and his journey unprecedented.
Note: Content contains sexual violence that may be a trigger for sensitive viewers.

3rd i co-presents "Love, Simeon"
2024-03-10 15:30 | Root Division, 1131 Mission St, San Francisco, 94103, United States
LOVE, SIMEON
A new motion-picture performance
Written and directed by Anuj Larvaidya
March 10, 3:30pm
Closing weekend of CRIP’D ECOLOGIES exhibition
ROOT DIVISION
1131 Mission St
San Francisco
Love, Simeon is a motion-picture performance that conjures a portal to Simeon – a rhesus macaque in a primate testing facility. As an ecosexual living with HIV, my entry point into this dense knot centers the story of those simians who have been laboring to find a prevention/cure for this deadly virus. In cinematic dreams and séances, Simeon tells the story of SHIV – a chimeric construct created in a laboratory, so that a panacea might be found.
Event information and registration
More about Love, Simeon

3rd i Presents "The Seeds of Vandana Shiva"
2024-03-26 19:00 - 20:30 | Roxie Theater, 3117 16th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103, United States
FREE FILM SCREENING – tickets for admission become available at The Roxie one hour before the 7pm screening.
Doors open at 6:30pm.
How did the willful daughter of a Himalayan forest conservator become Monsanto’s worst nightmare? The Seeds of Vandana Shiva tells the remarkable life story of Gandhian eco-activist Dr. Vandana Shiva, how she stood up to the corporate Goliaths of industrial agriculture, rose to prominence in the seed saving and organic food movements, and is inspiring an international crusade for change.
Among those engaged with organic food and farming, climate change, biodiversity, seed sovereignty, globalization, and social justice, Vandana Shiva is an icon of a global movement. But even among those who pride themselves on being well-informed, she’s relatively unknown. Few are aware of how this daughter of a Himalayan forest conservator rose from obscurity to become a world leader of Gandhian stature. Hers is the remarkable and unlikely story of a girl who trekked from highland cabin to cabin alongside her father, tended a garden alongside her mother, and passionately pursued an education that freed her from the caste and gender constraints of traditional Indian society that culminated in a degree in Nuclear Physics, and then a Ph.D. in the Philosophy of Quantum Theory. But those achievements were merely a prelude to her awakening as a fully-committed activist. Vandana Shiva brought her scientific expertise and Gandhian principles of nonviolent resistance to the struggles of Indian villagers whose livelihoods were being crushed by corporate capitalism. She has become a formidable opponent to those corporations whose drive for privatization and profit are destroying the environment and changing the climate. Their predations in the name of a ‘green revolution’ with its promises of wealth and freedom and ‘feeding the world’ through patented and chemically-dependent GMO seeds are reducing traditional farmers and entire communities to inescapable servitude. In India, the fruits of the Green Revolution have been an epidemic of rural suicides. The Seeds of Vandana Shiva focuses on the people, circumstances and seminal events in Vandana’s life—what shaped her thinking and defined her purpose. It also shows how the battle against multinational agribusiness has become an international struggle between two visions for feeding the world: The first, a multinational corporate model of chemically dependent monoculture that rewards a capitalist imperative of extraction for profit. And the other, Earth Democracy, that honors ecology, biodiversity, sustainability and community—what Dr. Shiva demonstrates is the only way forward for the future of food.

3rd i presents: I for India
2024-04-28 18:00 - 19:30 | 4 Star Theater, 2200 Clement St, San Francisco, CA, 94121, United States
Special introduction in person by Falu Bakrania!
Bakrania is a Professor of Race and Resistance Studies (RRS) in the College of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University and author of Bhangra and Asian Underground: South Asian Music and the Politics of Belonging in Britain.

I for India is a chronicle of immigration in Britain, from the Sixties to the present day, as seen through the eyes of one Asian family and their movie camera.
In 1965 Yash Pal Suri, a young doctor, left India for the U.K. with hopes of improving his family’s life. The first thing he did upon arriving in England was to buy two Super 8mm cameras, two projectors and two reel-to-reel tape recorders. He sent one of each to his family in India, and kept the others for himself.
Over the next forty years, through regular mailings of his filmed and taped thoughts and observations, he shared his new life abroad with family members back home, providing a unique record of the eccentricities-and occasional racism-of his new English hosts. Back in India, his relatives, in turn, responded with their own “cine-letters,” sending tales of weddings, festivals and village life, along with impassioned pleas for his return.
In addition to home movies, I for India, directed by one of Suri’s three daughters, uses archival and contemporary footage and excerpts from BBC TV programs (including The Dark Million, The Immigrant Doctors, and The End of the Line), which chart the changing national mood about immigration over the decades, from bemusement at the strange customs of the South Asian newcomers, to fears of British culture being “swamped,” to right-wing protests demanding the expulsion of “colored” immigrants.
By the end of the film, as Suri and his wife communicate today via webcam with a daughter who has relocated to Australia, I for India becomes not only a bittersweet time capsule of cultural alienation, discovery, racism and belonging, but also a contemporary exploration of universal, emotionally compelling themes of family separation and the quest for personal happiness, wherever it may take you.
“Sandhya Suri strikes humanist gold in her feature-filmmaking debut. The film manages to lyrically explore the meaning of filial responsibility with a lasting but unsentimental tenderness… one of the richest documentaries of the year.” —Aaron Hillis, The Village Voice
“Both deeply personal and surprisingly universal.” —Jeanette Catsoulis, The New York Times
“Intimate and rewarding…almost unbearably moving.” —Justin Chang, Variety
“A profound and profoundly moving film that any director could be proud of; as a debut, it’s formidably accomplished.” —Sight & Sound
“A miraculous mini-epic… terrifically warm, watchable filmmaking.” —The Guardian

3rd i Presents "Creature"
2024-06-05 18:30 - 20:00 | Roxie Theater, 3117 16th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103, United States
FREE if you register in Eventbrite by June 4.

$10 at The Roxie box office on June 5.
Ticket link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/creature-tickets-891231235617

Co-presented by Chitresh Das Institute and San Francisco Dance Film Festival

In a dilapidated former Arctic research station, “Creature” is unknowingly enlisted by a fascistic military brigade into a program that subjects him to experimentation, harsh conditions, and isolation. He finds himself enamored with Marie, a cleaner, the only person to show him kindness and compassion; together they dream of escape from their dystopian environment.
Academy Award-winner Asif Kapadia (Senna, Amy, The Warrior) directs Creature, a genre-busting collaboration that fuses film and contemporary dance by acclaimed choreographer Akram Khan, produced by Uzma Hasan, and performed by the English National Ballet with music by Vincenzo Lamagna.
Asif Kapadia: “The creature (Jeffrey Cirio) and Marie (Erina Takahashi) want to be part of something, a society, but they’ll never be a part of it. They’ll be used, abused, screwed up and left by the people with power…Environment, global warming, religion, colonialism, xenophobia, Brexit, Trump. Outsiders searching for belonging. The enduring hope of human connection. It’s all those things, everything.”

“Intense…makes dance feel accessible and intimate” – Anna Smith, Deadline
Kapadia’s documentary sensibilities work astutely in this beautifully performed ensemble piece. A soulful and engaging feat in collaborative filmmaking. – Beth Web, Empire Online
The film feels so prescient, as though addressing the state of the world today: the abuse of power, the rise of the dictator and dictatorship, corruption, chaos, otherness. – Hynam Kendall, AnOther Magazine

Content consideration for sensitive viewers: Contemporary dance depiction of sexual harassment and assault. Flashing lights/images.

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The Queen of My Dreams
2024-10-18 19:15 | Roxie Theater, 3117 16th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103, United States
Q&A with director Fawzia Mirza!
Vibrant, fun, and romantic, with the colors and spirit that evoke Bollywood musicals, THE QUEEN OF MY DREAMS, directed and written by 3rd i alumna Fawzia Mirza (NOOR & LAYLA, SIGNATURE MOVES), is a luminous film about the complicated and intertwined bonds between mothers and daughters.
Queer Pakistani grad student Azra (Amrit Kaur, THE SEX LIVES OF COLLEGE GIRLS) is worlds apart from her conservative Muslim mother (Nimra Bucha). 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.
Mirza’s expansive intergenerational narrative of women seeking to explore and define themselves in different eras (flashing between 1999 and 1969), which traces key moments in the lives of a mother and daughter born three decades apart, is inspired by her own personal experience.
PREMIERED – Toronto International Film Festival, One of Canada’s Top 10 Films of 2023
WINNER – BFI London Film Festival, Sutherland Award 2023
SHORTLIST – Directors Guild of Canada’s Jean Marc Vallée Discovery Award 2023

3rd i’s 22nd ANNUAL SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL SOUTH ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL
2024-10-18 19:15 - 2024-10-20 20:00 | Roxie Theater, 3117 16th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103, United States
3rd i’s 22nd annual SF International South Asian Film Festival presents groundbreaking cinema from India, Pakistan, France, UK, Canada, and the USA. Features take brave risks exploring issues, from class and religion between genders to complicated bonds between mothers and daughters. Documentaries offer up Voices from the Margins and an expansive view of the immigrant experience, and we shine a light on cinematic visions of resistance and nationalism. From witty comedies to nuanced dramas to sci-fi, 3rd i’s celluloid celebration of Women’s Stories and Queer Voices continues as strong as ever. The perennial favorite program, 3rd i Shorts, turns out an impressive array once again from international and local filmmakers. For program information, please visit our list of screenings.

Drawing A Line
2024-10-19 13:15 | Roxie Theater, 3117 16th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103, United States
Sharp, satirical, and highly popular sociopolitical Indian cartoonist Rachita Taneja is the subject of DRAWING A LINE, a documentary directed by Sama Pana, which premiered at the renowned Hot Docs Festival and won Best Documentary Series at Canneseries 2023. It wonderfully explores Rachita’s inner world and her creative expression as she confronts persecution and censorship with humor and honesty.
Taneja, using the pseudonym “Sanitary Panels,” creates stick-figure cartoons that challenge India’s deep-rooted myths and social and political taboos surrounding topics such as menstruation, mental health, freedom of speech, climate change, and LGBTQIA+ rights.
Taneja’s webcomics have garnered a large following among young liberals, but they also attract government scrutiny and suppression. The film reveals that, despite facing criminal prosecution, Taneja is dedicated to advocating for diverse communities in India and combating the erosion of free speech in the world’s largest democracy. This timely, inspiring and thought-provoking film provides an empowering example of resisting censorship and defending freedom of expression with bravery and creativity.
WINNER – Canneséries 2023, Best International Documentary Series “Draw for Change!”
PREMIERED – Hot Docs 2024
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All We Imagine as Light
2024-10-19 15:00 | Roxie Theater, 3117 16th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103, United States
Hypnotic, meditative, and almost spiritually evocative of the human condition, ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT, directed by Payal Kapadia (A NIGHT OF KNOWING NOTHING, 3rd i’s Film Fest 2023), is a glorious Cannes Film Festival award winner that should not be missed.
The feature begins with a dreamlike ode to the thriving, cosmopolitan, and diverse city of Mumbai, and transitions to a richly textured and delicate poetic portrait of the lives of three women and their journey of self-discovery and friendship.
In Mumbai, Nurse Prabha’s routine is troubled when she receives an unexpected gift from her estranged husband. Her younger roommate, Anu, tries in vain to find a place in the city to be intimate with her boyfriend. A trip to the sea and beach town of their displaced friend, Parvati, allows them all to find a space for their desires to manifest.
ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT is a magical and poetic masterpiece that is brilliantly unassuming. Filmed with exquisite elegance and precision, it is subtly unconventional and even subversive in its approach to visual storytelling and ways of exploring issues of gender, class and religious inequalities.
“The film confirms Kapadia as one of the most compelling voices of contemporary cinema.” – Paolo Bertolin, film critic
“‘Lyrical’ and ‘delicate,’ Payal Kapadia’s universal, emotional film, premiering at Cannes, will ‘win hearts everywhere.'” – Nicholas Barber, BBC
WINNER – Cannes Film Festival 2024, Grand Prix award

Now and Forever
2024-10-19 17:30 | Roxie Theater, 3117 16th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103, United States
Director Shalini Ushadevi in person!
US Premiere
NOW AND FOREVER (ENNENNUM), directed by Shalini Ushadevi, is a unique, nuanced, and thought-provoking sci-fi feature from South India.
In an alternate dystopian present, a married couple in the state of Kerala discusses whether or not to become immortal by taking a new high-cost implant. The couple decides to give immortality a three-day experimental trial period, but things don’t turn out the way they expect.
A relationship drama with a sci-fi twist, the film deftly explores the couple’s complex thoughts and shades of emotions around the idea of identity and love, in a world where “until death do us part” may not be an option.
In addition to writing and producing NOW AND FOREVER, Ushadevi has written and developed narrative and documentary films in English, Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi and Telugu for several production houses across India.
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Dear Jassi
2024-10-19 20:00 | Roxie Theater, 3117 16th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103, United States
Pavia Sidhu in person!
San Francisco Premiere
Director Tarsem Singh’s DEAR JASSI revolves around a 19-year-old woman from a wealthy family in Canada. Jassi (Pavia Sidhu) visits relatives in the Punjab and falls in love with Mithu (Yugam Sood), a handsome and enterprising young man from a working-class family.
This Romeo-and-Juliet tale, based on a true tragic event from the 90s, paints a gorgeous filmic landscape of two innocent and romantic young lovers, juxtaposed with the visceral realities of familial and societal taboos and challenges.
Tarsem weaves Punjabi Sufi folklore into the gripping Shakespearean tale to create a striking, artistic film about injustice with a haunting, chilling finale that leaves a lasting impression.
Known for his visually stunning Hollywood films, such as THE FALL, THE CELL and IMMORTALS, as well as groundbreaking music videos for the likes of R.E.M. and Lady Gaga, Tarsem Singh returns to his home state of Punjab to make his first film shot in India.
WINNER – Toronto Film Festival 2023, Platform Prize
WINNER – Dublin Film Festival 2024, Dublin Film Critics Circle Michael Dwyer Discovery Award to Lead Actors (Pavia Sidhu and Yugam Sood)
Content advisory: mature themes; violence; sexual violence

Two Paths, One Nation: Nationalism in LAGAAN and RRR
2024-10-20 13:00 | Roxie Theater, 3117 16th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103, United States
Click above for FREE tickets!
Join Robin Sukhadia for a special presentation!
[Photo: ©Najib Joe Hakim]
Robin Sukhadia will present an engaging exploration of two landmark films that have captured the hearts and minds of audiences around the world: LAGAAN and RRR. Set against the turbulent backdrop of colonial India, these Academy Award nominated/winning films offer strikingly different takes on the fight for independence—one rooted in peaceful defiance, the other in fierce rebellion.
Through captivating storytelling, gorgeous film scores, unforgettable characters, and powerful cinematic moments, LAGAAN and RRR present two distinct visions of resistance and nationalism. Featuring video clips from key moments in both films (prepare to dance to Naatu), this lecture dives deep into the symbolism, themes, music, and emotional resonance of these films, revealing how they reflect the broader cultural and political forces that continue to shape modern India.
Whether you’re a fan of historical epics, passionate about cinema’s role in shaping national identity, or simply intrigued by the contrasting approaches to storytelling, this discussion will leave you with fresh perspectives on two of Indian cinema’s most iconic works. Don’t miss this opportunity to explore the power of film to inspire, challenge, and ignite conversations about history, identity, and the future.
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. He completed a Senior Fulbright Research Fellowship in India in 2011, where he developed programs empowering street children through Indian classical music. He performs and teaches extensively, in both classical and contemporary contexts, and has developed innovative music education programs at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, 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, and the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. He presently works as a strategic consultant for non-profit leadership and fundraising and is based in Los Angeles. Robin has served as a Board Member of the Ali Akbar College of Music since 2015. More information at www.tablapusher.com and on Instagram @tablapusher.

Land of Dreams
2024-10-20 14:30 | Roxie Theater, 3117 16th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103, United States
Filmmakers Ambarien Alqadar and Shankey Srinivasan in person!
Preceded by short film DOS MUJERES
Filmed over nearly a decade, Ambarien Alqadar’s LAND OF DREAMS is an intimate portrait of Virender Rana, a taxi driver from India, who is chasing his dream in America.
The documentary follows Virender’s journey of coming to America as he finds joy being part of a large Sikh community, a community of taxi drivers, and filming a Bollywood-style movie. When he joins the elite Uber Black Fleet hoping for his dreams to come true, he faces the challenges of being a brown immigrant trying to lay his roots.
LAND OF DREAMS is a message of solidarity and hope to anyone who has searched for a land for their dreams and a home in a place where they were not born.

DOS MUJERES, Shankey Srinivasan
(USA, 2024, 17 min, Hindi and Spanish with English subtitles)
The short documentary examines the broken immigration system in the US through the eyes of two immigrant women – one Indian and one Mexican. All the cast and crew are local artists from the SF Bay Area.

3rd i Shorts: From Mumbai to the Mission
2024-10-20 16:15 | Roxie Theater, 3117 16th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103, United States
Musician/composer Robin Sukhadia in person!
From light comedy to dark wit, this year’s kaleidoscope of cinematic offerings brings filmmakers into conversation together from South Asia to California and throughout the Diaspora. With genres that range from music videos to documentaries, and from comedy to dramatic narratives, this year’s edition tackles stories of immigration, relationships, identity, and social justice.
MIRAGE, Jhanvi Motla (USA, 2023, 16 min)
A young Indian widow leaves Mumbai to work at a motel owned by her cousin in California. But the motel’s survival depends on sinister forces that conflict with her notions of the American dream.
RAILWAYS, music composed by Robin Sukhadia and Ameet Mehta (SADUBAS); footage by Rusha Bose (USA, 2024, 4 min)
A gorgeous music video, with hypnotic tracks, that takes the viewer through the evocative, lush monsoon landscapes of Bengal.
BIG EARS, Sam Baron; starring Amit Shah (UK, 2022, 13 min)
A struggling actor finds a lump on his testicle and is forced to confront his life choices.
CUPPA CHAI, Amit Kaur ( UK, 2023, 11 min)
We discover Britain’s multicultural fabric through Mira, as she navigates her way through making a cup of tea, and transcends linguistic and cultural boundaries using the enchanting realms of magic.
TALL DARK AND HANDSOME, Sam Baron (UK, 2023, 14 min)
A hilarious commentary on racial stereotypes, xenophobia, and the identity woes that sometimes come with the joys of biracial dating.
SWEET REFUGE, Maryam Mir (USA, 2022, 12 mins)
An endearing and charming comedy about the unexpected rivalry and bonding between two immigrant chefs during turf wars over beloved sweets: baklava vs ladoos.

Girls Will Be Girls
2024-10-20 18:00 | Roxie Theater, 3117 16th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103, United States
GIRLS WILL BE GIRLS is a brilliant, richly layered romantic film that has won countless awards. Directed by Shuchi Talati, it masterfully explores the subtle complexities of a 16-year-old girl’s coming-of-age desires and sexual awakening.
Set in the 1990s, the film finds 16-year-old Mira at her strict private boarding school atop a Himalayan mountainscape in India. Mira is straitlaced and must navigate good grades, her budding romance with a handsome 17-year-old boy, and an unwelcome emotional love triangle involving her mother.
Talati’s command in directing such a nuanced narrative is elevated by her empathetic gaze, which flawlessly captures the fascinating triangular relationship between Mira, the mother, and Sri the boyfriend. The impeccable script, sensitive storytelling, and warm cinematography reinforce the strong focus on female empowerment at the film’s core.
Giving her characters shading and the story space to breathe, Talati has created a quietly captivating, sharply observed and insightful film. A loss of innocence may propel the story, but what ultimately emerges is a hopeful transformation of the main characters.
“Bursting with creative energy and distinctive aesthetic sensibilities.” – Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter
“A Stylish Medley of Generations and Dreams” – Valerie Complex, Deadline
WINNER – Sundance Film Festival, World Cinema Dramatic: Audience Award and Special Jury Award for Acting
WINNER – SXSW Film Festival, Festival Favorites Award 2024
WINNER – Sofia International Film Festival, Best Director 2024
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3rd i Shorts: Women Behind the Lens
2025-03-15 13:30 | Roxie Theater, 3117 16th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103, United States
Filmmakers in person!
FREE – seating is limited. Tickets are available only at the Roxie box office, 30 minutes before the screening.
3rd i presents two films from local storytellers, filmmakers Kirthi Nath and Priyanka Suryaneni. Both of the films illuminate and explore the theme of “belonging” as they each chronicle the life of a visionary individual in their Buddhist spirituality, mindfulness and personal transformation.
Total running time: 85 min
PARAMITA, directed by Kirthi Nath (USA, 2024, 24 min)
Kirthi Nath’s short documentary blends poetry, memoir, and prayer to explore the transformative power of mindfulness, acceptance, and belonging. The film bears witness to Prajna Choudhury’s 25-year journey of coming out to her traditional Bangladeshi mother. Told with intimacy, tenderness, and quiet power, PARAMITA invites viewers into a meditative spiritual experience, as Prajna connects with Buddhist practices and nature as pathways to intergenerational healing and reconciliation.
SARANAM GACCHAMI (I Take Refuge), directed by Priyanka Suryaneni (USA, 2023, 19 min)
Priyanka Suryaneni’s short documentary is a story of cultural preservation that unfolds through the life of visionary Tibetan monk Thupten Dony—a refugee driven by a dream. Born in the foothills of Mt. Everest in Nepal, he traveled to California with only his ideas. He established the Bay Area’s largest Tibetan Monastery to safeguard their endangered heritage, an invaluable sanctuary for Tibetan culture and community in diaspora. He wears many hats at the monastery—prayer leader, spiritual guide, gardener, and party planner! Now, nearing retirement, he hopes to find a worthy successor to carry forward the Monastery’s legacy.
About the filmmakers
Kirthi Nath, a South Asian lesbian filmmaker, creates work spanning cultural poetics, social justice, and spirituality. Her films have been featured at CAAMfest, Frameline, Wicked Queer, Mill Valley Film Festival, 3rd i and more, with solo shows at YBCA and ATA. Awarded grants from CAAM, CCI and V-Day, she’s also participated in RePresent Media’s Fellowship, A-Doc Allies, BGDM Mastermind and Bitchitra Collective curated programs. https://www.paramitafilm.com/
Priyanka Suryaneni, a Bay Area-based media entrepreneur, documentarian, and visual storyteller from India, passionately brings attention to significant stories and amplifies underrepresented voices. Her recent inclusion in the BAVC Connect Mentee program, as well as the For Us By Us Film Incubator program (supported by Filmmakers Collaborative and Re-present Media), underscores her unwavering commitment to her craft and pursuit of powerful storytelling. https://prisuryaneni.com/

7 Days
2025-05-04 15:45 | Roxie Theater, 3117 16th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103, United States
Total running time: 90 min

Tickets: $10.38 online advance tickets; $10 at the Roxie box office, 30 minutes before the show.

Buy advance tickets

Witty, charming and delightful, 7 Days, directed by Roshan Sethi (A Nice Indian Boy, 2024), is a feel-good romantic comedy. Set up on a pre-arranged date by their parents, Indian-Americans Ravi (Karan Soni) and Rita (Geraldine Viswanathan) seemingly have nothing in common. Pleasant as they are in person, they don’t exactly connect. It turns out that neither one is what their parents made them out to be. The situation turns both awkward and enlightening when they find themselves trapped inside together for a week after their first date.
The natural chemistry of the captivating leads and the culturally specific spin on romantic comedy’s familiar tropes provide a fresh and winning take on the rom-com genre.
“Optimistic and full of heart, director/co-writer Roshan Sethi’s debut…will leave you on a feel-good high.” — The Tribeca Film Festival

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Open Screening
2025-06-05 20:00 | Artists’ Television Access, 992 Valencia Street, San Francisco, CA, 94110, United States
FREE!
No advance ticketing required.
Doors open at 7:30 pm.
Open Screening is a forum for independent filmmakers to show their work. ATA’s free community film/video show welcomes short format work (15 min or less) from all genres.
Entries must be received by 7:00 pm on show night, cued and labeled, to be considered. Space is limited!
Submissions: To submit a digital file, email openscreening@atasite.org with the title “Open screening”. For physical media, label all tapes with name, contact info, title, and length, and mail to: Open Screening, 992 Valencia St, San Francisco, CA 94110. 1–2 weeks advance submissions recommended. If not, just walk in before the show.
Maximum length: 15 min.
Formats: Digital file (PC or Mac), DVD, miniDV/DV-cam, VHS, beta, 8 mm, and 16 mm.
For 8 mm and 16 mm films, please give ATA advance notice: openscreening@atasite.org.

Burqa Boxers
2025-06-28 14:00 | Artists’ Television Access, 992 Valencia Street, San Francisco, CA, 94110, United States
Filmmaker in person!
FREE – seating is limited.
Register for free tickets
In this documentary in Kolkata, India, where marriage is considered the ultimate feminine career fulfillment, four young Muslim women challenge stereotypes by learning to box with one of India’s first female boxing coaches. As they train, the women negotiate poverty, battle tradition and learn to confront fear.
The screening is free, but please support New Light, a nonprofit in Kolkata, India, featured in the documentary, dedicated to providing a safe haven for the children of sex workers. Your donations will help them continue their comprehensive community services. https://www.paypal.com/us/fundraiser/charity/2817738
Alka Raghuram, director of Burqa Boxers, 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. 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.
WINNER – Locarno Film Festival, co-production market top prize: Grant Open Doors
WINNER – Westlake International Documentary Festival, IDF Forum: Director of the Year
