Riff Raff

Ahmed Arif / HBO Short Film Competition / Pakistan / 2016 / 15 mins

One evening in upper-middle-class Karachi, a forty-year-old man maneuvers between the deceptive allure of his social scene, and the reality he has at home...

Lens

Jayaprakash Radhakrishnan / Spectrum / India / 2016 / 109 mins

Aravind gets a friend request from ‘Nikky,’ a complete stranger. He accepts it and they begin to video-chat. But the new friend has a bizarre request: to commit suicide while Aravind watches live. Does Aravind have a choice?

A Death in the Gunj

Konkona Sensharma / Opening Night / India / 2016 / 105 mins

Set in 1979, A Death in the Gunj is a coming of age story, about a shy student Shyamal Chatterjee. He uses a family road trip to McCluskiegunj, an old Anglo-Indian town, as an escape from his failed semester. At the outset, the makings of a perfect family holiday are in place but something is amiss. In the week that follows, Shutu's quiet unraveling is overlooked by the family revelers, until the holiday ends with an implosion.

Gardaab

Harune Massey / Centerpiece / Pakistan / 2016 / 93 mins

Set in Karachi, Pakistan, Gardaab(Whirlpool) is an intimate portrait of a city torn by violence. It’s a story of the city’s inhabitants as they navigate through this violence, fighting to preserve their humanity. A gritty fast paced thriller, the film is also a tale of an unlikely romance that blossoms amidst this chaos.

Revelations

Vijay Jayapal / Feature Competition / India / 2016 / 118 mins

A young Tamil woman, grappling with unknown tensions in her four year long marriage, develops a complex relationship with her new neighbor, a middle-aged man, who has a mysterious past of his own. This relationship soon begins to unravel many secrets, which change their lives forever. Set in the fascinating city of Kolkata, the film tries to explore themes such as guilt, redemption and female sexuality in the context of an Indian marriage.

Fri Afterparty @ DL (9:30PM)

Chidiya

Mehran Amrohi / Spectrum / India / 2016 / 112 mins

Two brothers, Shanu and Bua, aged 9 and 7 respectively, live in a chawl in Mumbai with their mother Vaishnavi. In need of money, Vaishnavi asks Bali Bhai, her kind brother-in- law who lives in the same chawl, to get Shanu and Bua a job with him. Bali Bhai, a spot boy in the film industry, takes the boys to his film set where they see the film's hero playing badminton. The kids don't get the job but they do get the shuttlecock and from there set out on a mission to build their own badminton court, buy racquets and play themselves. But sometimes it is the most ordinary, which is the hardest to accomplish.

With You For You Always

Azad Alam / HBO Short Film Competition / India / 2015 / 15 mins

45-year old Gayatri lives with her elderly mother and pet dog, Sweety. Gayatri is haunted by the death of her young daughter, Maya, who was raped and killed. Still searching for justice and living in fear from the gruesome incident, Gayatri takes a bizarre step to avoid and escape any more tragedies.