Gulzar (born Sampooran Singh Kalra; 18 August 1934) is an Indian Urdu poet, lyricist, author, screenwriter, and film director known for his works in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of greatest Urdu poets of this era. He started his career with music director S.D. Burman as a lyricist in the 1963 film Bandini and worked with many music directors including R. D. Burman, Salil Chowdhury, Vishal Bhardwaj and A. R. Rahman. Gulzar also writes poetry, dialogues and scripts. He directed films such as Aandhi and Mausam during the 1970s and the TV series Mirza Ghalib in the 1980s. He also directed Kirdaar in 1993.
Continue reading Gulzar gets Lifetime Achievement Award at Imagineindia 2025
Humans in the Loop (Aranya Sahay) India
Humans in the Loop
Aranya Sahay
India. 2024. 74 min
Nehma, an Adivasi woman from the Oraon tribe, returns to her village with her children twelveyear- old Dhaanu and one-year-old Guntu, after her divorce. She begins to work as a data labeller, training the ‘childlike’ AI models to recognise images.
While Nehma faces the challenge of connecting with Dhaanu – who is biased against village life and forever tempted to flee back to the city she also notices that the AI she works with is adopting harmful human biases, echoing prejudices against her own community.
The Man who could not remain silent (Nebojsa Slijepcevic) Croatia, France
The Man who could not remain silent
Nebojsa Slijepcevic
Croatia, France, Bulgaria, Slovenia. 2024. 14 min
February 27, 1993, Strpci, Bosnia and Herzegovina. A passenger train from Belgrade to Bar is stopped by paramilitary forces in an ethnic cleansing operation. As they haul off innocent civilians, only one man out of 500 passengers dares to stand up to them. This is the true story of a man who could not remain silent.
Continue reading The Man who could not remain silent (Nebojsa Slijepcevic) Croatia, France
Samantha Lang, Jury at Imagineindia for Best Film
Samantha Lang is a filmmaker and visual artist who directs, produces and writes. Over the last twenty years her films have screened at major international festivals including Sundance, Toronto, Locarno, and have received international recognition at the highest level, her film ‘The Well’ competing at the Cannes Film Festival for the prestigious Palme D’Or. She has directed across feature films, TV drama, as well as commercials and most recently several VR films.
Continue reading Samantha Lang, Jury at Imagineindia for Best Film
The Watchman (Ali Cherri) France
The Watchman
Ali Cherri
France. 2024. 26 min
In the remote village of Lourujina, situated within the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Sergeant Bulut, a young Turkish Cypriot soldier, finds himself stationed to guard the dividing line. As he dutifully stands watch over the quiet landscape amidst the routine and solitude, peculiar events unfold that challenge the very essence of his mission.
“The Watchman” looks at a life suspended in the limbo of waiting. While Sergeant Bulut grapples with the enigmatic occurrences around him, the film unfolds a narrative of duty entangled in illusion—a tale of disappointment by the anticipation of an elusive enemy that might never come.
Therese Malvar, Jury for Best Actress at Imagineindia
Therese Malvar is an acclaimed Filipino actress who began her career with a breakout performance in Ang Huling Cha-Cha ni Anita (2013), directed by Sigrid Bernardo. The film premiered at the CineFilipino Film Festival and received a Special Mention at the Osaka Asian Film Festival. Her performance earned her a Gawad Urian nomination for Best Actress, establishing her as one of the most promising talents in Philippine cinema.
Her exceptional work has garnered international acclaim, including the Silver George for Best Actress at the Moscow International Film Festival and the NYAFF Screen International Rising Star Female Award for her role in Hamog (2015), directed by Ralston Jover. In 2018, she made Philippine history at the Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival by winning the Best Supporting Actress award for two films in the same year: Distance and School Service.
Continue reading Therese Malvar, Jury for Best Actress at Imagineindia
Lees Waxul (Yoro Mbaye) Senegal, France, Belgium
Lees Waxul
Yoro Mbaye
Senegal, France, Belgium. 2024. 21 min
In his village where bread is scarce, Ousseynou, a former fisherman and cornerstone of his family, finds modest economic stability by selling stale bread.
However, the opening of his sister-in-law’s traditional bakery constitutes an affront to him, leaving a palpable unspoken tension between them (Lees Waxul), and gradually jeopardizing both his business and his role
as a family father.
Leela (Tanmay Chowdhary) India
Leela
Tanmay Chowdhary
India. 2024. 14 min
Two young women from a small village discuss the recent, mysterious vanishing of Leela. Is there any truth in the rumours about her death? Did she really take her own life? Or did she manage to escape and make it to the city? Roaming through their surroundings where despair is palpable, they wonder if they’ll ever find a way out themselves.
Continue reading Leela (Tanmay Chowdhary) India
The Key (Rakan Mayasi) France, Palestine, Belgium, Qatar
The Key
Rakan Mayasi
France, Palestine, Belgium, Qatar. 2023. 13 min
An Israeli family’s equilibrium gradually disintegrates as the mysterious sound of a key is heard every evening in the door of their apartment.
Continue reading The Key (Rakan Mayasi) France, Palestine, Belgium, Qatar
Agony (Eulalia Ramón) Spain
Agony
Eulalia Ramón
Spain. 2024. 22 min
Adela and Rosa were friends in college, but the world kept separating them. Rosa dedicated herself to teaching. Adela, on the other hand, dreamed of being a writer but ended up as a hitwoman for a third-rate drug lord. Shortly after turning sixty, both women are discarded, on the same day, for the lives they have chosen.
Continue reading Agony (Eulalia Ramón) Spain
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