Projects in genres: Asian

Synopsis

Go ‘Behind the Counter’ and into the lives of the Dhaliwal family who run a small corner shop in the West Midlands. This film is a celebration of the 35 years of running a shop but also captures the family legacy.

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Nik auditions for a radical retelling of the British Asian classic 'East is East', and soon begins to wonder if everyone around him is also stuck in the past.

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In a small provincial Iranian town, the children work hard to support their families. One day nine-year-old Yahya and his friend Leyla find a precious statue. Sharing a passion for cinema, Yahya's boss Nasser Khan (Reza Naji) decides to help them find the owner.

Synopsis

Anamika Fields is the daughter of an Englishman and an Indian woman. Her mother, Sadhana Tripathi, left behind a career as a Hindustani classical vocalist of great promise to marry her father and move to the UK. Her father died when Anamika was ten, leaving Sadhana, who never wanted to be a parent, who never wanted to live in England, to bring up her only daughter. Twenty-five years later, Sadhana is suffering from the onset of dementia, a situation exacerbated by Sadhana’s reluctance to leave the house she has worked so hard for, Ana’s own precarious financial and professional circumstances, and the cost of specialised care. Mother and daughter, strangers for over a decade, find themselves thrown together once again after all this time. This has always been a difficult, damaging relationship. Some of it was a by-product of their circumstance. And some of it was absolutely deliberate. Anamika is forced to become several things, all at once: she is daughter and mother, care-giver and secretary and detective, shield and scalpel. Around her, in the neighbourhood she escaped, Anamika begins to discover a woman she never knew at home, alive in memory, in anecdote, in music she doesn’t understand.

Synopsis

Simmy, a modern Punjabi bride has had an arranged marriage. When her new husband, Raj does a runner after the ceremony, Simmy has no choice but to preserve family honour and start a life without her husband in bleak Britain. As Simmy tries to understand this new world, Harry, Raj’s wayward younger brother turns up from prison for home detention. Harry, condescending towards his new sister-in-law refuses to play by the rules. Both are imprisoned in the old house with Simmy having difficulty speaking English and Harry refusing to speak Punjabi. Despite her efforts, nothing seems to unite this dysfunctional family, so Simmy unhappily writes a letter home. When Simmy’s distant relatives turnup, Simmy makes a bargain with her mother-in-law: in return for keeping up appearances, Simmy’s passport is returned and she starts nursing training. An innocent love story unfolds crossing the boundaries of culture and language. As the search for Raj intensifies, Harry breaks curfew and takes Simmy on a romantic trip. Just as Harry finds the courage to tell Simmy how he feels, Raj returns to uphold his wedding vows. Must Simmy be the forgiving Indian wife that her community expects her to be and accept him?

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This story is about a 5-year-old deaf and dumb girl Sara and her family situation; how her brother gets kidnapped and how she helps UK police with some clues to find the kidnapper.

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A normal journey of a London bus driver transforms into a living nightmare as he finds himself in the middle of a terrorist stand-off between his panic consumed passengers. Lives hang in the balance as he tries to desperately negotiate his way out of the quagmire.

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Thirty something Indian sisters Rumi and Nina journey to London in pursuit of their music dream. But working at an Indian Takeaway wasn’t part of the plan.

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Experiencing their son’s life after his unnatural death while navigating their failing marriage; mourning parents Mira and Pradeep cannot overcome their grief but start to build their lives around it.

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Non-binary Japanese-Irish drag artist ShayShay storms the UK’s cabaret scene with a gender-diverse, Pan-Asian collective to dismantle racial stereotypes with love and glitter.

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DUST & METAL (CAT BUI & KIM LOAI) brings together for the first time a live cinema documentary featuring past and present stories of freedom in Vietnam. With a population of 97 million, and 45 million registered motorbikes (the highest in South East Asia) that’s almost one bike for every two people. The urban roads and ‘hem’ alleys are only accessible by two-wheels. These roads are awash with the transportation of goods of all types and sizes on the back of motorbikes, including washing machines, entire families, and chickens. The sounds of engines and horns create a symphony of Vietnamese life. In a unique partnership with the Vietnam Film Institute, archive film is edited alongside contemporary footage and a live score composed/performed by Vietnamese artist Xo Xinh. Official Selection Sheffield DocFest 2022 - Rhythms - World premiere

Synopsis

When a mysterious gatecrasher appears at their wedding, Madhav and Sufi are forced to face past secrets and reflect on what makes a family.