2022 official selections

Aloo

Available On-Demand until March 28th
In-Competition Short Film <cast your vote post screening>

Director: Priya Kiran

Producer: Danielle Benedict

Artist or Cast: Tanya Fazal, Becca Khalil, Aleya Jung Hussain

Language: English

Country: USA

Runtime: 16m10s

FILM SYNOPSIS

All Amara Kulkarni wants is to connect with her first generation daughter, Sama, but Sama is strict about keeping her home life and school life separate. When Amara hears about the school’s annual potluck, she takes it as an opportunity to finally join Sama’s world outside of their home. The duo connect while preparing some “party potatoes” but when Amara suggests to bring a traditional Indian dish, any chance of connection is severed and on top of that the dish for the potluck is burned. After speaking to her daughter, Amara realizes that their troubles aren’t so different, and that as a mother it’s her duty to help Sama fit into this world which Amara does not quite understand, thus remaking the American potatoes but adding a slight Indian twist.

DIRECTOR BIO

Priya Kiran (she/her) is an independent writer, director, and producer whose work reflects her Midwestern upbringing and Desi heritage. Having grown up in small town Iowa, Priya experienced what it was like to grow up without feeling represented on the silver screen and understood how that influenced the world around her. She found and focused on her craft at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and has since been creating art dedicated to uplifting underrepresented communities. Inspired by Indian cinema her artwork strives to present her Indian identity, emphasizing authenticity and empathy through her peculiarly natural, yet whimsical lens.

Angrezee

Available On-Demand until March 28th
In-Competition Short Film <cast your vote post screening>

Director: Hebah Ali

Producer: Raeanne Chami, Mohammad Awad

Artist or Cast: Sam Sidhu, Shalvi Singh, Safia Arain

Language: Urdu/English

Country: Australia

Runtime: 16 mins

FILM SYNOPSIS

Fahad takes on the responsibility of teaching his daughter, Sufi, English despite not having strong English himself. When all the traditonal ways of learning (reading/writing) fail him, Fahad discovers an American sitcomin which he and other people from his life are reflected as characters.
Not only does this show propel Sufi and Fahad's English learning, but it also creates a bond between them, in an otherwise lonely, new country.

DIRECTOR BIO

Hebah is a writer and director based in Western Sydney. She graduated from UTS in 2021 with a degree in Communications (Media, Arts and Production) and is planting her roots in the film and television industry.

In 2021 she wrote and directed her first short film ‘Angrezee’ which told the story of immigration and assimilation. During the lockdown in the same year, she directed her first music video for musician Chelsea Warner; ’It Be Like That’ which has featured in Rolling Stone, and on MTV.

Being half Pakistani and half Fijiian-Indian, Hebah values honest and diverse story-telling and aims to amplify the stories of People of Colour and other underrepresented communities. She is currently developing her first limited tv series ‘Rearranged’.

AutoCorrect

Available On-Demand until March 28th
In-Competition Short Film <cast your vote post screening>

Director: Priyanka Shetty & Anu Bhatt

Producer: The BGB Studio

Artist or Cast: Anu Bhatt, Elizabeth B Bates 

Language: English

Country: USA

Runtime: 12m31s

FILM SYNOPSIS

Ansu is a careful, by-the-book actor in the midst of Zoom rehearsals with a big-shot white director and an all-white cast apart from herself. She decides to address a long-standing issue of name mispronunciation with the director, Laura Peterson. Laura, overstretched and scattered, is focused on her lunch and an upcoming important call. While Ansu attempts to explain the negative effects of name mispronunciation, Laura--distracted and dismissive--tries to end the call. Ansu's mounting frustration risks her losing a hard-won role in an exclusive cast. Will she find her voice and step into her power, or be forced to accept the status quo in order to keep her job?

DIRECTOR BIO

Priyanka Shetty (Co-Director) is an award-winning actor, director, and playwright based in Philadelphia, PA. Her critically acclaimed one-woman show THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM has been performed at numerous venues across the country including The John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts and will be staged at the 2022 Edinburgh Fringe as part of the Assembly Festival. Priyanka recently made her Off-Broadway debut with her second solo play #CHARLOTTESVILLE at the Drama Desk award-winning 59E59 Theaters’ “East to Edinburgh” Festival. She was also handpicked for the prestigious Kennedy Center Playwriting Intensive 2021, where she worked on THE WALL, the final play in her triptych of solos. Priyanka earned a Master of Fine Arts in Acting from the University of Virginia and has served on the faculty of the University of Virginia’s Department of Drama. www.priyankashettyactor.com. IG: @priyankashettyactor.

Anu Bhatt (Co-Director) is an actor, classical dancer and polyglot currently based in her hometown of San Diego, CA. Her solo work focuses on the balancing act that is her South Asian-American identity. Anu’s autobiographical one-woman show Hollow/Wave, navigating her journey through depression, premiered in Chicago in 2018 and later off-Broadway at the United Solo Theatre Festival in 2019. Anu received her B.A. in Linguistics from U.C. Berkeley and her M.F.A. in Acting from Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. AutoCorrect is her first solo work for the screen.

Begum Parvathi

Available On-Demand until March 28th
In-Competition Short Film <cast your vote post screening>

Director: Radhika Prasidhha

Producer: Dr.Jaya Ramesh

Artist or Cast: Radhika Prasidhha  and Kalieaswari Srinivasan              

Language: Tamil

Country: India

Runtime: 7 min 56 sec

FILM SYNOPSIS

Begum Parvathi is a seven minute short conversational piece between two characters in a conservative society. Two women meet online. Over the course of a few months, they share an intimate connection that develops over phone calls, texts and other virtual exchanges. The possibility of meeting in real life fills them with curiosity, hesitation, longing and maybe even a little bit of catastrophising for their own individual reasons. Do they end up on the same page? Will they meet? Will they hold hands? The conversation unfolds

DIRECTOR BIO

Radhika Prasidhha started out her journey in films as an actor. She began working on student short films in 2010. Eventually it led to her playing the lead in the tamil feature film Kuttram kadithal that won the National Award in 2015. Following which she acted in Kadugu(2017). She co directed and wrote the short film “I Exist” which won the Best short at All Lights India International Film Festival and Best film(Gender) at Woodpecker International Film Festival, Delhi.
She is a theatre actor by training and a practicing psychotherapist by education. She pursues these three worlds which are in some ways connected and in many ways distinct. She has been working with theatre groups in Chennai and Pondicherry from 2009 performing primarily in English and Tamil. She has travelled for theatre performances through India and has performed in Paris at the prestigious Theatre du soleil.

She identifies as a storyteller in different mediums and is constantly looking for new ways to tell a story. She also recognizes the ability to heal that comes with stories. She hopes to bring that knowledge in a more accessible manner in her work in mental health.
Appa's seasons (2020) is her debut independent directorial short film. Begum Parvathi (2021) is her second directorial. She currently lives and works out of the coastal town of Pondicherry with her mother and their rowdy kitten.

Chasing Dreams

Available On-Demand until March 28th
In-Competition Short Film <cast your vote post screening>

Director: Swapnil Tambadkar & Sahabia Ahmed

Producer: Swapnil Tambadkar, Sahabia Ahmed, Krishna Sharma, Bud Patel

Artist or Cast: Bud Patel, Mukul Vaswani, Manisha Gandhi, Nishad Nayak, Cindy Teniente, Fez Rehman, Michael Saccone

Language: Gujrati, Hindi & English

Country: USA

Runtime: 17 Min 3 Sec

FILM SYNOPSIS

The story is about Jayesh Patel, a young man chasing his dreams
of making a better life in America and bringing his mom to the US.

He lands in the foreign land only to find that life
is quite the opposite of what he had imagined.
Despite all the challenges which Jayesh overcomes strongly
but moreover he doesn’t forget his mother's moral values.

DIRECTOR BIO

Swapnil Tambadkar started as a portrait photographer but
now plays all the roles like Director, Cinematographer, Editor, Screenwriter etc on a film, cinematography being his favourite role out of all. Even though as a dayjob he works as a mechanical engineer, his passion still resides in creating stories via films.

After playing variety of roles creating Music Videos, Award winning Short films, he wants to challenge himself by being a part of Long Format Narrative work. Sahabia Ahmed is a filmmaker in Houston TX, but grew up in Tanzania. Sahabia is a director, writer and production assistant on independent film productions. Ahmed pursues filmmaking part time as a passion despite her full time job in the electric industry. She began her filmmaking journey in 2018, whereby she has worked in multiple roles for films that
have earned recognition and awards at international film festivals and competitions.

Come Home (Ghar Aau)

Available On-Demand until March 28th
In-Competition Short Film <cast your vote post screening>

Director: Kirtana Banskota

Producer: Kirtana Banskota

Artist or Cast: Sauram R Tuladhar

Language: English, Nepali

Country: USA

Runtime: 10:56

FILM SYNOPSIS

A single mother pleads with her son Sid, who attends university in the United States to COME HOME to Nepal during the COVID 19 lockdown of 2020.

DIRECTOR BIO

Kirtana Banskota is a first-generation Nepali American filmmaker based in Austin, Texas. A producer, actor, writer, and director, Banskota wears multiple hats when it comes to the entertainment world. She is the founder of Banskota Productions, an international production house based in Austin as well as Kathmandu Nepal that celebrates storytelling from all across the globe. Banskota wrote and co-produced the very first audience interactive Bollywood Theatrical Production called The Big Fat Indian Wedding in Austin, TX.

Banskota is also the co-founder of the Nepal America Film Society and the Nepal America International Film Festival, both based in Maryland. In the year 2020 during the global pandemic, she co-produced the Coalition of South Asian Film Festivals with six other international South Asian festivals making it the largest virtual South Asian festival. Banskota recently co-founded the Austin South Asian Film Festival, which will see the red carpet for the first time in 2022.

Her documentary short, Nepal Snehi Kaakha, was an award winner at the 2018 Filmaka competition. Her recent film produced during COVID, Ghar Aau (Come Home), has been selected to screen in numerous film festivals across the globe and also won the Best short film award in the Aasha International Film Festival where Banskota was recognized as a Dada Saheb Falke filmmaker. Come Home also won the Audience choice awards at the Austin Liftoff Film festival.Banskota is also the co-author and co-producer of For Love, a film that competed and won several awards at the 48 Hour Film Festival in San Antonio. She is also the Executive Producer of the archeological show A World Beneath, whose pilot episode is currently being pitched to various network channels.

Banskota also sits on the board of Women in Film and Television, Austin and is the Liaison to all organizations working towards creative empowerment to help promote diversity and inclusion globally. With strong roots in South Asia and the US, her goal is to build bridges between cultures through cinema and entertainment.

Doing the Robot

Available On-Demand until March 28th
In-Competition Short Film <cast your vote post screening>

Director: Ravi Guru Singh

Producer: Ravi Guru Singh

Artist or Cast: Madhulika Krishnan

Language: English

Country: USA

Runtime: 4:33

FILM SYNOPSIS

Priya meets her robot, but first she must turn him on.

DIRECTOR BIO

Ravi Guru Singh is an award-winning writer, director and producer for Doing the Robot, an adult, animated, sci-fi comedy. He briefly appeared on Netflix's Indian Matchmaking. He is debuting as an on-camera lead actor in the indie film Terrible Children. He created the world's first crypto Indian Digital Fashion collection, as featured in the Times of India and the Hindu. He is also an attorney and graduated from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law and Vanderbilt University on full scholarships.

Forever Tonight

Available On-Demand until March 28th
In-Competition Short Film <cast your vote post screening>

Director: Swetha Regunathan

Producer: Nashwa Zaman, Khaula Malik

Artist or Cast: Nivita Chaliki, Ethan River Cohen, Gulshan Mia, Sandra Belforte, Annie Ottati

Language: English

Country: USA

Runtime: 11:49

FILM SYNOPSIS

Indian-American teen Lekha sneaks out of the house to fulfill a prom night fantasy. When the evening goes awry, she ends up back where she started - but in a different place altogether.

DIRECTOR BIO

SWETHA REGUNATHAN is an award-winning writer and director. Her work explores nostalgia, disappointment, South Asian-American identity, and ecological sickness. Swetha's films have received awards from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Peter S. Reed Foundation, and the BlueCat Screenplay Competition. She was a 2019 finalist for the SHOWTIME® Tony Cox Screenplay Contest and on the shortlist for a 2017 Lexus Short Films award. Swetha was selected to participate in the 2020 Cine Qua Non Storylines Lab and the inaugural 1497 South Asian Writers Lab with her feature in development, Sundarbans. She is a 2020-21 IFP Marcie Bloom Fellow. Most recently she won the 2021 Nature Access Pitch prize supported by If/Then Shorts x The Redford Center for a documentary she's producing, Between Earth & Sky. She has directed music videos featured in Brooklyn Vegan and Rolling Stone in 2021. She also writes and directs branded video for clients like Vox, Forward, The Annex, Delta x NBC, and NPR. Swetha’s writing has appeared in Huffington Post, n+1, Guernica, and other publications. In 2009 she was nominated for a Pushcart Prize for Best American Essay. She has an MFA from the Graduate Film program at NYU and a PhD in English Literature from Brown.

In A Hail of Broken Glass

Available On-Demand until March 28th
In-Competition Short Film <cast your vote post screening>

Director: Sabeeh Ahmad

Producer: Seham Ahmad

Artist or Cast: Ahmer Hussain, Erum Bashir, Fawad Jalal, Sameena Nazir, Hani Taha

Language: Urdu

Country: Pakistan 

Runtime: 7 min 37 sec

FILM SYNOPSIS

In a Hail of Broken Glass follows a young Pakistani couple as they host the husband’s overbearing family at dinner, right after a discovery that might upend their world. Struggling to understand each other, the couple must also look happy, and the unspoken anxiety that lurks in the kitchen must not escape to the living room. How long can they keep the pretence up?

DIRECTOR BIO

A Pakistani writer and filmmaker, Sabeeh Ahmad has a keen interest in the breadth of human experience. He strives to tell character-driven stories that connect with the audience emotionally and intellectually. Sabeeh’s stories engage with the complexities of the world, centering mostly on underdogs, rebels and anti-heroes.
Instagram handle: @sab.eeh

Just Another Day

Available On-Demand until March 28th
In-Competition Short Film <cast your vote post screening>

Director: Prataya Saha

Producer: Desktop Films

Artist or Cast: Anshulika Kapoor, Amit Aggarwal, Sumeet Borana

Language: English, Hindi

Country: India

Runtime: 10 min

FILM SYNOPSIS

“Just Another Day” is a modern neo-realist film that draws attention to in-arguably one of the most raging topics of modern times - depression, abuse and the perception of separated/divorced women in society.

Through the happenings of a single day, the story traces the life of a 40 something newly separated woman, Anjali Katekar, as she navigates another 24 hours of her life in the busy city of Mumbai.

Her interactions with her colleague at work and a middle-aged lawyer at a cheap restaurant highlight the indifference of a typical patriarchal society to her mental and physical health coupled with their general lack of empathy and understanding. Societal indifference is sometimes one of the biggest reasons for the under-reporting of domestic abuse crimes.

Through Anjali, we can live the agony of hundreds of middle-aged women facing stigma for mistakes that are not even their own.

DIRECTOR BIO

Prataya Saha is an independent filmmaker, Tedx performer, theatre director & photographer based out of Bangalore, India.

Featured on The Week, India's leading news magazine.

Prataya's directorial debut was Anna's Weekend in 2016 which got selected in festivals in US and China. He is now 10 short films old with his films selected in 60+ film festivals around the world, winning around 20 awards, including the prestigious New York Asian Film Festival, Oaxaca Film Fest, Woodpecker International Film Festival, Cardiff International Film Festival, Oscar Qualifying festivals like Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival, Bengaluru International Film Festival, etc.

Man Brows

Available On-Demand until March 28th
In-Competition Short Film <cast your vote post screening>

Director: Rohan Srinivasan

Producer: Rohan Palla, Diya Correa, Rohan Srinivasan

Artist or Cast: Tavish Mohanti, Roshni Datta, Davin Lazar VInod

Language: English

Country: USA

Runtime: 8 min 57 sec

FILM SYNOPSIS

An Indian-American teenager is forced to confront his “masculine” insecurities when he gets his eyebrows threaded.

DIRECTOR BIO

Rohan Srinivasan is a senior at the University of Southern California studying Film and Television Production. Rohan has always had an incredibly strong affinity for telling stories through a performance-based medium, having acted for about 9 years before transitioning into directing. Being one of few students in his high school graduating class to pursue an arts-based path, he hopes to continue making powerful, independent films that relate to his Bay Area upbringing and uplift the South Asian community for many years to come.

Noor & Layla

Available On-Demand until March 28th
In-Competition Short Film <cast your vote post screening>

Director: Fawzia Mirza

Producer: Andria Wilson

Artist or Cast: Nicole Nwokolo, Sahar B. Agustin-Maleki, Urvah Khan

Language: English

Country: USA

Runtime: 13:03

FILM SYNOPSIS

Noor and Layla are breaking up. It’s the end of the road for these two Muslim women…or is it just the beginning?

DIRECTOR BIO

DIRECTOR BIO

Kunal M. Patel wears many hats, including entertainment attorney and musician. With no formal training, but a team of talented creatives by his side, he delved into the possibility of female Hindu priestesses, while searching for a priestess for his own wedding. The culmination of that search was "Seeing God". Kunal practices in LA, alongside his extraordinary wife Rianjali, who helps bring his ideas to life.

Seeing Past, The Future Part One: The Letter

Available On-Demand until March 28th
In-Competition Short Film <cast your vote post screening>

DIRECTOR BIO

Mragendra, despite his interest in storytelling, as an obedient south-asian child became an engineer to please his parents, only to eventually disappoint them by nose diving into filmmaking ten years ago. Born and raised in a small town of India, Bhopal, and now based in Los Angeles, Mragendra has felt the experience of being an outsider, a wallflower, prevalent in both these places. This innately made him an observer expanding his world view and providing him a lens filled with empathy needed to promote inclusion through stories. Mragendra’s first feature NORMAL, acquired by Buffalo 8, premiered at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival that garnered awards and nominations internationally and domestically. His short films have played in numerous festivals, amassing awards. He was a participant in the 2017 Reykjavik Talent Lab and was among the top 200 directors for Project Green Light.

Taken for Granted

Available On-Demand until March 28th
In-Competition Short Film <cast your vote post screening>

Director: Manasi Patel

Producer: Manasi Patel - Perfectly Imperfect Productions

Artist or Cast: Amelia Rae, Mojan Nourbakhsh

Language: Farsi

Country: USA

Runtime: 13mins

FILM SYNOPSIS

“Āin”, a teenage girl from a small village of Herat, Afghanistan (near the border of Iran), is visiting Kabul with her father to participate in a robotics competition and gets separated in the Kabul market when the Taliban attack, and her only way out is in the middle of it all.

DIRECTOR BIO

Manasi Patel (Writer, Director, Producer) has always been fascinated with the magical world of story-telling and cinema. She believes that Stories are blueprints of one’s life experiences in the form of language of - art, music, cinema, and imagination. Ever since she was a kid, she was very interested in listening to the life experiences of people around her in the form of their stories and watching films from all around the world. Growing up in India, where parents mainly pushed their children to pursue a degree in engineering, medicine, or business, Manasi was fortunate to have parents who gave her the freedom to choose, and live her dreams and passion regardless of societal pressures and norms.
Manasi moved to Los Angeles at the age of 19, to pursue her education and career in film from Otis College of Art and Design. Right after she graduated, her short documentary film “Annutara” was selected at various film festivals across the USA. After 7 years of working in the industry on A-list films like Avatar, Knight and Day, Life of Pi, The Darkest Hour, and Looper, she took a short break to start a family. That is when she started her own production company “Perfectly Imperfect Productions” and kept at her writing. The majority of her stories are female-centric and are all culturally diverse. One such short film is Taken for Granted.

production and writing courses at Northwestern University in Qatar, and through this has found her strengths in Film Analysis and Screenwriting. Aneesa Khan’s dream is to continue writing and sponsoring films that incorporate South-Asian culture from today’s society.

The Internship

Available On-Demand until March 28th
In-Competition Short Film <cast your vote post screening>

Director: Aaron Christian

Producer: Aaron Christian

Artist or Cast: Ragevan Vasan, Rani Moorthy, Roger Ajogbe, Heronimo Sehmi

Language: English

Country: United Kingdom

Runtime: 12mins 39 Secs

FILM SYNOPSIS

Josh a young design graduate working in a dead end job has a chance meeting with his idol, a famous design magazine editor who offers him a rare and prestigious internship. However, he must convince a family to who internships mean an extra financial burden, and in an industry in which their culture has never really been well represented; that it’s a chance worth taking.

DIRECTOR BIO

Aaron is an award-winning writer, director and producer hailing from East London . After graduating in film from Kingston University he went on to found Individualism a leading menswear digital publication. His experience in fashion and digital soon saw him take up a position at MR PORTER running the film department and helping them establish themselves as one of the leading global companies for fashion films and content.

All of his work across mediums focuses on themes of culture and design, with an aim to explore and celebrate and champion overlooked cultures.

He is the founder of The Asian Man a digital community that celebrations stylish South Asian men, and is a co host of What Is This Behaviour a podcast that highlights south asians going against the grain and breaking old stereotypes. Founder of AC STUDIOS a London based moving image content studio focused on fashion, design and culture. His clients include Levis, Uber, GQ, Topshop, Hyundai, Aston Martin and Adidas to name a few (All of which can be found here). His comedy shorts have received millions of views online. He has also directed and produced his own award-winning shorts.

Winning in America

Available On-Demand until March 28th

In-Competition Short Film <cast your vote post screening>

Director: Amrita Singh

Producer: Leah Chen Baker Clardy 

Artist or Cast: Rithika Tudmilla, Ranjan Singh

Language: English

Country: USA

Runtime: 11 min 40 sec 

FILM SYNOPSIS

Aishwarya Narayanan clashes with her immigrant coach-father and questions the meaning of success while vying for a spot at the prestigious National Spelling Bee.

DIRECTOR BIO

Born in Tamil Nadu, India, and raised in Hyde Park, Chicago, Amrita Singh is a Writer/Director with her M.F.A. in Filmmaking from NYU Tisch School of the Arts where she later served as Adjunct Faculty and taught Location Sound. In addition to writing a feature film set in the small town of Nagercoil, India with the Production Lab Development Studio, she's directing a mixed media short documentary about her grandmother in collaboration with Still I Rise films. Amrita currently teaches photography and filmmaking to K - 5th grade students based in Queens, NY, through the organization South Asian Youth Action, which focuses its support to immigrant communities. In her writing, Amrita’s interested in tackling stereotypes and ultimately subverting her characters’ perceived weaknesses as their strengths.

Ye Shaam Mastaani - This Enchanting Evening

Available On-Demand until March 28th

In-Competition Short Film <cast your vote post screening>

Director: Sangeeta Agrawal

Producer: Sangeeta Agrawal, RJR Media & Entertainment

Artist or Cast: Shishir Sharma, Sangeeta Agrawal, Rajiv Paul

Language: Hindi (English Subtitles)

Country: USA

Runtime: 14 mins 48 secs

FILM SYNOPSIS

A radio talk show becomes the medium for two lonely listeners to find an unexpected connection through memories of a time gone by.

DIRECTOR BIO

Sangeeta Agrawal is an actor, writer and director, with more than 30 years of experience on stage, and lead roles in several short films, Sangeeta is the recipient of the Best NRI Actress at the Delhi International Film Festival in 2015. Her first film as writer/director, Five O'Clock Shadow, was screened at more than 50 festivals and won several awards. Since then she has directed a few more shorts. While she loves writing and bringing her stories to life on screen, acting remains her first love. Ye Shaam Mastaani is the first time she has written and directed in Hindi. Sangeeta moved to the US in 1985. She has lived in the Washington DC area since then.

Blind - jam & philly

In-Competition Music Video <cast your vote post screening>

Director: Archit Upadhyay

Producer: Outer Voice Records

Artist or Cast: James Matthew, Philly Matthew, James Baksh, Elise Duffy

Language: English

Country: USA

Runtime: 4 mins 10 secs

FILM SYNOPSIS

Blind is a song by JAM and Philly that tells the dangers of blind love. It goes through the story of an unfaithful couple and it takes you through the perspective of those they interact with. The video was produced and released by Outer Voice Records, the first South-Asian American record label in the United States.

DIRECTOR BIO

Archit Upadhyay is a filmmaker and aspiring feature film director from New Jersey. He has directed short films and music videos and also is the Chief Creative Officer of Outer Voice Records, the first South Asian-American record label. Archit has won awards at the Project FX Film Festival by Sony Pictures Classic and the Campus Movie Festival by Amazon at Rutgers University, which was screened at CMF Terminus in Atlanta. He dreams to improve mainstream representation of the South-Asian community through creating purpose-driven stories. Archit recently graduated from Rutgers Univeristy in May 2021 with bachelor’s degrees in marketing and supply chain management.

City Life - raghav meattle

In-Competition Music Video <cast your vote post screening>

Director: Ray Rajdip

Producer: Ray Rajdip

Artist or Cast: Raghav Meattle

Language: English

Country: India

Runtime: 2 mins 58 secs

FILM SYNOPSIS

City Life is a commentary on the state of urban Indian cities, and the lives of those who inhabit them. In its own way, the song is a tribute to the city of Bombay, which thousands flock to everyday, like a moth to a bulb, unable to move itself away.

A retrospective love letter to the city, the video was shot on Super 8 mm film and was processed and developed at Andec Filmtechnik in Berlin.

DIRECTOR BIO

Ray Rajdip quit his practice as an IPR attorney, to pursue his dream of becoming a filmmaker. Since then, he has created music videos for artists like Ritviz, Raghav Meattle, Vayu, Tienas, and labels like Bacardi House Part Sessions, Jio Saavn, Azadi Records, and MMM which have garnered millions of views online, and made it to Rolling Stones Best Music Videos of the Year 2018 and 2020, as well as VH1 Top 50 Videos – Global Mid Year Countdown 2019, which featured music videos by Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift, Wiz Khalifa and Ed Sheeran. Ray has also worked with leading brands such as Netflix, Asian Paints, Dewar’s, Grey Goose, SBI Life, Abbott, Funfoods, Springwel, and others, creating ad films and branded content for web and television. Ray has directed fiction short films, which have been in competition and won awards at national festivals such as the IDSFFK , BISFF, IndiEarth Xchange, amongst others. He recently won the IFP Screenplay Writing Challenge 2020. He is based out of Mumbai, India. You can check out his recent work here: https://vimeo.com/ALTRAY

D’Evil - Kaancheck

In-Competition Music Video <cast your vote post screening>

Director: Joel Dsouza 

Producer: Gully Gang Entertainment

Artist or Cast: Dhaval Parab, Saurabh Ghadge, Karan Sonanvne, Neel Nitin Salekar, Roshan Chauhan, Shravan Kshirsagar, Jidnyasa

Language: Hindi

Country: India

Runtime: 3 mins 7 secs

FILM SYNOPSIS

Kaancheck is a colloquial term/slang for a ‘slap’. D’Evil narrates through flaws and vices in our society through a Police Inspector’s perspective and how some citizens deserve a Kaancheck for being a menace to others.

DIRECTOR BIO

Joel D'Souza

One of the most influential and talented directors in India, Joel D’souza aka JD is a name that is synonymous with top tier, reality-based visuals. He has been at the helm of the Indian Hip-Hop movement by bringing to life 17 unparalleled cinematic experiences including DIVINE and Naezy's gold standard record ‘Mere Gully Mein’ which went on to inspire not only a multi-award-winning Bollywood film, "Gully Boy", but also a cultural movement that has now spread its wings across the globe. From 'Mirchi' (belongs to DIVINE's second album, "Punya Paap" released on Mass Appeal) that currently boasts upwards of 250 million views on YouTube to DIVINE's hard-hitting verse on Dutchavelli's 'Bando Diaries (Remix)' and everything in between; JD has pushed the boundaries of visual storytelling unlike anyone else.
In 2019, Joel joined DIVINE's Gully Gang Entertainment to lead the Content & Production division of the company and has built genre-defining projects such as ‘Kohinoor’, ‘Gully Gang Cypher’, ‘Nahi Pata’, ‘Error 404’, and 'Kaancheck'. He has also formed a production team under the moniker VISUALSBYJD through which he aims to lead and mentor upcoming directors and editors to produce content for music videos, adverts and films which match up to the benchmarks set by him as a filmmaker.

Catch Up - Fateh

feat. Raftaar

In-Competition Music Video <cast your vote post screening>

Director: Mahan Punia

Language: English, Hindi

Country: Canada

Runtime: 2 minutes 18 seconds

FILM SYNOPSIS

Showcasing Punjabi and Hindi hip-hop coming together over car culture.

DIRECTOR BIO

Mahan Punia is a director and cinematographer who is based out of Brampton, Ontario. Who has a passion for directing music videos within the South Asian community. Many of his projects display creativity alongside mixing the Western and Eastern cultures.

Jalebi Baby -

tesher x jason derulo

In-Competition Music Video <cast your vote post screening>

Director: Gil Green

Producer: Andrea Saavedra

Language: English, Hindi, Panjabi

Country: USA

Runtime: 3 minutes 33 seconds

FILM SYNOPSIS

The official music video of one of the hottest songs of 2021, JALEBI BABY follows two waiters (played by Tesher and Jason Derulo) who find themselves smitten by a beautiful special guest at their restaurant. Drawing on influences from both 2000s Bollywood movies, as well as Indian hall parties in North America, the two friends each fantasize about how they would woo their dream girl...only for reality to leave them disappointed.

DIRECTOR BIO

Raised in the cultural melting pot of Miami, director Gil Green encompasses a vast knowledge of music, sports, and style that transcends into a world of iconic imagery.

Gil’s first glimpse into the business stemmed in high school as a DJ in Miami’s emerging Hip Hop and Dancehall Reggae scene. Underground battles and warehouse sound clashes set the stage for a cultural explosion. Along with his turntables, Gil was armed with a video camera and some passion for filmmaking. He convinced his high-school teachers to allow him to submit short films instead of book reports, developing his love and craft for filmmaking. His school classmates were his first audience, showcasing engaging musical narratives on film. He continued to pursue an education in film at the prestigious New York University (NYU).

At the age of 19, Gil directed his first music video for his NYU thesis project. Inspired and persistent, Gil sold his car and took out student loans to cover production costs. The $3,000 video held it’s own next to the major labels’ big budget videos at the time, and gained national media recognition on television channels such as MTV, BET and The BOX.

Gil went on to direct over 200 music videos spanning across the Pop, Latin, and European markets. His client roster includes multi-platinum artists such as Adam Levine, John Legend, Pitbull, Chris Brown, Akon, Lil Wayne, Kanye West, Neyo, Nicki Minaj, Drake, DJ Khaled, Camila Cabello, Usher, Flo Rida, P-Diddy, Timbaland, J Balvin, Natasha Bedingfield, Robin Thicke, Nelly, 50 Cent, Romeo Santos, Matisyahu, Brandy, Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes, Sean Paul, T-Pain, Rick Ross, Wyclef, Common, Trey Songz, Lupe Fiasco, The Roots, and Oscar award-winners, Three 6 Mafia.

In 2007, Gil returned to Miami to set up a home-based production company along side seasoned Producer Judd Allison. 305 Films quickly became the recognizable brand for high quality productions in South Florida, South America, and the Caribbean.

Gil has been honored with multiple awards and nominations for his work in Music Videos. In 2002, Source Magazine honored Gil for “Video of the Year.” Gil has been nominated for “Director Of The Year” for the 2008, 2009, and 2010 BET Awards and won the 2008 MTV Video Music Award for Best Hip Hop video for his direction in Lil Wayne’s “Lollipop.”

Gil continues to expand his directing talents into various mediums. He has directed the opening introductions for the Miami Heat for the past eight years, featuring Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, and Chris Bosh. He also filmed commercials for international companies such as Pepsi, Timberland Boots, Bud Light, Skechers, Norwegian Cruise Lines, and Hasboro Toys.

In 2016 Gil was approached to direct a PSA for ALS Foundation. He insisted that a short film would be more impactful and with the help of his NBA friends and players utilized Kickstarter to raise the money for production. The inspiring short film, ‘Who Is Lou Gehrig?’ deals with a basketball’s struggle with the disease ALS, and premiered in the Miami Film Festival in 2016.

Gil continues to raise social consciousness around him through his leadership in the community. In 2018, Gil announced the launching of LOVE, CAMERA, ACTION – a summer camp for underprivileged youth to learn and get hands on experience in the music video industry.

From music videos to commercials to short films, Gil’s creative palette is drawn from an inspiring well of music, sports, and lifestyle. Gil’s next step is to translate his unique vision into the world of feature films.

“The goal of a great film is for the viewer to see it once and think about it twice.” – Gil Green

Punch Me In My Third Eye - JBABE

In-Competition Music Video <cast your vote post screening>

Director: Lendrick Kumar

Producer: Tej Brar

Language: English

Country: India

Runtime: 3:21

FILM SYNOPSIS

JBABE’s first release after his critically acclaimed, lo-fi, indie-pop debut album is a hard-to-ignore, punk-rock declaration. On this track, the F16s vocalist and guitarist has gone over to the heavier side, letting loose all his pent-up anger, and raging against the “bad vibrations”.

‘Punch Me In My Third Eye’ gives a glimpse of the chaos that lives inside Josh Fernandes’s head. The video, directed by Lendrick Kumar, stars Preeti Alex (who gets her head shaved at the hands of Josh for the purpose of the video) and Josh himself, who play the role of two people being forced into marriage. As the first meeting begins, the two are given some time to themselves to get to know each other, and that’s when all the internal screaming begins. The first verse goes, “I’m a queen. Oh look, I’m a goddess. / No you’re not, get back into your closet,” seemingly referring to the heteronormative codes of marriage.

DIRECTOR BIO

I completed my Bachelors in Film and TV production in 2017. After working years in the corporate field, there was a need to expand myself and do what truly excites me. That’s when I came up with the concept of Lendrick Kumar, a wordplay on the famous American rapper Kendrick Lamar, as a joke. I decided to conceal my identity because a lot of what is been made out there is boring and comes with a lot of rules. As soon as you put a mask to your identity, suddenly you are given a lot of creative freedom to do whatever you like to do and make. This creative freedom is what made me want to do music videos and I’ve never looked back ever since.

Skin - Joy Crookes

In-Competition Music Video <cast your vote post screening>

Director: Nono Ayuso

Producer: Charlie Scanell, Mayling Wong

Artist or Cast: Joy Crookes

Language: English

Runtime: 3 minutes 4 seconds

FILM SYNOPSIS

“Skin” by Joy Crookes is about someone very close to her who thought life wasn’t worth living during a dark time. Joy felt strongly about including someone very close to her personally to play the part of the lead male role and we were incredibly grateful when he agreed to participate. The making of the video created ownership and healing of that difficult time they both lived through.

The intensity that was generated from it being a real-life experience for both of them translates into the video because ultimately it is real.

I created this intimate film, where the bed is a symbolic representation of their love and life as a couple, but at the same time, it is the symbol of a darker place. From both sides of the coin: love and depression, you never want to leave your bed...

I also wanted to show that even if you are feeling down or in you’re in love, the world never stops... And to achieve this we shot a moving bed through the streets of London.

I added a layer of complexity shooting this on 16mm because I think the organic texture of the film help to connect with the intimacy this film needed.

DIRECTOR BIO

London-based director, he was an investigative journalist who specialized in conflict zones and investigative journalism for 10 years. Some of his stories include FARC in Colombia, Israeli- Lebanese war in 2008. He was a professor in several Chilean Universities before moving to London 5 years ago. Since then, he has been directing documentaries, music videos, and commercials.

His films have been selected in festivals as Aesthetica, Cannes YDA, Bolton Film Festival, Le Fifa, and semi-finalist in Rhode Island Film Festival. Also, They have been awarded the Golden Shark 2021, Gold Lovie Awards 2017, and the Gold British Media Award 2018. Some of his films have been Vimeo Staff Pick and Vimeo Staff Pick of the Month.

Country: Australia

Runtime: 3 minutes 37 seconds

FILM SYNOPSIS

Watch and listen to this heartfelt melody by Pav Dharia which makes you long for your #Mahiya.

DIRECTOR

Rohit Negah: Actor, Director, Influencer & Producer.
Best known for Zindagi Haseen, Mahiya & Confidence etc.
Based in Sydney, Australia.
Rohit started acting at a very young age, was later encouraged to head into the space of direction as well, Rohit directed his first music video in 2017.

Meet You at the Light - Desirée Dawson

In-Competition Music Video <cast your vote post screening>

Director: Alexander Farah

Producer: Shyam Valera, Kashif Pasta

Artist or Cast: Ishaval Gill, Kamaldevinder Gill, Balinder Johal, Harinder Saini, Shrey Vyas

Language: English

Country: Canada

Runtime: 6:09

FILM SYNOPSIS

A bittersweet and heartfelt portrait of a daughter and her ailing father. Performed by Ishaval Gill and her father Kamaldevinder Gill

DIRECTOR BIO

Alexander Farah is an Afghan-Canadian editor currently between Vancouver and Toronto. He is a graduate of the Film, Video and Integrated Media Programme at Emily Carr University, as well as a current candidate in Film Production at York University. His editorial work has screened at the Berlinale, TIFF, Telluride, Clermont-Ferrand, and Palm Springs as well as scoring nominations for the Prism Prize, Berlin Commercial Awards and the UK Music Video Awards. He’s cut projects that have premiered to critical acclaim on Nowness, BooooooomTV, Director’s Notes and Vimeo’s Staff Pick Premieres. Alex’s debut directorial short film Sahar premiered at TIFF, and his most recent music video for Desiree Dawson is an official selection at SXSW 2022. alexanderfarah.com

Mutual - RANJ x Clifr

In-Competition Music Video <cast your vote post screening>

Director: Lendrick Kumar

Producer: Clipher Christopher

Artist or Cast: Ranjani Ramadoss, Clipher Cristopher

Language: English

Country: India

Runtime: 3:06

FILM SYNOPSIS

Bangalore-based RANJ and Clifr release their first collaborative single, Mutual, via Export Quality Records. Clifr provides a measured soundscape, supported by RANJ’s layered harmonies, laying the foundation for RANJ’s verses about fading love. The track explodes into life at the climax as both vocalist and producer show off their prowesses - RANJ with her soaring vocals and Clifr with his dynamic control.

DIRECTOR BIO

I completed my Bachelors in Film and TV production in 2017. After working years in the corporate field, there was a need to expand myself and do what truly excites me. That’s when I came up with the concept of Lendrick Kumar, a wordplay on the famous American rapper Kendrick Lamar, as a joke. I decided to conceal my identity because a lot of what is been made out there is boring and comes with a lot of rules. As soon as you put a mask to your identity, suddenly you are given a lot of creative freedom to do whatever you like to do and make. This creative freedom is what made me want to do music videos and I’ve never looked back ever since.

Home - Priya Darshini

In-Competition Music Video <cast your vote post screening>

Director: Megha Ramaswamy

Producer: Priya Darshini

Artist or Cast: Priya Darshini

Language: English

Country: India

Runtime: 4:35

FILM SYNOPSIS

Home was shot in Borivali National Forest in Mumbai, India; close to where the artist grew up. This song (and the record) is an exploration of what ‘home’ might feel or look like for those living with complex identities, and always feeling on the periphery—we suspended the video into land, water, and sky. The scale of the world became undefined and limitless.
Director Megha Ramaswamy brings to life a very classical and painterly visual to express the emotions living in the layers of this song. Its realization is a reflection of the authenticity, vulnerability and immediacy that Chesky’s live recording process brings out of an artist in those dangerous and defining moments.

DIRECTOR BIO

Megha Ramaswamy is a filmmaker & writer based in Mumbai. Her first two films, Newborns (2014) and Bunny (2015), both had their world premieres at Toronto International Film Festival. Her documentary The Last Music Store won the audience Best Documentary award at South Asian International Film Festival. www.megharamaswamy.com

Megha’s first feature film “What are the Odds?” is set in a whimsical version of Bombay, and was exclusively released worldwide on the streaming platform Netflix on 20th May, 2020.

Restless - clifr x tintin (feat. bebhumika)

In-Competition Music Video <cast your vote post screening>

Language: English

Country: India

Runtime: 2:48

FEAR - Shilpa Ananth

In-Competition Music Video <cast your vote post screening>

Director: Suruchi Sharma

Producer: Shilpa Ananth, Studio Ainak, NYC Women's Fund for Music, Media and Theatre

Artist or Cast: Shilpa Ananth, Sahariya Artists - Mohan Lal, Sunny Yadav, Sudama Sahariya, Nihal Singh, Dhoni Jatav, Aakash, Rohit, Tilak Raj

Language: English

Country: India

Runtime: 3 minutes 18 seconds

FILM SYNOPSIS

FEAR is a story about a woman that has been a victim her entire life, controlled by her regrets and everything she is too afraid to say or do, constantly haunted by the choices she never made and the traps she keeps falling into. The character of the Goddess on the other hand is a manifestation of the fear within the woman, her dual nature in conflict, and we see the victim bound by the powerful Goddess and her army for the better part of the song, unable to hide, or escape from the prison of self doubt, her fears taking over.
The song however ends on a victorious note with the protagonist physically breaking the chains holding her down, and facing her worst nightmare, the Goddess of Fear. She finally defeats her fears, as she rises up against adversity, celebrating her metamorphosis into a woman that is a perfect balance of both identities, an Empowered Queen. The concept of the mirror that weaves in and out throughout the story, is to convey the breaking and letting go of the ego.

DIRECTOR BIO

Suruchi Sharma is an independent filmmaker from Rajasthan. She directs and produces films through her sustainable film design studio, Ainak. She carries a passion for history, research, food, culture, mythology and environment and often collaborates to develop content relating to these themes. Alumna of National institute of Design, she is also a keen ethnographer and researcher. She brings folkloric traditions in her contemporary works. Suruchi was also a UNESCO- Sahapedia research fellow 2019. She has worked for broadcasters like The Epic Channel, TVF, National Geographic Channel and Amazon Prime amongst others. Her independent work has been viewed across festivals and received accolades. Know more at www.suruchisharma.in

Producer: Namra Beatrix Saleem and Sarah Christin Calvert

Artist or Cast: Namra Beatrix Saleem and Sarah Christin Calvert

Language: English

Country: Norway

Runtime: 2 minutes 52 seconds

FILM SYNOPSIS

FLTY BRGR GRL is a garage pop duo that makes cute and creepy songs about love. In this music video of ‘Sweet Boy’ the duo explores a story about unrequited love and the denial that surrounds the situation, adding a dimension of two girls being into the same person. They both go through the motions of a sleepover in matching pajamas. They file their nails and sit around with curlers in their hair. At one point, their pillow fight turns into something harsher, more aggressive as it seems the two really want to hurt each other while the lyrics float above: “Yeah he likes me, I think, he doesn’t know. I’m sure he’ll come around.”

DIRECTOR BIO

Namra Beatrix Saleem is a musician and DIY filmmaker with a journalist background. Her videos have a playfulness, as well as an intimacy to them and invite you to a dreamy and vibrant world.

Country: USA

Runtime: 3 minutes 38 seconds

FILM SYNOPSIS

Takeover takes you through Naman's mental journey of becoming an artist. Starting out alone and lost, he finds his footing by leaning into himself, tapping into his roots, and gaining the confidence required to tell his story to the world.

DIRECTOR BIO

Kahani's cinematic soundscape can often mold into various blends of Electronic and World music. Now residing in New York, he has started a collective, called Nonresident, and imprint label, Indo Warehouse, which curates emerging diaspora talent and gives them a foundation to collaborate on top caliber sound.

Director: Jessica Lorenzo

Producer: Marcos Teno

Artist or Cast: Trish Hosein

Language: English

Country: USA

Runtime: 3 minutes 12 seconds

FILM SYNOPSIS

Does anonymity bring out the worst in us? In lives lived largely online, our ability to shield our identity has brought about everything from catifishing to fake news - but this phenomenon isn’t unique. Dating back to our time in tribal communities fighting with other factions over land or resources, war paint made it easier for us to enact violence upon one another, by hiding our true faces. Studies even show that wearing large sunglasses, like the the infamous reflective aviators worn during the Stanford Prison experiments, make us less likely to give to unhoused people we pass on the streets.

In “Big Sunglasses,” the second single off of TRISHES upcoming debut album, “The Id,” the artist explores the relationship between humanity and anonymity with pointed lyricism and pulsing bass.

“I’ve always been interested in the idea of anonymity and how it changes us. I think a lot about the human condition and how it has brought our society to a place of continued injustice and environmental collapse. Looking at who we are when we think no one is watching us - I think that reveals a lot about humanity - and understanding our darkest tendencies feels integral at this pivotal moment in human history.”

Big Sunglasses is accompanied by a clean white visual in which the singers alter-ego’s re-enact the historic Milgram Experiment.

“In the Milgram Experiment participants were asked by a supervisor to shock another participant, who was secretly an actor, with increasing intensity for a study they were told was on memory. The study has been noted as one that shows the power of authority over our minds, but I think it tells us more than that. I think it gives us insights into how permission structures give us a sense of anonymity.”

TRISHES was created to represent the constructs of self (the primal, spiritual and concious). In the video we see all three TRISHES fill the roles of the supervisor, participant and actor in the study.

The video, directed by Jessica Lorenzo (who directed TRISHES award nominated music video “Language”) also alludes to the Standford Prison Experiment. TRISHES full album, “The Id,” will be released on October 22nd.

DIRECTOR BIO

The root of my creative purpose is human connection and emotion. It’s always been that way, and that carries over to any medium that I’m working in. If I’m directing documentary content, I try to get one the same wavelength as my subject in terms of communication style and body language to get them comfortable enough to open up and tell their story. If I’m directing ad content, I only work with products that directly and positively impact their users, and I dig deep to portray this transformation in my ad’s story. If I’m editing video content, I utilize editing techniques and scene juxtapositions that heighten emotional awareness. Even when I’m DJing, I pick my next record off the energy of the people in the room. I don’t do art just to do it, and I don’t do it just for me. That sets me apart, I think. Where I am professionally in 2020 is such a blessing. It’s a culmination of so many seeds planted, years ago, with humans I connected with. It’s the result of working at so many jobs and taking everything in, learning from those more experienced than me, trying to push the boundaries of my job descriptions to make great things. There were tons of challenges – many resulting from trusting people with too much, too soon. That’s the dark side of valuing human connections above everything else. Don’t be afraid of contracts. Get everything in writing. Don’t be afraid to increase your rate. Know what you’re worth. But also, don’t be afraid to work for free, when the potential connection is worth it. Always plant seeds. Some will grow up to become trees!

WE’LL SEE YOU AT

THE MOVIES!