Indie Meme, Day by Day
Two weekends of the best of South Asian Cinema
By Trace Sauveur, Fri., April 9, 2021
Friday, April 16
7:30pm: Shut Up Sona (D: Deepti Gupta, 85 min., Texas Premiere) Sly documentary about singer Sona Mohapatra, who takes on a battle with a misogynist culture. Post-screening Q&A with Gupta.
Saturday, April 17
noon: Shorts Showcase I – In Lockdown
4pm: Hava Maryam Ayesha (D: Sahraa Karimi, 83 min., Texas Premiere) The story of three pregnant women in Kabul, each facing newfound cultural challenges. Postscreening Q&A with Karimi. Screens with "Anita."
7:30pm: Nasir (D: Arun Karthick, 85 min., Texas Premiere) A day-in-the-life turns dire after an act of bigotry. Screens with "Nooreh."
10pm: Nirvana Inn (D: Vijay Jayapal, 115 min., Texas Premiere) Psychological horror film following a resort caretaker as faces from his past begin to check in. Post-screening Q&A with Jayapal.
Sunday, April 18
noon: Rituals of Resistance (D: Joy Dietrich and Tenzin Phuntsog, 63 min., Texas Premiere) Documentary depicts the varying ways Tibetan refugees respond to decades of Chinese occupation.
3pm: Shorts Showcase II – Youth Special
7:30pm: Bulbul (D: Binod Paudel, 116 min., World Premiere) Love is in the air as a tempo driver falls for a new man after the disappearance of her husband six years prior. Post-screening Q&A with Paudel. Screens with "The Last Rights."
Friday, April 23
7:30pm: Veyilmarangal (Trees Under the Sun) (D: Bijukumar Damodaran, 108 min., U.S. Premiere) A family flees their home after a disastrous flood and must adjust to a new way of life as guards of an apple orchard in the Himalayan Mountains.
Saturday, April 24
4pm: Shorts Showcase III – In Your Head
7:30pm: Seven and a Half (D: Navid Mahmoudi, 75 min., Texas Premiere) Episodic feature of seven girls who must contend with struggles involving marriage and independence. Post-screening Q&A with Mahmoudi. Screens with "Dry Leaves."
10pm: Trijya (Radius) (D: Akshay Indikar, 91 min., Texas Premiere) A disillusioned horoscope writer attempts to come of age and unearth his true purpose.
Sunday, April 25
3pm: Shorts Showcase IV – True to You
6:30pm: Zindagi Tamasha (D: Sarmad Sultan Khoosat, 138 min., U.S. Premiere) After having contentious personal details exposed, the life of a pious Muslim man is thrown into disarray as his devotion is called into question.
Indie Meme Virtual Festival 2021, April 16-18 and 23-25. All titles are geolocked to the U.S. badges, party info, and more details are found at www.indiememe.org.
