Join us for the Opening Night Red Carpet Gala of the 12th Tasveer South Asian Film Festival.

BIJULI MACHINE: Bijuli Machine is the inspiring story of two individuals in a developing country in turmoil. It shows how excellence can be pursued despite unfavorable odds.

DADYAA (THE WOODPECKERS OF ROTHA): Atimaley and Devi’s village is haunted by memories. When a dear friend leaves the village without saying “goodbye”, the old couple faces a dilemma; to keep living with the memories or to leave the village for good?

Opening Night Gala
$35 Regular | $30 SAM Member Price

Meet the filmmakers, participate in a QnA with the filmmaker Navin Awal, and enjoy performances by Subhash Prajapati & Band, Bijli – a fusion band and dance to Dj Anup’s spins. Nepali Refreshments will be served by Annapurna Cafe. The Tasveer South Asian Film Festival is the largest South Asian film festival in the world.

Schedule

• 6:00 pm – 6:30 pm:  Door Opens, Red Carpet walk begins, photo op with filmmakers and guests; Chai/snacks served
• 6:30 pm- 7:00 pm: Seating begins
• 7:00 pm -9:30 pm: Film Screening with filmmaker QnA
• 9:30 pm – 10:30 pm: Nepali snacks, Nepali music band, and Bijli, a fusion band performs

ARIFA: A young woman faces a crisis in her life when her escalating feelings for the intriguing but evasive ‘professional gamer,’ Riccardo, coincide with the reappearance of her estranged black market tobacco-peddling father, Hameed.

Film will be screened in Theater 2.

$12 Regular | $10 Student/Senior (with ID)
$10 Early Bird (through 9/30)

TSAFF is pleased to present its first ever Virtual Reality segment, TasVR, a virtual reality experience that invites you to immerse yourself in stories from South Asia. We will have a immersive photo installation at the Northwest Film Forum. We will also be showing five VR films, which make use of cutting-edge VR technology like 360 video to bring the viewers out of their seats and into the films themselves.

During weekend TSAFF events at the Northwest Film Forum (October 7-9) and the Carco Theatre (October 14-15), the pop up VR demo space will provide visitors with the equipment required to enjoy these immersive films.

DRIBBLING DREAMS: A documentary about an Indian Village and a basketball revolution.

ZAFFER & TUDU: This film is about the challenges of two young men bringing an elite colonial sport, rugby, to their native lands of Afghanistan and Eastern India. This is a story of perseverance and self-discovery.

MAKAAN: This documentary presents the story of a community of construction worker, as seen through a portrait of one family’s struggle.

$12 Regular | $10 Student/Senior (with ID)
$10 Early Bird (through 9/30)

Join us for an artist-guided tour of the Blood Speaks photo and VR installation, with its creator, Poulomi Basu.

TULASI APA: Born and brought up in a tribal region of Odisha, ‘Padmashri’ Tulasi Munda did not allow the poverty, illiteracy, and lack of development of her locality to dishearten her, discourage her, or dampen her spirit. She took a humble step to educate her fellow beings, which grew into a huge movement. Be it the urban-rural divide or the conflict between mine owners and workers or the exploitation of the have-nots by the haves, Tulasi Munda protested each and every act of injustice and discrimination and turned the tide in favor of her fellow human beings.

The film encapsulates the essence of Tulasi Munda’s life. It enumerates her struggle and highlights her achievements.

$12 Regular | $10 Student/Senior (with ID)
$10 Early Bird (through 9/30)

KHIDKEE: A housewife, Madhu, and a screenplay writer, Ashween, live across the road from each other, and get glimpses of one another’s lives from their living room windows. Little do they know that their minds have their own windows…

SHANIVAR KO DO BAJE: This story explores the connection that has formed between two people within and despite the restrictions imposed by the clandestine nature of the relationship.

LEECHES: In the chaotic ‘old city’ of Hyderabad, 18-year-old Raisa hatches a dangerous and improbable plan to save her younger sister from becoming a one-day bride.

$12 Regular | $10 Student/Senior (with ID)
$10 Early Bird (through 9/30)

PINKY BEAUTY PARLOUR: This film depicts the touching story of two sisters, Pinky and Bulbul, who run a beauty parlor in the by-lanes of Banaras, the holiest of cities in India. Drawn in by a murder mystery, we enter the unique colorful world of the beauty parlor and find a complex and engaging story of inter-mingled loyalties and insecurities.

$12 Regular | $10 Student/Senior (with ID)
$10 Early Bird (through 9/30)

MY SON TENZIN: This story of loss and longing is infused with pathos and, at times, humor, arising from the clashing worlds of Buddhist heritage, the Yellow Cab business, and Oakland’s homelessness, among others.

SILENT DUSK: Deeply moving and beautifully shot, this Tibetan-language short tells the tale of two people finding love in their twilight years.

$12 Regular | $10 Student/Senior (with ID)
$10 Early Bird (through 9/30)

3 BRAVES: Armed with courage and super powers, twelve-year-old Saadi, Amna, and Kamil must rise to the occasion and set out to save their town from the evils that plague it. Watch this first full-length CG feature from Pakistan.

General Admission: $5

GUNS & GUITARS: This musical travelogue tracks the journey of the director, Bidyut, back to his roots in northeast India.

$12 Regular | $10 Student/Senior (with ID)
$10 Early Bird (through 9/30)

Join us for an artist-guided tour of the Blood Speaks photo and VR installation, with its creator, Poulomi Basu.

DYING CANDLE: A sister fights agains all odds to take care of her younger brother, until things fall apart and she is left with no option but sell her dignity to save him.

HEAVEN IS BLACK: This story is about child psychology and their perception of heaven. Among three boys, Buddhi decided to go heaven.

$12 Regular | $10 Student/Senior (with ID)
$10 Early Bird (through 9/30)

BLOOD LEAVES ITS TRAIL: This film enters the vexed political scenario in Kashmir through the lives of families of the victims of enforced disappearances. The film is a non-sequential account of personal narratives and reminiscences ruptured by violence, undermined by erasure, and over-ridden by official documents that challenge truth. Made over nine years, it explores memory as a mode of resistance, constantly confronting and morphing from the personal to political, individual to collective. It looks at the ways in which those affected by violence have no choice but to remember.

Screening will take place in UW1-060 at the University of Washington, Bothell

This 3-day course is intended for aspiring filmmakers, and will take participants through the cinematic creative process, from the initial screenplay to the final product, allowing them to experience firsthand the various aspects of filmmaking.

October 9,10 & 12
6 pm to 10 pm
Northwest Film Forum

$150

I AM BONNIE: Bonnie is again on the run. He has been on the run from his family and sports fraternity since failing a ‘sex test’ before the Bangkok Asian Games in 1998. This film depicts Bonnie’s fight to establish his identity and his struggle for existence.

POSHIDA: This first-of-its-kind independent documentary follows hidden LGBT individuals and communities in Pakistan.

ESCAPING AGRA: Held hostage in India after their parents find out about their gender and sexual orientation, Naveen fights back.

$12 Regular | $10 Student/Senior (with ID)
$10 Early Bird (through 9/30)

Despite the shared cultural, political and historical legacies, the eight nation-sates of South Asia—Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives—stand divided along national and intra-national borders by means of conflicts, wars, and brutalizations of caste, ethnic, religious, and gendered bodies. And yet, alternative imaginaries of South Asia by means of dialogue and dissent through art (film, music, literature) demonstrate the ways in which we all belong despite the borders that separate us from each other.

Join us for two panel discussions that bring students, professors, filmmakers, and the public together for a thoughtful and engaging conversation on these topics.

Panels will take place in Thomson 317.

Presented in partnership with the UW South Asia Center.

NEPAL EARTHQUAKE: HEROES, SURVIVORS AND MIRACLES: In 2015, two devastating earthquakes struck Nepal. Ganesh Panday has created a documentary depicting the miraculous survivals of those who escaped death. The film is a historical document that vividly portrays the horrifying picture of the devastating situation in Nepal caused by the earthquake and the scars (both physical and psychological) left on the Nepalese people.

RADIO MELAMCHI 107.2: Radio Melamchi 107.2 is a documentary about a community-based FM station situated at Dubachaur, Sindhupalchowk and its post-earthquake efforts to help the people of Nepal.

SCREENING WILL TAKE PLACE IN 317 THOMSON.

Free.

MAYA’S HUSK HUSBAND: A woman devoted to her husband finds she doesn’t receive the same devotion in return when she develops a medical condition. This film touches on a topic rarely discussed but which affects many women.

THE KNOT: This humorous short film reveals the love and affection at the heart of the relationship between a seemingly mismatched husband and wife.

SONATA: Three unmarried women, friends for many years, confront their fears, hopes, and midlife crises one night in Mumbai.

Director and Star, acclaimed actor Aparna Sen, will be in attendance.

$25 Regular | $20 Student/Senior (with ID)- Only valid for Film Screening (SOLD OUT)
$20 Early Bird (SOLD OUT)

MAPLE: This documentary tells the story of Maple Batalia, a 19-year-old health sciences student, aspiring actress and model, who was gunned down in a university parking lot in 2011. Her passion for life was unparalleled, and she had an impact on everyone she encountered during her short life.

OUR TIME: Through fragmented recordings on devices such as the iPhones and the iPads and the fallibility of human perspective, a child discovers the rupture in her family and is forced to make a difficult choice.

$12 Regular | $10 Student/Senior (with ID)
$10 Early Bird (through 9/30)

TSAFF is pleased to present its first ever Virtual Reality segment, TasVR, a virtual reality experience that invites you to immerse yourself in stories from South Asia. We will have a immersive photo installation at the Northwest Film Forum. We will also be showing five VR films, which make use of cutting-edge VR technology like 360 video to bring the viewers out of their seats and into the films themselves.

During weekend TSAFF events at the Northwest Film Forum (October 7-9) and the Carco Theatre (October 14-15), the pop up VR demo space will provide visitors with the equipment required to enjoy these immersive films.

October 14: 12pm-6pm
October 15: 12pm-3pm

FROM THE LAND OF GANDHI: This story puts a human face to the inadvertent country-based discrimination inside the workplace that defies the American spirit and affects the lives of more than 700,000 skilled immigrants from India.

HIMALAYAN REFUGEE:  This documentary short focuses on asylum-seeking Pakistani Ahmadis currently in Nepal.

CODE SWITCHED: A group of first-generation South Asians in Chicago face the pressures of living double lives between their families and society while chasing their own ambitions in love and the workplace.

FIVE O’CLOCK SHADOW: An Indian-American mother’s worst fear rises to the surface when she is the victim of racial abuse.

$12 Regular | $10 Student/Senior (with ID)
$10 Early Bird (through 9/30)

LADIES AND GENTLEWOMEN: This film is an attempt to break the silence in the area of comprehending the dynamics of lesbianism.

NAKED WHEELS: A diverse group of people comprising males, females, and transgenders undertake a journey across South India in a truck.

IS IT TOO MUCH TO ASK?: This film follows the journey of two friends, Smile and Glady, as they look for a rental apartment in Chennai. It explores the obstacles and social stigma they encounter not just while looking for a home but also for being single, transgender women. 

$12 Regular | $10 Student/Senior (with ID)
$10 Early Bird (through 9/30)

THE ELDEST SON: In order to get his family out of debilitating debt, Kumar gambles on the promise of a migrant labor job in Malaysia. While he is away, a devastating earthquake makes his success all the more urgent.

COTTON FIELDS FROM THE IVORY TOWER: This documentary sheds light on an innovative approach to bridging the chasm that so often exists between the peer-reviewed publication of scientific research in academia (the Ivory Tower) and the real, on-the-ground implementation of new technology by end users.

SAMBALPURI WEAVERS: This film highlights the hard work and craftsmanship of the Sambalpuri Weavers of the Western Odisha region of India.

$12 Regular | $10 Student/Senior (with ID)
$10 Early Bird (through 9/30)

Three short experimental films will be screened at the Seattle Art Museum’s Diwali Ball:

Connections
The Bookshelf
Shutter Down

SAWAAN: Saawan is a 9-year-old Baluchistani boy, stricken by polio in Pakistan. Rejected by his father, hated by society, and harassed by his peers, he is left behind in his village as the residents are forced to vacate the valley where they live. But he relies on the memories of his mother and begins a journey into the city. Saawan achieves self-rehabilitation, befriends a spirt living in the mountains, and meet his new best friend, a three-legged dog. He then encounters kidnappers from whom he rescues four kids. While on his trip, he is followed by the kidnapper, with his father and a journalist tracing his steps in search of him. As he is close to finishing his journey the kidnapper attacks, killing 40 people and injuring Saawan.

$12 Regular | $10 Student/Senior (with ID)
$10 Early Bird (through 9/30)

THE SHAME: Born into a life of bonded labor (kamaiya), without a voice of his own, one innocent man discovers what happens when he suddenly finds the freedom that he has always wished for.

CHHORA: Krishna is allowed to leave prison in order to spend the Christmas holidays with his young son, Simon, and his wife, Irene. A few hours before his return to prison, Krishna realizes that what will keep him alive behind bars is the love of his son, as well as his wish to pass on to him their shared culture.

SAHASI CHORI (BRAVE GIRL): A curious and determined 13-year-old, Bhumika (Albina Dahal), leaves her Himalayan village for the first time, only to discover that the city is not what she imagined and that her friend, Krishna (Jeewan Adhikary), is keeping a secret that may change her life forever.

GHRAAN (THE SMELL):The Smell (Ghraan) is a nostalgic episode of an established businessman, Ahkam.

$12 Regular | $10 Student/Senior (with ID)
$10 Early Bird (through 9/30)

DOBARA PHIR SE: The unlikely love story of soulmates who just can’t seem to be in the right place at the right time for the right reasons.

COLA: A young man ventures out to perform the last rites of his mother, and finds himself in search of an elderly man, with surprising results. 

$25 Regular | $20 Student/Senior (with ID)
$20 Early Bird (through 9/30)