10th edition of the South Asian Film Festival of Montreal to be held from 19-29 November

The 10th edition of the South Asian Film Festival of Montreal (SAFFMontréal) will be held virtually from 19–29 November. The festival will present films on the lives of South Asians in Canada, the USA, the UK, France, Portugal, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and South Africa. The films will be made available with English and French subtitles.

A statement by the festival organizers on Facebook read, “Earlier this year the pandemic reshaped our lives; 2020 forced us to take tough decisions about how best to adapt to this changing world. The South Asian Film Festival of Montreal has so many perspectives to share and so many powerful immersive stories to tell, that's why we had to go online. This year, like every year, films will bring us all together.”

In addition to screening the films, the festival will organize Q&A sessions between filmmakers and viewers after every screening via Zoom.

Dushyant Yajnik, director of SAFFMontréal, said, “We have selected fiction and documentary films that are about the human condition in all its wonder as well as complexity. They range from the mainstream cinema of South India and of Pakistan, known as Lollywood after the city of Lahore, to the offbeat films known as hatke films — ‘a little different’ in Hindi. From the films of the South Asian diaspora communities in different parts of the world, one gets an appreciation of the joys and struggles of immigrants. These films are our effort to foster multiculturalism and harmony in Canada.”

While the festival is free, viewers need to register to watch the films.

SAFFMontréal is presented by the Kabir Centre for Arts & Culture, a charitable organization promoting various art forms and activities such as music, dance, cinema, literature and poetry. The opening film of the festival is the documentary Behind The Bhangra Boys by Nance Ackerman, which is a joyous look at culture, immigration, activism and community through the experience of the Maritime Bhangra Group, a Bhangra dance team of five Sikh immigrants on Canada’s East Coast who dance to raise funds for charities.

The short film Balakrishna by Colin MacKenzie and Aparna Kapur will be screened before the opening film. Blending animation and archival material, Balakrishna is the bittersweet love story of a boy and an abused creature in a foreign land. 

Other films in the festival selection include Eeb Allay Ooo! (2017) by Prateek Vats, Kaala (Black) by Tarun Jain, Uyare (2019) by Manu Ashokan, Run Kalyani (2019) by Geetha J, Dry Leaves by Ali Sohail Jaura, Widow of Silence by Praveen Morchhale and Aamis (2019) by Bhaskar Hazarika.