About Me
Ali Asgari
Netherlands. 2022. 15 min
Young Fatima holds a secret that could change her fate; she must place her trust in a doctor to make a tough decision between cultural tradition and medical ethics.
Continue reading About Me (Ali Asgari) NetherlandsYet Another Winter
Kiran Shrestha
Nepal. 2021. 22 min
Hoping her deaf daughter RADHA(5) might be able to hear and speak, YASODHA (25) her faithful mother visits the Shaman in the nearby village. As per ritual, Shaman tells Yasodha to go to the temple located in the heart of the capital city. Following her faith, Yasodha tries to convince her husband and even her neighboring sister but they refuse to accompany her. Hence, she leaves towards the city along with her daughter.
Upon reaching the temple, Yasodha learns about another Mata Temple where she has to lock her daughter until she utters a word. Yasodha follows the ritual and locks Radha inside the temple eagerly waiting for her to speak.
Shades of Melancholy
Karash Zhanyshov
Kyrgystan. 2022. 20 min
Baizak and Meerim grew up in the same village, and then both moved to the city. But this city draws in the girl, and one day she disappears. Baizak, in love with Meerim, embarks on a quest.
Continue reading Shades of Melancholy (Karash Zhanyshov) KyrgystanWheels on the Bus
Surya Shahi
Nepal. 2022. 16 min
After being bullied into making iron wheels for his upper-caste peers, BHYAL (12), a lower caste blacksmith, and his friend LABA (11) are compelled to steal iron from the village to make the wheels. At Bhyal workshops, the boys work through the night and fall asleep. Laba’s father finds his son asleep with Bhyal.
Outraged at this sight, he calls the village religious chief to purify his son. With the entire village gathered, the village chief purifies Laba and passes judgment on Bhyal.
No Longer a Boy
Anton Loginov
Russia. 2023. 24 min
You can grow as a person only by opening your “closet” — to admit guilt and try to correct the act, instead of hiding and hiding.
Continue reading No Longer a Boy (Anton Loginov) RussiaThe Violent
Sasha Gromova
Russia. 2023. 16 min
Zhenya is 15. Besides being a quiet and sensible boy, he is a promising violinist. Behind the door of Zhenya’s bedroom he daily hears his tyrannical stepfather being violent with the boy’s mother, but cannot find the courage to intervene. One sunny morning Zhenya comes to a decision to radically change his family’s life.
Continue reading The Violent (Sasha Gromova) Russia40 Minutes
Vlad Pavlov
Russia. 2023. 14 min
Waking up in the middle of the night from her husband’s snoring, Helen unexpectedly discovers a series of ‘evidence’ of his affair. While the suspect is sleeping, she does things that will change her life, but is she ready for these changes?
Continue reading 40 Minutes (Vlad Pavlov) RussiaDetached
Vladimir Krivov
Russia. 2022. 64 min
“The Detached” is a monologue of one Chukchi man and of the whole ethnic group at the same time. It’s a story of their life, Motherland, and also of the things that cause the Chukchi to break away from their roots.
Continue reading Detached (Vladimir Krivov) RussiaWomen Beyond Bollywood
Rahila Bootwala
Canada. 2022. 53 min
India’s cinema industry is the largest in the world, and Bollywood is its flagship: stars, music, drama, not to mention rampant sexism, are its defining features. Today, a new generation of filmmakers is finally showing women as more than eye candy or appendages to larger than life male heroes. Montreal filmmaker Rahila Bootwala left India as a young woman, wanting to work in film but feeling disconnected from an industry dominated by men and beholden to their fantasies. In this empowering documentary, she goes back to India to meet with the women who are reshaping the industry.
Continue reading Women Beyond Bollywood (Rahila Bootwala) CanadaThe Golden Wings of Watercocks
Muhammad Quayum
Bangladesh. 2022. 117 min
Bangladesh lies in a floodplain crisscrossed with numerous rivers and canals as well as hundreds of naturally occurring marshlands, known locally as haor and baor. Over 20 million people live in the haor region spreading across 7 districts of north-east Bangladesh. In monsoon, flash flood from upstream hills rushes on to overflow rivers and creeks to create a vast stretch of turbulent water. This extensive water body dries up slowly in 7 months after the monsoon and the land becomes cultivable when only a single crop of paddy can be harvested. There begins the race against time to bag this harvest before the monsoon submerges the land again.
Continue reading The Golden Wings of Watercocks (Muhammad Quayum) Bangladesh.
