‘What Will People Say’ by Iram Haq will be the opening film of the festival.
The four-day Dallas-Fort Worth South Asian Film Festival (DFW SAFF), which showcases features, short films and documentaries promoting the perspectives and voices of the South Asian community, will be held from February 8 to 11.
“This is our most ambitious, comprehensive and well-balanced programming to date; it is also the most number of international premieres we have had at our festival,” said Jithin Hingorani, the founder and the festival director, in a press release.
“Our major programming themes include: father/son and father/daughter stories, films with children as central characters and portraits of South Asian families living and working in Europe,” he added.
What Will People Say, directed by Iram Haq, will be the opening film of the festival. It will be the US premiere of the movie, which has Adil Hussain and Maria Mozhdah in lead roles.
Abu, a personal documentary of Arshad Khan, will have its Dallas premiere at the festival.
The International Premiere of Marathi film Chumbak (The Lottery) will be featured as the closing movie.
“We are thrilled about our partnership with DFW SAFF,” said Ipsita Dasgupta, president of Hotstar International, the lead sponsor of the festival.
“We think the Dallas/Fort Worth audience will truly engage with our content,” Dasgupta said. “Hotstar is a premium destination for Indian films, television serials, documentaries and sports. And we are proud to be screening our CinePlay Dance Like A Man, as part of the festival’s programming to give viewers a taste of the original content on our digital platform.”
Here is the complete lineup of this year’s films:
Thursday, February 8th: Highland Park Village Theater, Dallas
6 to 7 p.m. – Cocktail Reception/Pakistani Programming begins at 7:15 p.m.
MEHRAM (Short Film)
WHAT WILL PEOPLE SAY (Opening Night Feature Film)
Red Carpet & After-Party at Bistro 31
Friday, February 9th: AMC Village on the Parkway, Addison
6:30 p.m.
Hotstar’s Cineplay: DANCE LIKE A MAN (Arts Programming)
Q&A with Actress Suchitra Pillai and Hotstar Spokesperson (TBD)
8:30 p.m.
LOVE AND SHUKLA (Valentine’s Day Love Programming – Feature Film)
Q&A with Director Siddartha Jatla
Valentine’s Day After-Party (TBD)
Saturday, February 10th: AMC Village on the Parkway, Addison Noon
ASK THE SEXPERT (Documentary)
1:30 p.m.: LGBTQ Shorts Programming
AARSA
SISAK
DEVI
KHOL
MAACHER JHOL
Q&A with actress Priyanka Bose, actor Shawn Parikh and director Faraz Mariam Arif Ansari
3:15 p.m.: Indo-European Programming
LA LUNE FOLLE (French Short Film)
BABYLON SISTERS (Italian Feature Film)
5 p.m.: Indo-Western Programming
FIVE O’CLOCK SHADOW (Short Film)
THE VALLEY (Feature Film)
Q&A with director Sangeeta Agrawal, director Saila Kariat & actress Suchitra Pillai
7:15 p.m.: Centerpiece Programming
ABU (Documentary)
Q&A with director Arshad Khan
After-Party at Saffron House
Sunday, February 11th: AMC Village on the Parkway, Addison
Noon: Education/Family Programming
MEDIUM (Short Film)
DHH (Feature Film)
2:45 p.m.
BHASMASUR (Feature Film)
Q&A with director Nishil Sheth
4:30 p.m.
CHUMBAK (Closing Night Feature Film)
Q&A with director Sandeep Modi, actor Swanand Kirkire and producer Naren Kumar
7 p.m. onwards – Closing Night Party (by invitation only)