The festival’s internationally-renowned competition selects emerging filmmakers’ works from South Asia and around the world. All the selected films are, in different ways, felt to enshrine the legendary director Satyajit Ray’s humanist vision and subtlety of story and eye. From this year’s shortlisted films, a jury will decide on the winner, and the director will win a £1,000 cash prize, supported by Civic Studios. 

Programme

This is TMI
Dir: Subarna Dash, Vidushi Gupta
7 mins | English, Hindi, Nepali, Bengali with English subtitles

Accompanied by surprising and playful visuals, a group of women embark on a taboo-bursting discussion about breasts.

Thursday Special
Dir: Varun Tandon
26 mins | Hindi with English subtitles

27 years of a loving marriage. 27 years of sharing a passion for food. 27 years of celebrating it every Thursday. A charming tale of love, companionship and embracing change.

Ullarivu (The Awakening)
Dir: Sumi Mathai
15 mins | Malayalam with English subtitles

A young girl’s deep connection with nature starts to disintegrate when she encounters the strangeness of a patriarchal world.

Men in Blue
Dir: Sachin Dheeraj
35 mins | Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi, English with English subtitles

Inspired by actual events, Men in Blue explores the effects of human trafficking and labour exploitation in the United States. 

The Clown
Dir: Kamil Chima
15 mins | Punjabi with English subtitles

A housewife escapes her domestic prison by dressing up as a clown, and dances outside a fast food restaurant at night. That is, until her husband shows up to the restaurant and bursts her bubble.