3rd i

The Auction House
2014-11-15 18:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | CineArts at Palo Alto Square, 3000 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, CA, 94306, United States
This surprising and refreshing documentary is about more than the fight to keep India’s oldest auction house, The Russell Exchange, alive. It’s a nuanced tale of everyday India and two brothers that struggle to save their family business and a piece of the country’s heritage–all while learning how to live and work together for the first time since they were teenagers.

Liar's Dice
2014-11-15 20:30 | CineArts at Palo Alto Square, 3000 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, CA, 94306, United States
In this stunning and riveting road drama, a young mother searching for her missing husband follows an enigmatic guide through the visually stunning backdrop of the rural Himalayas. This multi-award winning film explores the challenges of love and the human cost of urban migration, and is India’s official entry to the Oscars.

3rd i Co-presents at Berlin & Beyond
2015-02-01 18:00 | Castro Theatre, 429 Castro Street, San Francisco, CA, 94114, United States
3rd i Films is pleased to co-present the third film in Marcus H. Rosenmüller’s celebrated “Best” Trilogy, Best Chance, at the 2015 Berlin & Beyond Film Festival on Sunday, Feb 1 (6 pm at the Castro Theatre in SF) and on Tuesday, Feb 3 (7 pm at the California Theatre in Berkeley).
The festival runs Jan 29-Feb 3 at multiple venues across the Bay Area. Check the website for more details on the film and on the entire festival!
More about the film:
Since graduating from high school five years ago, best friends Jo (Rosalie Thomass) and Kati (Anna Maria Sturm) have not been in touch with each other. After receiving a disturbing voicemail from Jo, who’s in India, Kati immediately drops everything and returns to her hometown in rural Bavaria to round up the old buddies in order to launch a rescue mission.

3rd i Co-presents at Berlin & Beyond
2015-02-03 19:00 | California Theatre, 2113 Kittredge Street, Berkeley, CA, 94704, United States

Bhopal: A Prayer For Rain
2015-03-14 14:30 | New People Cinema, 1746 Post Street, San Francisco, CA, 94115, United States
3rd i co-presents new films at CAAMFest 2015, celebrating emerging Asian talents.
Bhopal: A Prayer For Rain
Directed by RAVI KUMAR
India / 2014 / Narrative / 96 mins / English, Hindi with English subtitles / 35mm
Narrating the days leading up to the Bhopal disaster in December 1984, director Ravi Kumar brings together notable actors from both Hollywood and Indian cinema to tell the poignant story of the immense pesticide plant gas leak in the heart of the small city of Bhopal, India, in this much-awaited docudrama starring Kal Penn, Martin Sheen and Mischa Barton.
Dates and times
Bhopal: A Prayer For Rain: New People Cinema, March 14, 2015 – 2:30 pm
More info and tickets
http://caamfest.com/2015/films/bhopal-a-prayer-for-rain/

Miss India America
2015-03-14 21:20, 2015-03-18 18:45 | New People Cinema, 1746 Post Street, San Francisco, CA, 94115, United States
3rd i co-presents new films at CAAMFest 2015, celebrating emerging Asian talents.
Miss India America
Directed by RAVI KAPOOR
NARRATIVE / USA / 2014 / NARRATIVE / 98 MINS
Lily Prasad is a valedictorian who wants to win at all costs — but she’s lost her boyfriend to the reigning Miss India National. She schemes to win him back by winning the beauty pageant herself. This female Frank Underwood rediscovers the importance of family and friends in a hilarious comedy.
Dates and times
Miss India America: New People Cinema, March 14, 2015 – 9:20 pm
Miss India America: New People Cinema, March 18, 2015 – 6:45 pm
Miss India America: New Parkway Theater, March 22, 2015 – 5:00 pm
More info and tickets
http://caamfest.com/2015/films/miss-india-america/

Tough Love
2015-03-15 16:30, 2015-03-17 20:50 | New People Cinema, 1746 Post Street, San Francisco, CA, 94115, United States
3rd i co-presents new films at CAAMFest 2015, celebrating emerging Asian talents.
Tough Love
Directed by STEPHANIE WANG-BREAL
DOCUMENTARY / USA / 2014 / FAMILY, REALITY, SOCIAL ISSUE / 83 MINS
Filmmaker Stephanie Wang-Breal’s documentary follows two parents as they navigate the American child welfare system to reunite their families. The parents work through their individual situations, which include a harrowing maze of conferences, advocates, attorneys and court hearings, all while trying to prove they should be reunited with their children.
Dates and times
Tough Love: New People Cinema, March 15, 2015 – 4:30 pm
New People Cinema, March 17, 2015 – 8:50 pm
More info and tickets
http://caamfest.com/2015/films/tough-love/

Margarita, With a Straw
2015-03-15 19:00 | Castro Theatre, 429 Castro Street, San Francisco, CA, 94114, United States
3rd i co-presents new films at CAAMFest 2015, celebrating emerging Asian talents.
Margarita, With a Straw
Directed by Shonali Bose
India / 2014 / Culture, Gay/Lesbian, Women / 100 mins / English, Hindi with English subtitles / Color
Laila is an aspiring writer and NYU transplant, via Delhi University, whose cerebral palsy is a footnote to her other achievements. When she falls for a fiery female activist, her creative and personal boundaries are tested. Shonali Bose’s (AMU) deeply personal film dazzles with moments of quiet self-discovery and first love, unbound by ability and difference.
Dates and times
Margarita, With a Straw: Castro Theatre, March 15, 2015 – 7:00 pm
More info and tickets
http://caamfest.com/2015/films/margarita-with-a-straw/

Miss India America
2015-03-22 17:00 | The New Parkway Theater, 474 24th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States

3rd i Films is Proud to Co-present "The Human Experiment"
2015-04-16 19:00 | Clay Theatre, 2261 Fillmore Street, San Francisco, CA, 94115, United States
3rd i Films is proud to support The Human Experiment, produced by Ashvini Bhave.
April 16th, 7pm
Clay Theater, 2261 Fillmore St., San Francisco
A Benefit for the Breast Cancer Fund
Ticket info/purchase: http://thehumanexperimentmovie.com/see-the-film/

The Human Experiment lifts the veil on the shocking reality that thousands of untested chemicals are in our everyday products, our homes and inside of us. Simultaneously, the prevalence of many diseases continues to rise. From Oscar® winner Sean Penn and Emmy®-winning journalists Dana Nachman and Don Hardy, The Human Experiment tells the personal stories of people who believe their lives have been affected by chemicals and takes viewers to the front lines as activists go head-to-head with the powerful and well-funded chemical industry.

3rd i Films presents a sampling of shorts
2015-04-21 15:00 | 900 Metro Center Blvd, Screening hall, 1st Flr, Foster City, CA, 94404, United States
Local, national and international selection of award-winning short films from India that employ drama, dance, music and comedy to great effect in examining social issues.
Location: 900 Metro Center Blvd. Foster City, CA
screening hall 1st floor
Date: April 21st,
Time: 3pm
Free

3rd i Films co-presents Kala Ramnath at CIIS
2015-05-01 20:00 | Cowell Theater, Fort Mason Pier 2, San Francisco, CA, 94123, United States
Grammy nominated for her album Miles from India, and recognized as one of the 50 best instrumentalists of the world by Songlines magazine, Kala Ramnath was born into a family of prodigious musical talent, including violin legends Prof. T.N. Krishnan and Dr. N. Rajam. Kala’s genius manifested during childhood. But as a disciple of the legendary vocalist Pandit Jasraj, she learned to produce a sound so unique, evocative and akin to classical Indian vocal music that today her instrument is called “The Singing Violin.”
Kala has performed at all the major music festivals in India, as well the Sydney Opera House, London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall and New York’s Carnegie Hall. She incorporates elements of western classical, jazz, flamenco and traditional African music into her rich and varied repertoire.
This show is one of three curated by Terry Riley in honor of his birthday.
Click here to buy tickets!

3rd i Films Co-presents "Court" at SFIFF
2015-05-03 16:00 | AMC Kabuki 8, 1881 Post St, San Francisco, CA, 94115, United States
3rd i Films co-presents at the 58th annual San Francisco International Film Festival.
Court, directed by Chaitanya Tamhane, India, 2014, 116 min
The Mumbai police desperately want folk singer Narayan Kamble behind bars. After he is arrested onstage at a public performance, Kamble is surprised to learn that he is being charged with abetment of suicide: a sewage worker allegedly heard his poetry shortly before being found dead. What is an obviously absurd accusation, however, is taken quite seriously by the municipal authorities. Court becomes as much an examination of contemporary Indian life as it is of a flawed justice system, raising questions about social and economic structures while vividly painting the individuals who must navigate them.
May 3, 4:00pm Sundance Kabuki Cinema
May 6, 6:30pm Pacific Film Archive
Link to SFIFF58 website: http://bit.ly/SFIFF58cou

3rd i Films Co-presents a Study of "Lagaan"
2015-05-06 12:00 - 13:30 | Stanford University, Room 208, Encina Hall West, 417 Galvez Mall, Stanford, CA, 94305, United States
3rd i Films, in partnership with The Center for South Asia at Stanford University, are pleased to present a multi-media lecture focused on Lagaan, the 2001 Academy Award nominated Bollywood epic film produced by Aamir Khan and directed by Ashutosh Gowariker.
Through film clips and musical excerpts, Fulbright Scholar and tabla artist Robin Sukhadia will address Bollywood’s recent history and Lagaan’s relevance to India’s post-colonial narratives. Special focus will be given to the rise and impact of Bollywood composer A R Rahman, whose richly textured score for the film elevated him to global notoriety.
Wednesday, May 6, 2015: 12PM – 1:30PM
Stanford University
Room 208, Encina Hall West,
417 Galvez Mall, Stanford, CA

3rd i Films Co-presents "Court" at SFIFF
2015-05-06 16:30 | Pacific Film Archive, 2575 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, CA, 94704, United States

Meet Nigel Barker
2015-05-27 18:00 | Macy’s Union Square, 170 O'Farrell St, San Francisco, 94102
3rd i is proud to support Macy’s Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and their May 27th event:
Meet Nigel Barker!
Wednesday May 27th, 6pm Macy’s Union Square, Women’s store, impulse on 3
Nigel Barker (celebrity fashion photographer of Sri Lankan origin) will be signing copies of his new book, Models of Influence: 50 Women Who Reset the Course of Fashion.
Vogue contributing editor André Leon Talley describes Nigel Barker as “the Sergei Diaghilev of the world of models in our time,” and says the new book is “a must-read and must-have.”
Fashion designer Cynthia Rowley calls Models of Influence “the new beauty bible!”
Join the celebration! Reserve your free ticket, or Click here to learn more.

3rd i Films Co-presents at the SF Green Film Fest
2015-05-31 18:30 | Roxie Theater, 3117 16th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103, United States
Join 3rd i at the San Francisco Green Film Festival May 31 for the San Francisco premiere of My Name is Salt, a lyrical and poetic film showing what it takes to make the whitest salt on earth. The SF Green Film Festival runs from May 28 – June 3 at the Roxie Theater; a week of new films and events that spotlight the world’s most urgent environmental issues and most innovative solutions.
My Name is Salt
When: Sunday, May 31, 6:30pm
Where: Roxie Theater, 3117 16th St., San Francisco
Buy Tickets: My Name is Salt
Festival site: www.greenfilmfest.org
Year after year, for an endless eight months, thousands of families move to a desert in India to extract the whitest salt from a relentless landscape. Every monsoon their salt fields are washed away. And still they return.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mynameissalt

Margarita, With a Straw
2015-06-23 21:30 | Landmark Piedmont Theater, 4186 Piedmont Avenue, Oakland, CA, 94611 , United States
3rd i Films co-presents at Frameline 39:
Margarita, With a Straw
Directed by Shonali Bose
India / 2014 / Culture, Gay/Lesbian, Women / 100 mins / English, Hindi with English subtitles / Color

Dates and times
Tuesday, June 23, 9:30 PM Landmark Theatres Piedmont
Saturday, June 27, 6:30 PM Roxie Theater
For her second film, Delhi-based director Shonali Bose was inspired by her cousin Malini, a super-achiever with cerebral palsy. When asked what she wanted for her 40th birthday, Malini said she wanted to have sex. This was a revelation for Bose, who went on to write the story of Laila, a talented composer-songwriter who views her cerebral palsy as a minor hurdle to overcome as she strives to fulfill all the typical desires of an ambitious and spirited young woman. At a writing program at NYU. Laila meets a beautiful Bangladeshi-American woman (who is visually impaired and a Muslim), and their flirtation quickly blossoms into a full-on affair. But what will happen when Laila brings her new love home to India, where homosexuality is still illegal by legislation, and where such a romance among the differently abled is especially taboo?
More info and tickets
http://ticketing.frameline.org/festival/film/detail.aspx?id=3505&fid=52

Margarita, With a Straw
2015-06-27 18:30 | Roxie Theater, 3117 16th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94103, United States

New Video Art from India
2015-07-02 19:30 - 21:15 | Pacific Film Archive, 2575 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, CA, 94704, United States
3rd i Films co-presents at the Pacific Film Archive:
Other Species, Other Times
When: July 2, 7:30pm
Where: PFA Theater (Directions)
Cost: $6.50-$9.50 (Buy Tickets)
Introduced by Anuj Vaidya
In a reversal of contemporary exhibition practices, this program presents single-channel video art and installations in a repertory film space, and suggests novel ways of considering bodies in movement. These bodies are neither discrete nor constant; they challenge borders and boundaries, and prefer entanglements with other species and other kinds. Varied in their consideration of the digital and in their use of performance practices, the works are primarily by artists living in Mumbai, Goa, and New Delhi.
A woman lies among pigeons in a public plaza in Logic of Birds, her body hospitable to their pecking and fluttering; man and bird merge in a play between painting and video in Man with Cockerel; an island sets the stage for bodies becoming other in Fjaka; and melting ice clocks the duration of a row in Iceboat. These performances of time and in space offer new utopias: a universe inhabited by myth and desire is the setting for the queer eco-fable Between the Waves (image above); ancient ruins and spaceships offer a promise of time and space travel in the Forerunner; and a landscape comes to life in the liminal time between digital and analog in Night Noon.
Curated by Lalitha Gopalan and Anuj Vaidya. Special thanks to Project88, Chatterjee and Lal, and all the artists. Please visit the PFA website for more details on the program.

Logic of Birds, Sonia Khurana

Man with Cockerel-2, Ranbir Kaleka

Fjaka, Nikhil Chopra/Munir Kabani/Jana Prepuleh

Iceboat, Neha Choksi

Forerunner, Sahej Rahal

Night Noon, Shambavi Kaul

Featured image (at top of page): Between the Waves: Channel 1, A Fable in Five Chapters, Tejal Shah

Queer Mythologies: A Multi-Media Presentation
2015-07-11 17:00 - 18:30 | ATA, 992 Valencia Street, San Francisco, CA, 94608, United States
3rd i Films presents: Queer Mythologies: Non-Human Voices in Indian Art/Cinema
When: July 11, 5:00pm
Where: ATA (992 Valencia St, SF)
Cost: $5 (at the door; cash only)
3rd i Films invites you to take a journey through the contemporary landscape of experimental film/video/art in India. Presented by Anuj Vaidya (co-director of 3rd i’s annual film festival, and professor of queer studies at Montclair State University, NJ), this multi-media presentation will explore the intersections of human and non-human in contemporary queer artistic production in India. The talk will introduce audiences to a brief and selected history of non-human actors in Indian art cinema through films such as G. Aravindan’s Kanchana Sita and Kamal Swaroop’s Om-Dar-Ba-Dar, to arrive at the works of contemporary artists such as Tejal Shah, Neha Choksi, and Shine Shivan, amongst others.
Featured Image: Man with Cockerel-2, Ranbir Kaleka

Screening: "Upaj: Improvise"
2015-09-29 17:30 - 19:30 | USF Presentation Theater (Education Building 117), 2350 Turk St (just west of Masonic), San Francisco, CA, 94118, United States
Co-presented with the USF Center for Asia Pacific Studies
3rd i Films is pleased to co-present a screening of Upaj: Improvise (Hoku Uchiyama, 2013, USA, 60 min) a documentary which captures the magic of the innovative collaboration between Pt. Chitresh Das, Indian master kathak dancer, and Jason Samuels Smith, an African American tap dancer from the U.S. The screening will be followed by a Q&A session and a dance performance with Antara Bhardwaj (producer/dancer).
When: Tuesday, Sept 29, 5:30 – 7:30 pm
Where: USF Presentation Theater (Education Building 117)
For more information and to register for the event, please click here.

3rd i Co-presents "Under the Same Sun"
2015-10-10 17:45 | Lark Theater, 549 Magnolia Ave, Larkspur, CA, 94939, United States
3rd i is proud to co-present Under the Same Sun (Ek Surya Ke Taley) at the Mill Valley Film Festival.

Directed by Mitra Sen
Canada/India, 2014, 93 min
In Mitra Sen’s profoundly compassionate drama, only children can soothe the rage of a grieving heart. Karim, an injured fugitive, is welcomed like a beloved brother by three orphaned boys in a remote Rajasthani oasis of Hindu and Muslim harmony. This simple human kindness disrupts the smooth and certain arc of the young man’s mission and threatens his very identity. Karim soon discovers how these Hindu and Muslim children share the bond of one family, following each other’s traditions and living together under one roof in peace–a complete contrast to his childhood, which was devoid of music, color, and love. As the village children prepare to perform the Ramayana, the classic Hindu tale of good vs. evil, Karim wrestles with his true purpose in life and his desire to find his family. Amidst the town’s holy festival, a place so full of life, Karim must act wisely to find his way home.
Sat, Oct 10 5:45 PM, Lark Theater
Sun, Oct 11 7:45 PM, Throckmorton Theatre
Mon, Oct 12 5:30 PM, Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center (Rafael 2)

3rd i Co-presents "Under the Same Sun"
2015-10-11 19:45 | Throckmorton Theatre, 142 Throckmorton Ave, Mill Valley, CA, 94941, United States

3rd i Co-presents "Under the Same Sun"
2015-10-12 17:30 | Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center, 1118 Fourth St., San Rafael, CA, 94901, United States

San Francisco International South Asian Film Festival 2015
2015-10-22 17:00 - 2015-10-25 23:00 | San Francisco, CA, United States
SAVE THE DATE!
3rd i’s 13th annual San Francisco International South Asian Film Festival will take place:
• October 22-25, 2015 in San Francisco
• November 1, 2015 in Palo Alto
We hope to see you there!

Jai Ho
2015-10-22 19:15 | New People Cinema, 1746 Post Street, San Francisco, CA, 94115, United States
Opening Night Film – Bay Area Premier
Umesh Aggarwal’s Jai Ho is an unparalleled and exclusive look into one of the most iconic musicians of our time – A.R. Rahman. Most renowned in the West for his Oscar and Grammy Award-winning soundtrack to Slumdog Millionaire, the “Mozart of Madras” is a household name in India with over 120 film scores under his belt. His effortless blend of Eastern sensibility with Western technology has changed the face of film music in India. This doc charts his incredible rise to fame — from his humble beginnings in the Tamil film industry to working with Andrew Lloyd Webber in London — and beyond. Rahman talks about his work and life experiences in unprecedented personal terms, and provides a glimpse into the spirituality that drives his genius.

Me, My Mom, and Sharmila
2015-10-23 19:15 | New People Cinema, 1746 Post Street, San Francisco, CA, 94115, United States
Live Performance! Bay Area Premier
Followed by Conversation/Q&A between Fawzia Mirza and Fawzia Afzal-Khan (feminist scholar, performer, and 3rd i alum) on performance, Pakistan, radical politics, queer identities, and more!
Told through the lens of two women’s shared love for glamorous Bollywood film star Sharmila Tagore, Me, My Mom, and Sharmila is a hilarious and heartbreaking coming-of-age story peppered with personal anecdotes, pop culture and even some South Asian history lessons! As one critic writes, “Some actors hold an audience, a few possess it. Some actors light up a scene, a few ignite it. Ms. Mirza…belongs to the latter category.” Writer-performer Fawzia Mirza’s dynamic piece chronicles her struggle to connect with her mother as she grapples with her own emerging identity as a queer woman of color. Told with humor and deep insight, this journey of self-discovery carries Fawzia all the way from childhood – as a Pakistani Muslim in small-town Canada, to living out loud as an actress in the heart of Chicago.
