10th Anniversary of the Indian Film Festival of Houston

IFFH_IN01HOUSTON: Celebrate the diverse films and filmmakers of India and the Diaspora at the 10th Anniversary of the Indian Film Festival of Houston. Voted “Best Film Festival of Houston” by Houston Press, the Indian Film Festival of Houston, Inc. (IFFH) has partnered with Asia Society Texas Center for the festival’s 10th anniversary.

Thursday, October 4, 2018

4 p.m. | Cocktail Reception and Entertainment

5:15 p.m.Once Again (Feature Film), followed by a Q&A Session
Director: Kanwal Sethi | Duration: 99 minutes | Language: Hindi (English subtitles)
Starring: Shefali Shah, Neeraj Kabi, Bhagwan Tiwari, Rasika Dugal
An aging actor gets involved with the widowed woman who caters his meals at home and how their social divide tells on their relationship. Once they meet, their relationship escalates, causing hardship for her and embarrassment for him. How they resolve their relationship is the question.

7:20 p.m. | Sound Proof (Short Film)
Director: Aditya Kelgoankar | Duration: 30 minutes | Language: Hindi (English subtitles)
Starring: Soha Ali Khan, Vinay Pathak
A young divorced woman rents an apartment in Mumbai hoping for a new beginning in life. She soon finds herself caught up in a maze of peculiar neighbors, strange occurrences, and a loud blaring TV from a mysterious apartment.

7:50 p.m.Shalom Bollywood: The Untold Story of Indian Cinema (Documentary Film)
Director: Danny Ben-Moshe | Duration: 75 minutes | Language: English
SHALOM BOLLYWOOD reveals the unlikely story of the 2,000-year-old Indian Jewish community and its formative place in shaping the world’s largest film industry. When Indian cinema began 100 years ago, it was taboo for Hindu and Islamic women to perform on screen, so Indian Jewish women took on female lead roles, which they dominated for decades. Infused with music and dancing, the film focuses on the lives of five of the great Jewish actors.

 

Friday, October 5, 2018

4 p.m. | Cocktail Reception and Entertainment

5:15 p.m.Shame (Short Film), followed by a Q&A Session
Director: Anusha Bose | Duration: 24 minutes | Language: Hindi (English subtitles)
Starring: Swara Bhaskar, Anusha Bhaskar, Ranvir Shorey, Sayani Gupta, Tara Sharma, Cyrus Sahukar, Seema Bhargava Pahwa
SHAME is the twisted journey of a meek, vulnerable woman who emerges from the background to unapologetically reclaim her dignity, confidence, and her right to desire. A guest at a posh hotel fires a housekeeping staff whom he catches trying on his girlfriend’s lingerie. This dark comedy explores the thin line between the two worlds: the halves from the have-nots.

6 p.m.The Music Teacher (Feature Film)
Director: Sarthak Dasgupta | Duration: 109 minutes | Language: Hindi (English subtitles)
Starring: Divya Dutta, Neena Gupta, Manav Kaul, Amrita Bagchi, Niharika Lyra Dutt
Beni is a small-town teacher struggling to make ends meet by teaching music and singing in clubs. Jyotsna, his estranged student, has become a celebrity singer in Bollywood. When the town comes alive with the news of Jyotsna coming back for a day to sing in a big music concert, Beni has to come to terms with the pains of his past as well as the delusions of his present.

8 p.m.Purdah (Documentary Film)
Director: Jeremy Guy | Duration: 71 minutes | Language: Hindi (English subtitles)
The inspiring story of a young Indian woman who trades her burka for dreams of playing on the Mumbai Senior Women’s Cricket Team and how the harsh realities for women in her country create an unexpected outcome for her own family, ultimately shattering and fueling aspirations.

For details about IFFH visit https://iffhinc.org/, for tickets visit http://asi.as/IFFH2018