WHILE YOU SLEPT
Directed by Nadya Perera 
Run time: 24min
Language: Sinhalese (with English Subtitles)
Country: Sri Lanka
Year: 2015
Synopsis
At a ‘massage parlor’ in Hambantota, a local girl tends to Chinese customers. She makes herself up to look ‘Chinese’ in order to appear more authentic in the eyes of her clients. When, without a warning, the management hires a Chinese woman to live and work there, the local girl fears being made redundant. She’s threatened but at times finds herself fascinated by the new girl, in spite of herself. She grows obsessed with trying to imitate her competition. The metamorphosis has begun. In to what…remains the question.
DIRECTOR’S BIO
Nadya Perera (Script Writer/Director)
Born in 1981 Nadya Perera is an independent researcher and short-film maker from Colombo, Sri Lanka. In 2003, she enrolled in a film appreciation course at the National Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), while she was an undergraduate at the University of Pune, India.
Her first time on a film set was in 2008, when she worked as assistant and translator to Italian director Uberto Pasolini (Producer ‘Full Monty’) in his directorial debut ‘Machan’.
Nadya holds a MA in Development Studies from the International Institute of Social Studies in The Hague, Netherlands.
TELL ME A STORY
Directed by Shobhna S Kumar
Run time: 22min
Language: English, Hindi (with English subtitles)
Country: India
Year: 2016
Synopsis
Tell Me A Story is a collection of four stories of diverse individuals in Mumbai – Anuja, Urmi, Sid, and Saumitra – who have made choices different from the norm. ‘Tell Me A Story’ is a video project that creates a space for queer people to share their stories with an aim to populate our mainstream environment with their experiences.
DIRECTOR’S BIO
To be updated
THE WOMAN . . . AND THE MAN
Directed by Sarmistha Maiti and Rajdeep Paul 
Run time: 18min
Language: Bengali (with English subtitles)
Country: India
Year: 2016
Synopsis
“The Woman… and The Man” deals with the peculiarities of the male gaze and how it leads to the objectification of the female identity. The film takes a nuanced look into the growing infatuation of a young milkman from the working class of the society towards a stunningly sensuous and free spirited woman. As the woman becomes the exotic element of his sexual fantasies, he starts belittling his own wife, until a cruel twist of fate challenges the man to question the way he looks at women and his very notion of beauty. The film takes a critical look at the attitude towards women and the hypocrisy prevalent in our society and addresses how the patriarchal structure of the society leads to an atmosphere of gender discrimination and acts as a hurdle to women’s emancipation.
DIRECTOR’S BIO
Sarmistha Maiti and Rajdeep Paul are award winning filmmakers, alumni of Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI).
Rajdeep Paul a former Software Engineer, did PG Diploma in Screenplay Writing and Direction from SRFTI (2007-10) and published two books in 2013 : “3 on a Bed – Contemporary Indian Novellas” co-written with Sarmistha Maiti, and epic fantasy novel “Davyaprithvi: Heaven on Earth.”
Sarmistha Maiti worked as a journalist in two Indian National Dailies – Hindustan Times and the Times of India. She is also a regular contributor as an art-critic to several national magazines on art like “Art & Deal”, “Indian Contemporary Art Journal”, “Art Etc” and worked as the Managing Editor of www.mattersofart.net (India’s first ezine on art). She has done PG Diploma in Film Editing from SRFTI (2007-10). Both were awarded the Special Mention to Directors’ Award at the 61st National Indian Film Awards 2013 for the film “At the Crossroads Nondon Bagchi Life and Living.” They are working on their next script “The Biryani Seller.”
MEMORIES OF A MACHINE
Directed by Shailaja Padindala
Run time: 10min
Language: Malayalam (with English subtitles)
Country: India
Year: 2016
Synopsis
The short movie, showed a woman being recorded playfully on a camera in which she describes her first sexual encounter after she was asked by her friend to recollect those moments. Malayalam actress Kani Kusruti is seen playing the lead role in the short film.
While watching “Memories of a Machine,” the audience said they never felt it was a movie, such was Kani’s portrayal of the role and the manner in which she talked to the camera.
DIRECTOR’S BIO
Shailaja Padindala is a graduate of Bachelors of Visual Arts from Karnataka Chitrakala Parishad (2009) and pursued post-graduation in cinema at LV Prasad film and TV academy. Her filmmaking is heavily influenced Lars Von Trier and Memories of a Machine is a tribute to Lars Von Trier, My sister soul.