Filmi 23!
Filmi Toronto’s South Asian Film Festival – 23 Years!
December 6th – 7th, 2025
Stay tuned for some great films!
21st Filmi: Toronto’s South Asian film festival
Harbourfront Centre
 |
Click here to Reply or Forward
|
Type: image
0 Bad Boys Video
The BAD BOY visuals play on the idea that you should never judge a book by its cover. The story follows a “Bad Boy” and his seemingly suspicious activities. Questionable intentions, a woman being misled, and a twist at the end to remind the audience that all is not what it seems.
The underlying purpose of this video is to attack the stereotype that has arisen around South Asian males in Metro Vancouver. With an increase in gang violence amongst this population, blanket stereotypes are beginning to emerge. This video’s message aims to curtail those stereotypes.
“Bad Boy”, GPS’s third single of their most recent album “Tonight.” The track features vocals from up-and-coming Indo-Canadian recording artist Anjali.
GPS would like to thank desiFEST music, Creative BC and the Province of British Columbia for helping make this project possible, and of course you for taking the time to watch, listen and share. Download the mp3 for free here:
https://www.globalpartystarters.com/badboy/
Share this:
0 Green
Synopsis:
Avani is a shy 28-year-old on a desperate mission to lose her virginity before her more worldly 18-year-old cousin Alisha does.
Director:
Shetu Modi is a writer, director and editor based in Toronto. She holds a bachelor of fine arts in film production and a master of arts in journalism.
Shetu’s documentary Drape, Tuck, Pleat was featured by Brown Girl Magazine. Her first narrative short, Hot Air, screened at festivals in Toronto and Los Angeles in 2016. Her second narrative short The Pits screened at 14 festivals and won three audience choice awards. Shetu also shoots and edits the web series Smita’s Eats, starring her mom, and is currently developing the fiction web series Green. She is available for freelance fiction film editing.
Shetu has worked as a video producer and editor at the Canadian Press since 2010, where she has covered the Toronto International Film Festival for the past five years. She was the recipient of a Digital Publishing Award in 2017.
Share this:
0 Lake Shore Drive
Title: Lake Shore Drive
Premiere: Toronto Premiere | Country: Canada | Year: 2018 | Runtime: 1.24
Synopsis:
Rohan Fernandez finds a new lease on post-prison life with the help of Alice Brinkley, his social worker and Linda, his dog. A universal love story inspired by a real incident.
Director:
Writer:
Share this:
0 About The Sharma’s
Share this:
0 Arithmetic
Share this:
0 Loretta’s flowers
SYNOPSIS
Loretta’s Flowers is a queer character drama about a persistent and insatiable hunger for connection, even in the face of diverse social abundance. During the course of a long summer’s day in Toronto, a young woman named Loretta cycles between increasingly intimate encounters with three strikingly different people, and yet still goes home lonely and unsatisfied.
First, she meets Camille, a recent transplant to Toronto from Winnipeg, at a patio bar in Kensington Market. Camille earnestly tries to initiate conversation, eager to make a friend in her new city, but Loretta struggles to reciprocate, seeming irresolute and unresponsive to cues. Camille grows confused, and Loretta eventually resigns herself to the limitations of their interaction. Heading out of the downtown, Loretta stops outside the home of Bailey, an aging part time punk rocker.
While Bailey initially assumes a paternal role for Loretta during a somewhat familiar conversation, she hints at a desire for deeper rapport. When Bailey seems to ignore her signals, they share a moment of physical affection that complicates the nature of their relationship, and the certainty of Loretta’s sexual orientation.
Finally, we find Loretta in the bed of another woman, Frances, shortly after making love. Reduced to trying to rouse her attention by tracing lines in Frances’ back with a pointed finger, Loretta is at a low moment, feeling a million miles away. Frances, in her efforts to reassure Loretta, only exacerbates things. But, their level of personal familiarity implies a longer term relationship, which makes the nature of Loretta’s previous encounters more obscure.
Brendan Prost
Share this:
0 Do we belong?
An Indian immigrant in Kansas is shot and killed in a senseless hate crime, leaving his wife to grapple with the question of whether America is truly her home.
Director:
Sofian Khan
Share this:
0 Maternal
·
Synopsis:
As a young Canadian-born daughter waits for acceptance to her dream arts program, her
excitement turning to despondence as time goes on, her Caribbean mother must make a heartwrenching
decision to make sure her daughter escapes the cycle of poverty the two are caught in.
DIRECTOR
ANDREW SIMPSON
After completing the film production program at Confederation College, Andrew has gone on to work in the film industry in a myriad of different roles ranging from on set work to behind the scenes as a CSR at William F White. Select filmography includes directing Ils L’ont Pendu, working as Director of Photography on Bondage Prison and 1st assistant director on films The Railpath Hero, Esmerelda’s Castle and Melissa! Before Maternal, Hey Abbott! was Andrew’s latest directorial effort currently in festivals.
WRITER
RICHARD YOUNG
Richard is a South Asian-Canadian screenwriter/actor and an alumnus of both the Writers’ Guild of Canada Bell Media Diverse Screenwriting Program and the Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) Kid’s TV Writing Bootcamp. He has written for the television cartoon 16 Hudson (TVO), co-created/wrote the digital series Sudden Master (OMNI/Rogers) and created the digital sketch series Off2Kali which screened at ReelWorld. Richard’s acting credits include the feature The History Of Love (acting opposite Sir Derek Jacobi), Taken (NBC), My Secret Valentine (Hallmark), Kim’s Convenience(CBC), Incorporated (SyFy) and The Strain (FX). Instagram/Twitter: @RichardYoungRY
Share this:
0 Blindspot
Blindspots
Genre : Drama
Length : 5 min 51 secs
Synopsis
A woman in her 30s left astounded when bitter truths about her so-called perfect life revealed in an unforeseen encounter
Director’s Bio :
Manu is a Toronto based filmmaker pursuing his passion for creative and artistic expression showcasing characters relative to our heart from day to day life. His debut into film making started with an award winning short It’s Within which was selected as a finalist and screened at 30+ film festivals across the globe
Being born and brought up in India, he brings rich set of cultural and diverse experience along with his life experiences of living in US for the past 10 years. His background in psychology reflects in the thoughts, ideas and representation of himself and his stories.
Attached the posted and Director’s pic
Share this:
0 Cake and Insulin
Title: Cake and Insulin
Premiere: Toronto Premiere | Country: Canada | Year: 2018 | Runtime: 7:16
A diabetic family physician is stopped by his nephew when he wants to eat a slice of cake.
Director: Haaris Qadri
Haaris Qadri is currently in his fourth year studying film production at York University. Inspired by his community, he aims to showcase narratives currently underrepresented in mainstream media.
This is a personal short film- almost entirely based on an experience with my uncle. Imran is directly based on my uncle (and is played by him) being a family physician and a diabetic he is aware of his dietary restrictions but persists on making his own lifestyle choices. With this film I aim to share a personal film and preserve memories of my uncle as well as presenting core themes and issues which exist in South Asian households using comedic accents. Ultimately I want the film to feel universal with audiences being able to directly relate to this experience with family members.
Share this:
0 Dust to Dust
Title: Dust to Dust
Premiere: Toronto Premiere | Country: Canada | Year: 2018 | Runtime: 12.16
Dust to Dust touches upon the fundamental truth of life – death – and the eternal human quest to transcend it. In the ageless city of Lahore, Pakistan, it is business as usual for Ashraf as he digs yet another grave. His work as a gravedigger requires him to deal with death on a daily basis. Nevertheless, as he digs deeper, he grows firmer in his resolve to rise above darkness.
Director:
Mahnoor Zaidi
Director’s Biography: Mahnoor Zaidi is a director(film and theatre), writer, actor and a producer from Pakistan. She studied film production at York University, Toronto, graduating in 2017. Since a young age, she has started making content that has made an impact on the society. Among her accolades are achieving a semi-finalist position in the Student Oscars, best documentary awards and many official selections in Film festivals.
Share this:
0 Becoming Leela
Title: Becoming Leela
Premiere: Toronto Premiere | Country: Canada | Year: 2018 | Runtime: 11
Becoming Leela is a coming of age story of a closeted yet feisty teenager, Leela, living with her high-handed all knowing mother who wants her daughter to fit herself into social gender expectations. Rejecting all of her mother’s opinions, Leela looks forward to leaving her home in Delhi to go to university in the west with her secret girlfriend where she could be free of all that limits her. Things don’t work out according to Leela’s plan, yet finds herself in Toronto on her own with a chance at a new life. In her new world she is confronted with the losses she has had to bear to get a chance at a different life. In her quest for freedom, she finds a new connection to her mother and a home in herself.
Director Biography – AJ
AJ is a queer brown immigrant & third culture kid. They have often been drawn to exploring themes about survival, revival, healing, journeys, and home.
AJ is an avid fiction reader and TV watcher. Their taste ranges from Nnedi Okorafor’s Who Fears Death to Gossip Girl. They love dancing, fashion and dreaming about beaches.
Share this:
0 Candyland
Title: CANDYLAND
Premiere: Toronto Premiere | Country: Canada | Year: 2018 | Runtime: 10
Clementine finds herself trapped in a dollhouse-like room adorned with treats, trinkets and plenty of hard candies. Her only companion is Rosemary, an unsettling young girl that deeply cares for Clementine and wants to keep her safe forever within this candy-coloured purgatory
Director Biography – Simone Swaby
Simone Swaby is a Jamaican-Canadian York University film student from Toronto, Canada. She has been enamoured with the power of images since a young age. Thus, she continues the challenge herself and her crew to make visually rich and thematically relevant films.
Share this:
0 Working Lunch
Title: Working Lunch
Premiere: Toronto Premiere | Country: Canada | Year: 2018 | Runtime: 12
Synopsis:
A regular work day for an Indian-American, a queer professional, and a Trump voter is changed when they find someone has scrawled graffiti on their lunch restaurant. They come together to remove the message of hate themselves with a unique solution.
Director:
Shilpa Sunthankar is a screenwriter, director, and producer with an affinity for stories about different cultures in coexistence, thanks to her background as an Indian-American woman raised in the “cowboy country” of Colorado. Her experience has spanned the worlds of independent film, animation, and commercials, as well as creative agencies like Wieden + Kennedy and Ziba. She was awarded Best Director at the Los Angeles FirstGlance Film Festival for her short thriller, The Company of Thieves, which was also licensed by the ShortsHD Channel and launched on IndieFlix. Her award-winning short, Biography of an American Hostess, was licensed by the Canadian Broadcast Corporation. Shilpa graduated with honors from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts after interning for BBC London, and attending the 35mm Filmmaking Master Class at FAMU in Prague. She now lives in Portland, Oregon and is working to direct her first feature, Continental Divide, an outdoor thriller taking place on the U.S.- Mexico border.
Links:
http://www.pushstartpictures.com
http://www.facebook.com/WorkingLunchShortFilm
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6974054
Share this:
0 Stall
Title: Stall
Premiere: Toronto Premiere | Country: Canada | Year: 2018 | Runtime: 2
Synopsis: An office worker is surprised by an unwelcome visitor at the worst time.
Director: Elvis Deane makes things. He has directed the feature films Separation Anxiety (2014) and The Ex (2018). His short films include Blindfold (2017), Automate (2017), and Deadline Dawn (2015).
Share this:
0 Heart
Title: Heart
Premiere: Toronto Premiere | Country: Canada | Year: 2018 | Runtime: 8
On a day filled with great news a couple waits for the perfect moment to celebrate.
SYNOPSIS- Monica and Kevin are a happily married couple dreaming of building a family together. But Kevin has been out of work and their finances are strained. Monica finds out that she’s pregnant with their first child. She day dreams about what their family might look like but she doesn’t know how they’ll manage if Kevin is out of work.
Director: Julie Brar
Julie Brar was born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Julie went to theatre school in Los Angeles. She has split her time between L.A, Toronto and Vancouver. Julie is a Toronto based actor, writer and producer who works in film, television and theatre.
Share this:
0 Trust issues
Title: Trust Issues
Premiere: Toronto Premiere | Country: Canada | Year: 2018 | Runtime: 4
Share this:
0 Priya
Title: Priya
Premiere: Toronto Premiere | Country: Canada | Year: 2018 | Runtime: 8
Priya, a timid high school graduate, struggles to find balance between appeasing her conservative Indian mother and preventing her secret relationship with Ashley from falling apart.
Director(s):
Daniela Pinto
Kyle Smith
Share this:
0 Raising the Bar
Title: Raising the Bar
Premiere: Toronto Premiere | Country: Canada | Year: 2018 | Runtime: 8
Uh oh! Neil Daffodil doesn’t know how to flirt, so he goes on an epic quest to learn the sacred art. Shot on iPhone SE with Filmic Pro, edited in Final Cut Pro X. Audio recorded on a Zoom H5. Special thanks to STACK and Capo Salerno in Toronto.
Director:
Satraj Bajaj is an Indian-born Canadian writer/director living in Toronto, Canada. Satraj started his filmmaking career in middle school, making LEGO stop-motion films with his friends during lunch break. He continued on to make several live-action films throughout middle school and high school, and attends George Brown College for Video Design and Production. He is most notable for his fondness of time-travel stories, his obsessive attention to audio clarity and video stability, and his repeated (and ongoing) use of Neel Soman as an actor in his films.
Share this:
0 To No Man’s Land
Title: To No Man’s Land
Premiere: Toronto Premiere | Country: Canada | Year: 2018 | Runtime: 12
When a catastrophic attack puts a peaceful galactic nation on the brink of war, a lowly Scout is sent to an isolated planet to obtain the whereabouts of the one man who may know who committed the attack. But he quickly finds out, that there are other players in the game, trying to incite a war between the peaceful factions in the universe.
Director Biography – Khizer Khani
Khizer is a Pakistani director, screenwriter, and editor based in Toronto, Canada. He studied as an Engineer before making the switching to Digital Media. In the midst his switch in programs he started to get into storytelling. From writing short stories to novellas, we loved to write. He eventually fell into writing screenplays and eventually started to direct the stories he would write.
Share this:
0 Dark Nun
Title: Dark Nun
Premiere: Theatrical Premiere | Country: Canada | Year: 2018 | Runtime: 5
Synopsis: A Priest receives a letter from a Dark Nun with the words “Help Me” written in Blood!
Director Bio:
Sarvan Singh is a Writer, Producer, and Director. He is operating Dalewood Productions since 2010. Sarvan Singh has always enjoyed film-making. In fact, by the time he was 4 years old, he had already been acting in student films . Soon afterwards Sarvan Singh began writing, filming and directing his own films. After graduating in 2008 from the Toronto Film School; Sarvan went on to direct, edit and shoot projects from around the world. Some big names include Netflix, HBO, Worldstar Hiphop, Weedmaps, just to name a few..
Share this:
0 ClownLove
Title: Clown Love
Premiere: Theatrical Premiere | Country: Canada | Year: 2018 | Runtime: 11
Synopsis: Its the night of the big dance and Randy is ready to ask the girl of his dreams Jane Wilkson to be his date. Unfortunately for Randy Jane doesn’t feel the same way and after a bitter rejection and being called a clown the dark demons of Randy consume his innocence.
Director Bio:
Sarvan Singh is a Writer, Producer, and Director. He is operating Dalewood Productions since 2010. Sarvan Singh has always enjoyed film-making. In fact, by the time he was 4 years old, he had already been acting in student films . Soon afterwards Sarvan Singh began writing, filming and directing his own films. After graduating in 2008 from the Toronto Film School; Sarvan went on to direct, edit and shoot projects from around the world. Some big names include Netflix, HBO, Worldstar Hiphop, Weedmaps, just to name a few..
23rd Filmi: Toronto's South Asian Film Festival Dec 6-7 2025 