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.

Precedes: Maroon

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...

Preceded by: Mantra

Veham

Hassan Amin / HBO Short Film Competition / Pakistan / 2016 / 14 mins

After waking up in an obscure room with no memory, MUNTAZIR finds a letter and, following its instructions, sets off only to find himself lost in the middle of nowhere. He asks the mysterious JABBAR for directions who again pops up when Muntazir reaches his destination. The two develop an uncanny companionship with Muntazir opening up to his new friend. As more envelopes are delivered, Muntazir fights to regain his memory about where he is and who exactly is Jabbar.

Precedes: Autohead

Sherry

Altamash Jaleel / HBO Short Film Competition / India / 2016 / 15 mins

In the grungy, cacophonous dressing room of a lower Mumbai theatre, Prahlad, a method actor, struggles to ‘get into character’. When Prahlad's make-up artist fails to appear, Sherry steps in as a replacement to work on the main, frustrated star. Forewarned that he could aggravate Prahlad, Sherry finds himself in the crossfire between Prahlad and the rest of the room -- a risk, that threatens not only to injure him, but turn him inside out, and relive a past so secret, it could only have hidden backstage.

Precedes: The Tiger Hunter

Chutney

Jyothi Kapur Das / HBO Short Film Competition / India / 2016 / 17 mins

Meet Vanita & Virendra who are the toast of Model Town. Rasika, the vivacious newly-married girl into their social circle, flirts with the suave, successful Virendra. The plain, naive, small-town wife, Vanita invites her over to share her recipes and kitchen secrets. And, with them, the secrets that lie beneath calm faces and ordinary exteriors ooze out, as well.

Precedes: Revelations