Note: All Q&A sessions can be accessed from all countries at the times shown.
All times are Eastern Standard Time. Refer to Q&A page on this website.
To enjoy Q&A sessions, we recommend you watch the film in the 2 to 3 hours before Q&A.
This will ensure that the film is fresh in your memory.
Country(ies) : Canada
Language(s): English
Subtitles: French
Time: 15 mins
Viewing: Worldwide
First View: Nov 19, 8 am
Available Till November 23 | 8 am
Q&A with Filmmakers: (Balakrishna, Behind the Bhangra Boys)
See Q&A Page: November 19, 2020 at 9:00 pm
Based on a true story.
Blending animation and archival material, Balakrishna is the bittersweet love story of a boy and an abused creature in a foreign land. Winton, a thirteen year old boy living in small town Nova Scotia in 1967, falls in love with an elephant (Balakrishna) that has been brought over by an Indian industrialist who has built a giant plant in the small town, he wants to impress. What becomes clear is that Winton is the only one who seems to care for the elephant’s well-being.
Country(ies): Canada
Language(s): English
Subtitles : French
Time: 53 mins
Viewing: Worldwide
First View: Nov 19, 8 am
Available Till: Nov 23 | 8 am
Q&A with filmmakers : (Balakrishna, Behind the Bhangra Boys)
See Q&A page: November 19 at 9:00 pm
A joyous look at culture, immigration, activism and community through the experience of the Maritime Bhangra Group – a Bhangra dancing team of five Sikh immigrants on Canada’s East Coast – who dance to fundraise for charities. Going beyond the dance and viral videos, we follow the group as they seek connections in First Nations communities to raise awareness for Climate Change and our planet.
Country(ies) : India
Langue: Marathi
Subtitles : French, English
Time: 30 mins
Viewing: Worldwide
First View: Nov 20, 8 am
Available Till: Nov 24 | 8 am
Q&A with Filmmakers : (Poet in Two Worlds, Eeb Allay Ool)
See Q&A Page: November 20 at 9:15 pm
Raja is an unemployed rural young man with a M.A. & B.Ed. who fails to secure a job. His passion for writing poetry adds to the fury of his father who expects Raja to at least work in their own soya bean farm. Raja’s mother is always entangled in the fights between father and son, while Raja is muddled between his love for poetry and inevitable farming.
The village, its traditional order of living, people, their varying emotions and their struggle for existence are the sources of inspiration for Raja’s words. Raja witnesses them all empathetically. He pens it differently. Once, Raja gets an invitation for a lit-fest in City and a whole new world is unleashed to him. A world where he would only dream to be. It is a platform where Raja expects his poetry to be appreciated. But at this very hour, his village is going through a few unexpected incidents which make the whole surroundings hostile, especially to the farmers. Such unpredictable background has always pulled Raja back from stepping ahead. His choice ensnarls him into a bitter reality of both these worlds.
Country(ies) origin: India
Language(s): Hindi
Subtitles: French, English
Time: 96 mins
Viewing: Worldwide
First View: Nov 20, 7:35 pm (one show only)
Q&A with filmmakers : (Poet in two worlds, Eeb Allay Ooo)
See Q&A Page: Nov 20 at 9:15 pm
Anjani, a young migrant, battles hordes of monkeys as a contractual monkey repeller, a newly created government job to tackle the monkey menace in the heart of Delhi. His job profile entails mimicking aggressive langurs, the original and extremely effective employees for the task- recently let off on account of animal rights. The sacred pests shred Anjani’s dignity and courage in quick succession, and make such a mockery of his professional ineptitude that an early discharge seems imminent. But when admonished by his pregnant sister, Anjani grits his teeth and decides to counter the monkey business with monkey business of his own. Click here to watch.
Country(ies) origin: Bangladesh
Language(s): Bengali
Subtitles: French, English
Time: 29 mins
Viewing: Worldwide
First View: Nov 21, 8 am
Available till: Nov 25 | 8 am
Q&A Date and Time : (The Girls are not brides, Nothing Happened, Period, Ashmina)
See Q&A page: 21 Nov at 1:30 pm
Child marriage is a strong social custom in Bangladesh which has the fourth highest rate of child marriage in the world. Due to cultural setting, girls are regarded here as an economic burden and are expected to marry very young. So, for millions of girls in Bangladesh, marriage comes too soon and the damage follows them throughout their lives. This film is not only focusing on the negative situation facing of girls; it also focuses on four different successes stories of girls, those who have stood up against child marriage and ultimately succeeded in establishing themselves in the society.
Country(ies) origin: India
Language(s): English, Hindi
Subtitles: French, English
Time: 27 mins
Viewing: Worldwide
First view: Nov 21, 8 am
Available till: Nov 25 | 8 am
Q&A with Filmmakers: (The girls are not brides, Nothing Happened, Period, Ashmina)
See Q&A page: 21 Nov at 1:30 pm
Nothing Happened is the story of two strangers, a man who doesn’t believe in the institution of marriage and a woman who has just run away from her wedding ceremony. They accidentally cross path at the wee hours of the night in Mumbai and end up spending the rest of the night in each other’s company.
Country(ies) origin: Nepal
Language(s): Tibetan
Subtitles: French, English
Time: 7 mins
Viewing: Worldwide
First view: Nov 21, 8 am
Available till: Nov 25 | 8 am
Q&A with Filmmakers : (The girls are not brides, Nothing Happened, Period, Ashmina)
See Q&A page: 21 Nov at 1:30 pm
“Period: A State of Purity” is the story about period poverty among Buddhist nuns or women in the Himalayan region. It explores the menstruation practice among Buddhist nuns in terms of their conception, awareness, accessibility and challenges.
Country(ies) origin: UK
Language(s): Nepali
Subtitles: French, English
Time: 15 mins
Viewing: Worldwide
First View: Nov 21, 8 am
Available till: Nov 25 | 8 am
Q&A with Filmmakers : (The girls are not brides, Nothing Happened, Period, Ashmina)
See Q&A page: Nov 21 at 1:30 pm
Nestled between a beautiful lake and the Himalayas, Ashmina, 13, lives with her family at the outskirts of Pokhara Nepal, paragliding capital of the world. The remote and traditional town is also a busy tourist destination where the locals are profoundly affected by the swarms of tourists who visit it daily. Forced to skip school, Ashmina helps her family make ends meet by working at the landing field, packing the parachutes of foreign pilots in return of small change.
Country(ies) origin: India
Language(s): English, Hindi
Subtitles: French, English
Time: 15 mins
Viewing: Worldwide
First view: Nov 21, 8 am
Available till: Nov 25 | 8 am
Q&A with filmmakers : (Kaala, Someone to Blame)
See to Q&A page: Nov 21 at 4:20 pm
Not much before an African student could realise what it meant to be in an alien country, he was already a victim of hatred because of his skin color.
Country(ies) origin: South Africa
Language(s): English
Subtitles: French
Time: 54 mins
Viewing: Worldwide
First view: Nov 21, 8 am
Available Till: Nov 25 | 8 am
Q&A with Filmmakers : (Kaala, Someone to Blame)
See Q&A page: Nov 21 at 4:20 pm
Director Enver Samuel, in his documentary Someone to Blame – The Ahmed Timol Inquest, weaves a compelling narrative that draws on the 2017 re-opening of the inquiry on the untimely death and brutal murder of the young Ahmed Timol in 1971. The young activist died at the hands of the security police at the John Vorster Police Station in downtown Johannesburg, framed by the police as a suicide at the time.
Samuel, an acclaimed filmmaker, builds on Indians Can’t Fly (2015) a previous documentary that deals with Timol’s life, his detention and his death. For the sequel, he uses newly recorded interviews and the court procedures and he contextualises the new developments by using archival material and graphical representations. Samuel constructs an intimate overview of an event that sets the scene for the families and friends of many other South Africans who died in detention during the apartheid years to also pursue the truth of what happened to their beloved ones.
Country(ies) origin: Nepal
Language(s): Nepali
Subtitles: French, English
Time: 115 mins
Viewing: Worldwide (except Nepal & India)
First View: Nov 21, 8 am
Available Till: Nov 25 | 8 am
Q&A with Filmmakers:
See Q&A Page : Nov 21 at 9 pm
Bulbul is a story of Ranakala (26), driver of a 3-wheel tempo, who craves for her husband to return from the gulf to live with their six-year-old daughter. Her unfulfilled desires for love lead her to be in an affair with Chopendra (29), a passenger who promises to marry her. Bound by social values, she is in a dilemma between her love and her responsibilities.
Country(ies) origin: USA
Language(s): English
Subtitles: French, English
Time: 58 mins
Viewing: Worldwide
First View: Nov 22, 8 am
Available till: Nov 26 | 8 am
Q&A with Filmmaker:
See Q&A page : Nov 22 at 1 pm
Brought to Trinidad by indentured laborers from India who first arrived in 1845, tassa drumming has become an important marker of Indian Trinidadian cultural identity. The film explores both musical and socio-political elements of tassa performance, focusing on the life and family of noted drummer Lenny Kumar. As the story unfolds, tassa emerges as a metaphor for Indian Caribbean culture, rooted in India while also thoroughly Caribbean.
Country(ies) origin: Pakistan
Language(s): English, Urdu
Subtitles: French, English
Time: 40 mins
Viewing: Worldwide
First View: Nov 22, 8 am
Available till: Nov 26 | 8 am
Q&A with Filmmakers: (How she moves, The Accused)
See Q&A page : Nov 22 at 5 pm
In the words of the filmmakers: How She Moves follows the spirited Indu Mitha, a 90-year-old dance teacher, as she prepares for her final dance performance. A minority in both religion and profession, Indu has been teaching the classical Bharatanatyam dance form in Pakistan for sixty years. Though traditionally associated with stories of Hindu deities, under her creative direction, the form has been given a secular and feminist flavor in Pakistan. As two women filmmakers, we were allowed rare access into an otherwise unseen world of women and dance in Pakistan. Through an exploration of the colorful artistry of Indu and her students, we glean insight into culture, identity, and freedom of expression in a country where extremism, nationalism, and suspicion of dance as a legitimate art form push the classical dance towards extinction.
We now unfortunately live in a time when Muslim and minority women’s views, lives, and bodies are a battleground in the so-called clash of civilizations. In a time when vitriol dominates and divides communities all over the world, How She Moves challenges these narratives by telling a universal story of hope and resilience.
Country(ies) origin: Pakistan
Language(s): English, Punjabi, Urdu
Subtitles: French, English
Time: 77 mins
Viewing: Canada Only
First View: Nov 22, 3:40 pm (one show only)
Q&A with Filmmakers : (How she moves, The Accused)
See Q&A Page: Nov 22 at 5 pm
‘The Accused, Damned or Devoted?’ is a modern-day inquisition. Against the backdrop of Pakistan’s elections, this film follows the rise of powerful cleric Khadim Hussain Rizvi, on a mission is to preserve the country’s blasphemy laws, which prescribe a mandatory death sentence for disrespecting the Prophet Muhammed. Cleric Rizvi runs for elections and holds the state hostage, condemning to death anyone who attempts to change the law. As he pushes for power, gaining millions of followers, those accused of blasphemy – minorities and liberals – become the pawns of his ambition.
Country(ies) origin: USA
Language(s): Bengali
Subtitles: French, English
Time: 88 mins
Viewing: Worldwide
First View: Nov 22, 8 am
Available till: Nov 26, 8 am
Q&A with Filmmakers:
See Q&A page : Nov 22 at 8:30 pm
10-year-old Jamal loves his carefree life with his mum in rural Bangladesh, until the day his childhood friend and playmate is forced to become a child bride. Isolated and lost, Jamal finds the world a harsh reality when his hopes of getting new friends and attending school collide with his mother’s past.
Country(ies) origin: India
Language(s): Malayalam
Subtitles: French, English
Time: 125 mins
Viewing: Worldwide
First View: Nov 23, 8 am
Available till: Nov 27 | 8 am
Q&A with Filmmaker:
See Q&A Page: Nov 23 at 9:15 pm
Pallavi is a strong-willed woman who has always aspired to become a pilot. How she gets back on her feet through sheer resilience after being beset by a series of personal crises forms the crux of the film.
Country(ies) origin: India
Language(s): Malayalam
Subtitles: French, English
Time: 100 mins
Viewing: Worldwide
First View: Nov 24, 8 am
Available Till: Nov 28 | 8 am
Q&A with Filmmaker:
See Q&A page : Nov 24 at 8:50 pm
Kalyani is a young cook who lives with her ailing aunt in a rundown locality of Trivandrum, in Kerala, India. Each day is the same as she carries on with her life of duty as a cook and carer. But each day is not the same either. As the romance of poetry ignites a passion, as the stories of other worlds stirs a desire, as sharks close in and death draws near, Run Kalyani builds into an intense crescendo of grief and grit, sorrow and strength.
Run Kalyani reinterprets poetic realism through an oblique treatment of crucial social issues and with Geetha’s characteristic affinity for juxtaposition of paradoxical ideas, spaces, performances and music, including an Indian Bolero! And patterns are everywhere in Run Kalyani, be that in the unfolding of the story, rhythm of movement, or choreography of images. These patterns by reflection and deflection form an iterative structure that ultimately, inevitably, breaks the pattern.
Country(ies) origin: India
Language(s): Urdu
Subtitles: French, English
Time: 10 mins
Viewing: Worldwide
First View: Nov 25, 8 am
Available Till: Nov 29 | 8 am
Q&A with Filmmakers: (Dry Leaves, Widow of Silence)
See Q&A Page: Nov 25, 8:45 pm
Zahida arrives at a home for the old, believing her son will take her back after a week. Hesitant and apprehensive, she meets Farhat, who is full of hope but as the story unfolds she realizes that the future might be different from her expectations.
Country(ies) origin: India
Language(s): Urdu
Subtitles: French, English
Time: 86 mins
Viewing: Worldwide
First View: Nov 25, 8 am
Available till: Nov 29 | 8 am
Q&A with Filmmakers:
See Q&A Page: Nov 25 at 8:45 pm
In Kashmir, a Muslim half-widow, viz a woman whose husband has disappeared, finds herself, her 11 year old daughter and ill mother-in-law in a crisis when she attempts to get her missing husband’s death certificate from the government. Now she will have to find the strength to come out from an unthinkable and absurd situation. This leads the family’s quiet life into a mammoth turmoil.
Country(ies) origin: India
Language(s): Hindi
Subtitles: French, English
Time: 24 mins
Viewing: Worldwide
First View: Nov 26, 8 am
Available till: Nov 30 | 8 am
Q&A with Filmmakers: (Atrangi, Aamis)
See Q&A page : Nov 26 at 9:30 pm
Sakshi, an independent investigative journalist working on serial murder cases gets an invite from a psychopathic serial killer for an interview. What follows will make you sit glued to your chair.
Country(ies) origin: India
Language(s): Assamese
Subtitles: French, English
Time: 108 mins
Viewing: Canada Only
First View: Nov 26 7:30 pm (one show only)
Q&A with Filmmaker: (Atrangi, Aamis)
See Q&A Page: Nov 26 at 9:30 pm
Married Niri shares a forbidden passion with Sumon, who introduces her to a world of fresh, wild delicacies. But as their unconsummated desire mounts, the two are pushed inexorably towards transgression and taboo.
Country(ies) origin: Bangladesh
Language(s): Bengali
Subtitles: French, English
Time: 96 mins
Viewing: Worldwide (except Germany)
First View: Nov 27, 8 am
Available till: Dec 1 | 8 am
Q&A with Filmmakers (Atrangi, Aamis)
See Q&A Page : Nov 27 at 8:45 pm
It is midsummer in northeastern Bangladesh. Five men face a dangerous mission. They must conquer the great river with their raft. Their journey will last a month and take them 300 kilometers downstream. Their cargo: 25,000 bamboo logs. During daytime, endless heat, pouring rain and dangerous rapids keep the men on their toes. At night, river pirates lurk in the darkness for easy prey. But it is worth it for the men, who all make the journey as part of their very own struggles for existence.
Country(ies) origin: USA
Language(s): English, Urdu
Subtitles: French, English
Time: 27 mins
Viewing: Worldwide
First View: Nov 28, 8 am
Available till: Dec 2, 8 am
Q&A with Filmmaker (Puff Puff Pack, Brown Girls & Hair, Stuck)
See Q&A Page : Nov 28 at 1 pm
After quitting cigarettes in New York, a fomer chainsmoker returns home to Karachi, where smokng is still tied to masculinity, feminists are lighting cigarettes to fight the patriarchy and his mother is battling cancer. Kicking the habit in New York is one thing, but will he able to stay off cigarettes back in Pakistan?
Country(ies) origin: USA
Language(s): English
Subtitles: French, English
Time: 9 mins
Viewing: Worldwide
First view: Nov 28, 8 am
Available till: Dec 2 | 8 am
Q&A with Filmmaker (Puff Puff Pak, Brown Girls & Hair, Stuck)
See Q&A Page : Nov 28 at 1 pm
Maya, a 20-something desi in San Francisco, goes through the trials and tribulations of getting ready for a date on short notice as a hairy brown girl.
Country(ies) origin: USA
Language(s): English
Subtitles: French, English
Time: 8 mins
Viewing: Worldwide
First View: Nov 28, 8 am
Available till: Dec 2| 8 am
Q&A with Filmmaker (Puff Puff Pak, Brown Girls & Hair, Stuck)
See Q&A Page : Nov 28 at 1 pm
Ghosts got you down? There’s a new team in town. When you’re in trouble, call *COMPANY NAME TBD, TOO MANY GOOD PUNS TO CHOOSE FROM*. They’ll get the job done.
Country(ies) origin: Pakistan
Language(s): Urdu
Subtitles: French, English
Time: 14 mins
Viewing: Worldwide
First View: Nov 28, 8 am
Available till: Dec 2 | 8 am
Q&A with Filmmaker (Home 1947, Soundless Dance)
See Q&A page : Nov 28 at 5 pm
A look back at the 1947 partition of India and creation of Pakistan, this film explores the narratives of migrants who left their homes and crossed borders. In order to keep their stories alive for coming generations, several very diverse points of view are illuminated through documentary footage, voiceovers, historical archives and nostalgia.
Country(ies) origin: France
Language(s): French, Tamil
Subtitles: French, English
Time: 89 mins
Viewing: Canada Only
First View: Nov 28, 3:15 pm (One show only)
Q&A with Filmmaker (Home 1947, Soundless Dance)
See Q&A Page : Nov 28 at 5 pm
In the spring of 2009, Sri Lanka’s decades long civil war is entering its most violent phase. Siva, a young Sri Lankan refugee living illegally in France, has lost contact with the family he was forced to leave behind. Haunted by the trauma of the war that devastated his childhood and obsessed by the flow of images on the Internet, Siva sinks into a waking dream that propels him into the heart of the battlefield.
Country(ies) origin: Pakistan
Language(s): Urdu
Subtitles: French, English
Time: 130 mins
Viewing: Worldwide
First View: Nov 28, 8 am
Available till: Dec 2 | 8 am
Q&A with Filmaker
See Q&A page : Nov 28 at 9:15 pm
Baaji is drama/ thriller about the relationship between a star from “Lollywood” who is past her prime, and a girl from inner city Lahore who has dreams of her own. The film references both Lollywood and classic Hollywood genres like the “women’s drama” and “film noir”.
Country(ies) origin: India
Language(s): Hindi
Subtitles: French, English
Time: 24 mins
Viewing: Worldwide
First View: Nov 29, 8 am
Available till: Dec 3 | 8 am
Q&A with Filmmaker (The Comedian, My Hero, Education on a boat, Khidki)
See Q&A Page : Nov 29 at 1:30 pm
The comedian is a film about an ageing comedic actor in the Indian film industry (Bollywood) who has no laughter left in his life. Hasmukh Lal was a superstar comedian in the 1990s. His name was synonymous with laughter and joy. Today he is a lonely, embittered old man, frustrated at what life has meted out to him.Using anger as his last defence, he is feared and loathed by his neighbours and co-workers alike. Riya is a young Youtube Video blogger who moves in with her family next door to him. A bundle of pure joy and innocence, she radiates life and sunshine but ironically is dying from cancer. The unexpected relationship between this ghost of a man who has forgotten how to smile and this vividly “alive” dying girl who laughs in the face of adversity forms the crux of the story.
The comedian is a true comment on how a little love and laughter conquers all defeat and cures all the pain.
Country(ies) origin: Portugal
Language(s): Portugese , Urdu, Khowar
Subtitles: French, English
Time: 11 mins
Viewing: Worldwide
First View : Nov 29, 8 am
Available till: Dec 3 | 8 am
Q&A with Filmmaker (The Comedian, My Hero, Education on a boat, Khidki)
See Q&A Page : Nov 29 at 1:30 pm
The son considers his father as his hero for leaving his country and immigrating to Europe for a better family life. Though, in Europe, the son becomes the father’s hero, navigating everyday life in an alien land.
Country(ies) origin: Bangladesh
Language(s): Bengali
Subtitles: French, English
Time: 19 mins
Viewing: Worldwide
First View : Nov 29, 8 am
Available till: Dec 3 | 8 am
Q&A with Filmmaker (The Comedian, My Hero, Education on a boat, Khidki)
See Q&A Page : Nov 29 at 1:30 pm
Near 1600 square kilometers of North-Eastern Bangladesh are fully wetlands locally known as “Cholon Beel”.The inhabitants of this area are completely at the mercy of the environment for survival. The boat is the only means of transportation for communication and the people live well below the property line. In 2006, a non-profit organization came forward with an amazing idea to overcome the problems of this impoverished region.
Country(ies) origin: India
Language(s): Hindi
Subtitles: French, English
Time: 19 mins
Viewing: Worldwide
First view: Nov 29, 8 am
Available till: Dec 3 | 8 am
Q&A with Filmmaker (The Comedian, My Hero, Education on a boat, Khidki)
See Q&A Page : Nov 29 at 1:30 pm
When 10 year old Vani loses 2 permanent teeth in an accident, her family comes together to save enough money for dental implants before the school reopens in 3 months.
Country(ies) origin: India
Language(s): Asameese
Subtitles: French, English
Time: 86mins
Viewing: Worldwide
First View: Nov 29, 8 am
Available till: Dec 3 | 8 am
Q&A with Filmmaker
See Q&A Page : Nov 29 at 4:30 pm
This film is a colorful canvas of an unusual struggle and empowerment of a teenage girl residing at the bank of a tributary of the river Brahmaputra. The mighty river Brahmaputra of India and its tributaries flood out each year many villages and ruins their cultivation. Still the people love the river and its green valley. Only they can feel & understand how troublesome and hard their lives become without a small bridge over its tributary. Every year after floods they start a new life again with a great ray of hope and expectations.
Country(ies) origin: Canada
Language(s): English, Punjabi
Subtitles: French
Time: 85 mins
Viewing: Worldwide (except Israel)
First View: Nov 29, 8 am
Available till: Dec 3 | 8 am
Q&A with Filmmaker
See Q&A page : Nov 29 at 8:30 pm
A conservative Indo-Canadian family in small-town British Columbia must come to terms with a devastating secret: three sisters were sexually abused by an older relative beginning in their childhood years. After remaining silent for nearly two and a half decades, the sisters finally decide to come forward – not only to protect other young relatives – but to set an example for their daughters as well.