A look at innovation in South Asian cinema, harnessing the use of AI and other technologies, plus a discussion with industry experts.

The UK and Europe’s first showcase of Indian films, harnessing the use of AI and other new technologies, plus a discussion with industry experts. In partnership with AIFA Ventures, The Consulate of India and Manchester Metropolitan University and supported by the BFI. This daring selection of shorts explores how AI and other technologies are enabling South Asian filmmakers to challenge conventional storytelling forms and centre their heritage. It has been curated by international experts including director Shekhar Kapur. This showcase includes different film genres and film types from science fiction, to love stories, animation to experimental subjects.

After the screening, a group of filmmakers and experts discusses what emerging technologies mean for the next generation of filmmakers in South Asia and the UK, its challenges and opportunities.

This pioneering showcase will feature cutting-edge titles from South Asian and Indian game developers; many being exhibited in the UK for the very first time. Gaming fans will have the exclusive chance to play premium titles never seen outside of India, in a vibrant festival atmosphere that combines gaming with music, community, and nightlife.

Award-winning director Ali El Arabi (Captains of Zaatari) poignant and heart-warming coming of age drama tells the story of Ashish, a reclusive young man, who dreams big, wanting to meet his idol, Messi, at the Football World Cup in Qatar. When he lies to his family, pretending that he was chosen as India’s representative for the Football World Cup, he embarks on a journey that leads him from the peaceful and sheltered bubble of his idyllic Kerala home and doting parents (Adil Hussain & Neha Dhupia) to a stadium worker job backstage, where he learns to face both himself and the world for the first time.

Singer-composer Neel Dutt’s directorial debut revisits the enduring wedding genre by following the Bengali nuptials of Sromona and Rohan, as they bring friends, relatives, and exes under one roof. This sharp ensemble drama peels back the spectacle of celebration to reveal a web of lies, fractures, and quiet disappointments. Witty and emotionally grounded, it offers a contemporary portrait of love, identity, and societal expectation. The film premiered in Paris at the Gange Sur Seine 2025, where it won a Special Jury Award.

In partnership with Baithak UK and Bengal Heritage Foundation.

One of the greatest stage-to-screen adaptations ever – The Mahabharata, is based on the Indian epic, by the legendary British director Peter Brook. A timeless tale of morality, love and warfare, it is re-imagined to encompass all humanity, with a global cast of unforgettable actors. This new 8K restoration of the film version premiered at the Venice Film Festival 2024.

This award-winning film captures the zeitgeist of laid-back student life in a Delhi architecture school during the 1970s. Written by Booker Prize-winner Arundhati Roy (The God of Small Things), who also stars, the film charts the journey of students who come to understand a system that rewards conformity over distinction. Acquiring cult status over the years, the film (which features an early cameo by Shah Rukh Khan) finally received its world premiere at the 2026 Berlin Film Festival and here screens in the UK for the first time.

Restored in 4K by Film Heritage Foundation at L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory in association with the director Pradip Krishen.

Funding provided by Film Heritage Foundation.

In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones was restored using the best surviving elements: the 16 mm original camera negative and sound negative preserved at the NFDC-National Film Archive of India and a 35 mm release print preserved at Film Heritage Foundation.

The original camera negative had colour fading, broken splices, tears, scratches, mould, emulsion damage and previous tape repairs.

Hours of manual work went into the film repair, digital restoration and the colour grading.

Asshole (Gandu) directed by cult Bengali filmmaker called ‘Q’ (Qaushiq Mukherjee) blazed a trail when it was first shown at festivals. Still too outrageous to be openly screened in India, the film, which includes nudity, bad language and sex, tells of a frustrated teenager named Gandu who is a penniless rapper who steals from his family to fuel his drug habit. On discovering he has won the Lottery, he goes on a crazed drug musical bender with bad company, until he realises that his rapping career is taking off. Don’t bring your granny to this screening.

Bengali with English subtitles

This now legendary LGBTQIA+ showcase is back with a fresh crop of inspiring, thought- provoking short films and Q&A discussions. This year, these UK premieres have been programmed in association with Rainbow Noir, Manchester. We have films for all the community, and you’ll have your chance to share your thoughts on these films with engaging discussions afterwards, exploring struggles, joy, empowerment, connection and mental and physical wellbeing.

Too desi Too Queer Short Film Programme

Warm Shadows (Nighiyaan Chhavan)
Dir: Aakash Chhabra | 15 mins | Panjabi
A son returns from abroad only for his mother to reveal a secret she’s been hiding all his life leading to an exploration of longing, memory, and unspoken tensions through the lens of a mother-son relationship.

Ruse
Dir: Rhea Shukla | 10 mins | Hindi, English with English subtitles
On a rainy afternoon, three teenage girls practise a dance that begins to evolve, balancing between innocence and newfound awareness.

A Thing About Kashem
Dir: Bijon Imtiaz | 17 mins | Bengali with English subtitles
A married man’s unexpected bodily reaction, at the wrong time and in the wrong place, plunges him into a midlife crisis, forcing him to confront his identity and desires.

Body of Our Own
Dir: Rahemur Rahman, Lily Vetch | 25 mins | Hindi, English, Bengali with English subtitles
Filmed over the course of six years, this documentary shows the resilience and sisterhood of three Hijra women.

Tara
Dir: Ashutosh S. Shankar | 23 mins | Hindi, English with English subtitles
A Dalit trans woman navigates love and identity after falling for an upper-caste man, forcing her to confront the silence around her caste.

Almari Ka Achaar (Cupboard Pickle)
Dir: Raakesh Rawat | 20 mins | Hindi with English subtitles
In the narrow lanes of Mumbai, two middle-aged migrants from Rajasthan preserve a lifelong love in silence – hidden behind the shelves of a kirana store and sealed inside a pickle jar tucked away in an old cupboard.

This screening will begin at the advertised time with no adverts or trailers.

The Manchester Indian Film Festival is delighted to bring to audiences a selection of brilliant short films from exciting and emerging filmmakers from the UK. From award-winning dramas to insightful documentaries, we’re showcasing a rarely presented slice of life of Asian Britain today. Expect a dynamic discussion with these talented filmmakers on stage.

New Brit Asian Shorts Programme

Party Animal
Dir: Ali Gill | 12 mins | English
A dispirited barber is tormented by the discovery that a beloved local politician is turning into a donkey. Enchanted by the politician’s charm, who will ever believe him?

Leave Me Alone
Dir: Shehroze Khan | 18 mins | English
A British-Pakistani must confront her ancestral trauma head-on when she is haunted by a malevolent spirit seeking retribution for colonial atrocities in British India.

Sweaty Hands
Dir: Amar Singh Sethi | 15 mins | English
A promising young professional’s relentless pursuit of his corporate dream job takes an unexpected turn when he discovers the company’s culture shatters his rose-tinted illusions.

Salt
Dir: Muskaan Razdan | 7 mins | English
After another one of Papa’s outbursts, Tisha and Maa debrief in the kitchen. But Tisha realises that she might not be that different from her father.

Good Behaviour
Dir: Dan Sloan | 16 mins | English
A surreal psychological drama about a tormented prisoner who undergoes an alternative talking therapy to reframe the memories of his crime.

Tell Your Face
Dir: Jill Worsley | 14 mins | English
Haunted by her late mother’s praise of her smooth skin, Chikana hits 30 and begins to obsess over her developing wrinkles. Without the money or motivation for Botox, she concocts an absurd and extreme way to stop them in their tracks.