Tasveer FILM Festival
The first Tasveer Film Festival (also known as Tasveer South Asian Film Festival, TSAFF) began in 2004 as part of Tasveer’s mission to inspire social change through films, art, and storytelling.
Since 2004, Tasveer Film Festival has been showcasing the best of South Asian films and provide a platform to amplify under-represented South Asian voices. The festival places a spotlight on South Asian filmmakers and strive to carry our mission of stimulating thinking and social change through films, Q&As, panels, and workshops, which in turn empower, transform, heal, and entertain attendees.
Every year in October, Tasveer South Asian Film Festival brings films from all parts of South Asia (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Tibet) as well as its Diaspora from all parts of the world.
Some highlights, and proudest achievements are exhibiting films from trailblazing filmmakers like Shaunak Sen, Mariam Ghani, Roya Sadat, and others long before their recognition.
We’ve also provided a platform for niche storytellers like Tibetan directors Ritu Sarin & Tenzing Sonam or Anand Patwardhan, whose unique perspectives are not always welcome in theaters due to geopolitical pressures.
Here’s a brief history of Tasveer South Asian Film Festival over the years:
![The inaugural poster of Tasveer Film Festival of 2004 with red and yellow colours.](/2023/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/ssaff2004-180x300.png)
2004: First Tasveer Film Festival, then called as the Independent South Asian Film Festival, was organized at Broadway Performance Hall
![A girl holding a megaphone, the original inspiration and prototype of the Tasveer mascot, is seen riding a peacock. This is the poster for 7th Tasveer South Asian Film Festival, TSAFF 2011.](/2023/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/SSAFF2011-180x300.jpg)
2011: The earliest prototype of the Tasveer mascot, the girl with a megaphone is found in this year festival’s poster. Check out our TSAFF Archive to see the 2011 poster.
![A person pulling out samosas from a popcorn box is the main image of 8th Tasveer South Asian Film Festival, TSAFF 2013. The Tasveer mascot features for the first time in TSAFF posters.](/2023/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/ssaff2013-180x300.png)
2013: The Tasveer logo becomes official and visible on the 8th Seattle South Asian Film Festival. Check out the TSAFF 2013 poster.
![The poster for Coalition of South Asian Film Festivals, CoSAFF that took place in 2020.](/2023/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/co-saff-2020-180x300.png)
2020: Tasveer collaborates with other South Asian film festivals from the US and Canada to launch a unified virtual film festival, Coalition of South Asian Film Festivals, COSAFF. This was one way of reaching out to our audience during the Pandemic.
![Audience reacting to a film in a theatre with statistics from this year’s film festival.](/2023/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/poster-2023-180x300.png)
2023: Tasveer attains Oscar-qualifying film festival status.
Films
Shorts
Days (in-Person + Online)
+Filmmakers
Languages
Countries
World Premieres
Female Directors
Meet the Team
Rita Meher
Event Manager
Anterpreet Bains
Operations Manager
Khenrab Palden
Social Media & Marketing Strategist
Maniti Shah
Partnership & Communication Lead
Olympia Bhatt
Website and IT Lead
Jitendra Joshi
Tasveer Film Fund Manager
Uzma Khan
Graphic Designer
Hema Dhawan & Deeksha Meshram
Programming Committee
Anterpreet Bains (Festival Coordinator)
Sami Austin
Deepti Gupta
Tejas B
Lila Balakrishnan
Kristin Lavelle
Kamia Acoba
Sammera Khan
Arlene Plevin
Sugandha Rao
Shailaja Rao
Gurjot Kang