Mughal-E-Azam
Sun 26 Sep, 14.00
National Science and Media Museum
A spectacular historical drama, Mughal-E-Azam tells the tale of a timeless love affair between a Prince and a dancer. Think mirrored palaces, sumptuous technicolor and unforgettable songs. Mughal-E-Azam has it all! K Asif’s spectacular epic historical drama tells the tale of a timeless love affair. Heir to the throne, Prince Salim (Dilip Kumar), has matured from a self-indulgent only child into a victorious and distinguished warrior. When he returns to the Mughal court he soon falls for the gorgeous, if lowly born, court dancer Anarkali (Madhubala), it provokes the ire of his father, Mughal emperor Akbar (Prithviraj Kapoor), who forbids them from getting married. As Anarkali takes a stand for her man, risking execution, father-son conflict explodes into a full blown battle.
Dir: K Asif
With: Pritvhiraj Kapoor, Madhubala, Dilip Kumar
197 mins | 1960 | India | Recommended Certificate: PG
Urdu with English subtitles
PREMIERE:
Avijatrik (The Wanderlust of Apu)
+ online Q&A
Mon 27 Sep, time 17.45
HOME Manchester
Subhrajit Mitra revives Satyajit Ray’s enduring and endearing character of Apu after 60 years with a film that takes off from where The Apu Trilogy ended in 1959. After the death of his beloved wife, Apu is unable to settle and follows his wanderlust, setting out with his 6 year old son Kajol, to explore the world. They have many adventures along the way, but Apu is still trapped in a surreal space, as he imagines discourses with his lost wife, that presses on the real world and soon threatens to alter his path.
Director: Subhrajit Mitra
Starring: Arjun Chakrabarty, Sabyasachi Chakrabarty, Sreelekha Mitra, Barun Chanda, Tanushree Shankar
136 mins | 2021 | India | Recommended Certificate: U
Bengali with English subtitles
Too Desi Too Queer
Wed 29 Sep, time 16.30
HOME Manchester
The festival is brings to Manchester the hit ‘Too Desi Too Queer’ short film programme, exploring the lives, experiences and well-being of South Asian LGBTQIA+ communities in the Subcontinent and diaspora, through a dynamic and thought provoking selection of recent short films including Wig (Atanu Mukherjee), Compartment (Abhijit Suvarna) thanks to KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival and Stray Dogs Come Out at Night (Hamza Bangash), Ekaant (Swapnil Pagare), I Know Her (Fawzia Mirza) and Vaidya (Harsh Agarwal & Sumit Pawar).
Short Film Programme
Thu 30 Sep, 15.30
Bolton Museum & Library, Bolton Film Festival
A showcase of exciting and diverse emerging British Asian filmmaking talent is presented, as part of LIFF’s highlight of British Asian focus. From award-winning dramas to insightful docs, we see a rarely presented slice of life of Asian Britain today. Films include Chariot Riders (Kate Jessop), Vest (Samir Mallal), Alien Culture (Iesh Thapper), I Choose (Tina Pastora), Kanya (Apoorva Satish).
I’ll Meet You There
+ online Q&A
Thu 30 Sep, 18.30
National Science and Media Museum
An insightful and moving portrait of three generations of a Muslim-American family, I’ll Meet You There follows Majeed, a Chicago policeman, and his teenage daughter Dua, a gifted ballet dancer. Their blissful life begins to take a turn after an unexpected visit from Baba, Majeed’s long-estranged, religious father from Pakistan, which coincides with his new undercover assignment with the FBI. As Baba and Dua’s relationship begins to blossom she is soon forced to pirouette between her passion for dance and her roots.
Dir: Iram Parveen Bilal
With: Faran Tahir, Nikita Tewani, Sheetal Sheth
90 mins | 2020 | USA | Recommended Certificate: 15
English, Urdu with English subtitles
BFI Player
Too Desi Too Queer:
A selection of LGBTQI+ shorts curated by the Bagri Foundation London Indian Film Foundation.
Great British Asians:
A collection of significant British Asian works curated by the Bagri Foundation London Indian Film Festival.
Great British Asians:
A collection of significant British Asian works curated by the Bagri Foundation London Indian Film Festival.
Bagri Foundation London Indian Film Festival:
Europe’s largest South Asian film festival is now online. Discover the best independent Indian cinema, from features and documentaries to on-stage highlights from the festival itself.
Love Liff at Home
In Conversation with Hanif Kureishi
One of Britain’s best known screenwriters, Hanif Kureishi CBE is of mixed Pakistani and English origin. He earned his degree in Philosophy at King’s College London. He went on to write plays for the Hampstead Theatre, and by the age of 18, was with the Royal Court. He wrote My Beautiful Laundrette in 1985, a screenplay about a gay Pakistani-British boy growing up in 1980s London for a cult film directed by Stephen Frears, which won him an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay. Kureishi’s drama The Mother was adapted into a movie by Roger Michell, which won a joint First Prize in the Director’s Fortnight section at Cannes Film Festival. The television miniseries, based on the novel The Buddha of Suburbia, and film My Son the Fanatic based on his own short story of the same title garnered him recognition as an astute story teller. See him in a live Q&A on stage at the BFI Southbank, with the screening of My Beautiful Laundrette.
Coming soon
In Conversation with Asif Kapadia
Oscar, Grammy Award, BAFTA winning British filmmaker Asif Kapadia is one of the first British Asians to make huge waves in the world of cinema. His first feature film The Warrior was nominated for three BAFTA awards, winning two, including Outstanding British Film of the Year. The Warrior was the first international role for the late, great Irrfan Khan. Kapadia won accolades for his trilogy of documentaries Senna, Amy & Diego Maradona, showing an uncanny ability to take archive footage and tell compelling cinematic stories about key figures and the price of fame. Kapadia directed episodes of the series Mindhunterfor David Fincher & Netflix, he executive produced the music series 1971: ‘The year that music changed everything’ and he co-directed & executive produced the series The Me You Can’t See with Oprah Winfrey and Prince Harry focusing on mental health and well being, both for AppleTV+. Watch him take a deep dive into his career on stage at the BFI Southbank, with acclaimed film critic Hanna Ines Flint.
Coming soon
Runway
Director: Tareque Masud
Starring: Fall Haque, Rabeya Akter Moni, Ali Ahsan
90 mins | 2010 | Bangladesh | Recommended Certificate: 12A
Language: Bangla with English subtitles
Winner of a Cannes prize for his triumph The Clay Bird, this is the last offering from Tareque Masud who tragically died in an accident in 2011. Teenage Ruhul lives with his family in a small hut next to the runway of Dhaka international airport. His family struggle to make a living while he spends his days wandering under the shadow of the planes, aimless and frustrated in his futile efforts to find work. One day at a cyber-cafe he meets computer geek Arif (Ahsan) who introduces him to a group of other young men and what seems an inspiring new religious sect, but all is not what it seems and he quickly gets pulled into a world of violent revolutionary politics.
https://www.loveliffathome.com/film/runway/
One Crazy Thing + Q&A
Director: Amit Gupta
Starring: Ray Panthaki, Daisy Bevan, Dan Renton Skinner
94 mins | 2016 | UK | Recommended Certificate: 15
English
This delightful charmer follows Jay, a former daytime TV star who is haunted by the sex tape that destroyed his life and turned his unknown actress girlfriend into an A-list Hollywood celebrity. As he cowers in obscurity managing his family’s Indian restaurant, he meets his dream girl Hannah, a beautiful American music student who hates modern life, and above all, dishonesty. Jay must now confront the errors of his past, rather than hiding from his future. Filled with warmth, music and delicious Indian food, the film is also a celebration of modern London in all her glory. It features a winning performance from BAFTA Breakthrough Brit Ray Panthaki and a star-making turn from Daisy Bevan, the latest entrant from the revered Redgrave acting dynasty.
https://www.loveliffathome.com/film/one-crazy-thing/
Hank & Asha + Q&A
Director: James E. Duff
Starring: Andrew Pastides, Mahira Kakkar
73 mins | 2013 | USA | Recommended Certificate: PG
English
Winner of the Slamdance Audience Award, this tender delight of a movie tells of the courtship of two loveable young strangers searching for connection in an online world. Adorable Indian, Asha, is studying in Prague, where she watches a film by an American, called Hank, which she adores, but misses him at the post screening Q&A, so she takes a risk and sends him a video blog. To her surprise handsome Hank responds with a video blog from his home in New York. Very quickly the two bond and are soon communicating regularly and before they know it, they plan their first actual date in Paris, but one of them has held back a secret.
https://www.loveliffathome.com/film/hank-and-asha/
Court + Q&A
Director: Chaitanya Tamhane
116 mins | 2019 | India | Recommended Certificate: 12A
Marathi, Hindi & Gujarati with English subtitles
Chaitanya Tamhane’s tightly scripted and confidently directed second feature is set around a single court case in a Maharashtrian town. Within this seemingly simple courtroom drama, a subtle and fascinating exploration of the state of the nation India, westernised versus revisionist traditionalist values is uncovered. The outcome is increasingly unsettling, even dangerous, as the seeming stability and order of the British Raj based court system, is pitted against a changing India. An ageing, activist, folk singer is charged with inciting a sewerage worker to commit suicide by one of his ‘inflammatory’ songs. His defence lawyer, a westernised man defends the rights of the artist, while the female Prosecutor states the singer, as the police have described him, is a threat to national security.
https://www.loveliffathome.com/film/court/
Thani Thatuwen Piyabanna (Flying On One Wing)
Director: Asoka Handagama
Starring: Anoma Janadari, Gayani Gisanthika, Mahendra Perera
81 mins | 2003 | Sri Lanka | Recommended Certificate: 15
Sinhala with English subtitles
A married man works as a mechanic in a small Sri Lankan town. His secret know to none but his wife, is that he is actually a woman. One day an accident causes his real gender to be discovered, setting off a chain of events that will change their lives forever. Asoka Handagama’s subversive film, originally banned domestically satirises homophobia and sexual bigotry while serving as a brutal indictment of the sexual harassment experienced by working women in Sri Lanka.
https://www.loveliffathome.com/film/thani-thatuwen-piyabanna-flying-on-one-wing/