These short films showcase female characters facing immensely difficult personal, political, social and economic circumstances, and continuing on through different struggles. They demonstrate resilience and spirit. 

Yellow, dir. Elham Ehsas, Afghanistan / UK 2023, Dari with English subtitles, 13 min.

Afghanistan, Laili walks into a Chadari store in Kabul to buy her first full body veil from a Talib shopkeeper, and face a new future.

Sri Lanka's Rebel Wife, dir. Kannan Arunasalam, Sri Lanka 2021, Tamil with English subtitles, 20 min.

Ananthy's husband Elilan was a Tamil Tiger who surrendered to government forces at the end of the Sri Lankan civil war in 2009. Since then she's been searching for him. But the man who led the military campaign is now president and has called an election to shoe up power. Ananthy decides to run. She is fearless — but what really drives Ananthy? Is it justice, revenge or guilt?

A Cipher for the Missing, dir. Shahana Rajani, Pakistan 2022, Urdu with English subtitles, 7 min.

A cipher for the missing explores the Baloch practice of massad whereby the date palm tree is invoked to help locate the missing. In this practice, dating back to Bibi Fatima, and passed down generationally by women, the tree grants access to knowledge of the unseen – past, present, future and all things hidden. At a time when the military-state seeks to render all beings visible through surveillant technologies, while disappearing those it deems threatening, massad emerges as a queer practice of recovery that centers alternate forms of relationality, connection and intimacy in a more-than-human world. A cipher made of leaves that renders the military’s disappearance tactics legible to the very communities that bear the brunt of its violence.


Milaap, creative partners: Marvi Mazhar, Abuzar Madhu, Zohaib Kazi, Pakistan / UK 2023, English, English, Urdu, Siraiki Waseb, and Sindhi with English subtitles, 30 min.

Milaap documentary film features the story of three women and the stories of their lives being impacted due to negligent urban rural planning and its consequences to the river and the sea.

Eid Mubarak, dir. Mahnoor Euceph, Pakistan / USA 2023, English & Urdu with English subtitles, 16 min.

A privileged six-year-old Pakistani girl embarks on a mission to save her beloved pet goat from being eaten on the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Azha, only to learn the meaning of sacrifice.

The Clown, dir. Kamil Chima, Pakistan 2024. Punjabi with English subtitles, 15 min.

Looking for an escape, a clown dances outside a fast-food restaurant on the streets of Lahore. That is until the claws of reality threaten to pull its mask off.