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
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0 Slumgods
Slumgods – Anuj Rastogi
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0 The Village Way – Wilbur Sagunaraj
The Village Way – Wilbur Sagunaraj
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0 Post Mortem
Post Mortem
Story: An amateur Model who is getting ready for her audition, experiences the supernatural.
Produced by: Sarvan Singh (sarvan@dalewoodproductions.com)
Written & Directed by: Ryan Golding
Starring: Sachel Metoo, RInya Cyrus, Rick Gomes, Sonali Jain, Connielee Ann Bovington, Abbas PJ, Micheal Cheung
Sound Recording: Derek Lukosius
Make Up: Ashley PV
Production Team: Kelly Kalyan, Manvir Sandhu, Jeff Moghadam, Jason Fyfe
Executive Producers: Manjit K Singh, Sanj Sharma, Sarbjit Saroya
Special Thanks: Red Rose Banquet Hall
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0 Teacher in a Box
Teacher in a Box
The School for Innovation was founded by a corporation determined to rebound our national economy by teaching design thinking to teenagers and putting the most promising prototypes into production. Here, a jaded teacher is coming to terms with being replaced by a digital avatar of herself. But when an abused teenage girl develops a design for a new product that stands to make millions for the corporation, the teacher must protect the girl’s best interests.
Director: Tanuj Chopra
Tanuj Chopra’s first feature film PUNCHING AT THE SUN about South Asian teenagers coming of age in Elmhurst, Queens premiered at Sundance, Tribeca and won the grand jury prize at the San Francisco International Asian American Film festival. Variety called the fiery debut “Distinctive, original and iconoclastic.” Other award winning titles he’s directed include Butterfly, Clap Clap, Carbon Dated and the ITVS Futurestates film PIA about a runaway genderbending android. He is also the co-writer, director, and editor of the popular episodic female comedy mini-series NICE GIRLS CREW starring Sheetal Sheth, Michelle Krusiec and Lynn Chen.
Tanuj is currently working on industrial and independent projects like crowd-funded indie feature NATURE BOY, Brown girl stoner comedy GRASS, and the VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS development grant for the anti Silicon Valley story CHEE and T.
In his downtime, he facilitates the NEW VOICES FOR YOUTH filmmaking initiative, a program dedicated to empowering creativity and civic engagement for teenagers. He holds a BA in Art Semiotics from Brown University and an MFA in film direction from Columbia University where he was awarded the Dean’s Fellowship.
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0 Rani
RANI (Queen) 2015 |
Synopsis
A troubled doctor tries to solve the mystery of a missing patient scared for her life!
Doctor Rogers is late for work as usual… Suffering from a divorce and alcohol abuse ‘The Doctor’ barely gets through his day. After closing up and canceling all his plans Doctor Rogers to his surprise finds a lonely Indian women crying in the examination room. Trying to translate the teenage Immigrant from Canada proves to be difficult but he discovers she’s in fear for her life! After being distracted by a loud bang at the front of the hospital The Doctor returns to find Rani (the Indian women) Missing. The next day Dr. Rogers and his staff track down the patient and discover Rani Lall could not have been the patient from last night….because she died six months ago…
Trailer
https://vimeo.com/user4477410/review/122148342/7905fbf0ed
Production
Sanj Sharma
ProducerGender: M
Sarvan Singh
DirectorDalewood Productions
Sanj Sharma
Writer
David Brandon George
Lead ActorGender: M
Elizabeth Harden
SupportingGender: F
Gursharan Mann
SupportingGender: M
Jyoti Grewal
SupportingGender: F
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0 Entrain
ENTRAIN
Laurent is a lonely French-Canadian student who spends his daily commutes air
drumming to the music on his iPod. This attracts the attention of another drummer,
Method – an East-African immigrant. Realizing their shared passion for rhythm, Method
initiates a drumming lesson on the packed subway, one that breaks language and
cultural barriers.
ELAINE POON (Director, Executive Producer) is a Toronto-based director and art
director for commercials, short films and music videos. She graduated with honours
from the renowned School of Image Arts at Ryerson University, where she received the
Errol Aspevig Award, and the Universal Studios Scholarship in Filmmaking. Her thesis
film Amalgamations went on to win the Best International Student Film at the Canada
International Film Festival and screened at Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner. Her
award-winning works have screened at dozens of film festivals across the globe.
ADRIEN BENSON (Writer, Director, Executive Producer) is an award-winning
playwright, actor, musician and filmmaker. Raised fully bilingual, his work has been
recognized and awarded for the successful integration of both French and English
culture. He is currently based in Toronto, where he most recently completed an
International Baccalaureate in Sociology at York University. In 2013, he was awarded
both the writing and directing award for his play, NOUGHT AT THE OPERA, which
premiered at the Glendon College Theatre Festival.
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0 While you were Sleeping
Film: “While You Were Sleeping” (2015)
Runtime: 9:23
Synopsis
“While You Were Sleeping” is a father’s heartfelt poetic tribute to his baby boy, and hopeful wish for a better tomorrow for our future generations. An avid spoken word artist and writer, “While You Were Sleeping” marks a milestone in Anuj’s musical storytelling, as well as reflecting the realizations about the world around us through the eyes of a father.
“While You Were Sleeping” was written one morning in Toronto, after watching my son sleeping in his crib. I thought about him, and my daughter, and all the things I wish this world would be, and could be, for them. It’s really the simple dream of any father to have their child wake up to a world that is better than the one before them”.
“While You Were Sleeping” features Anuj’s spoken word narration against music composed for the piece. The official video, shot, edited and composited by Anuj, takes you through the journey of a world evolving to a better future as his son sleeps, evoking an ethereal, dream-like state.
Director’s Biography:
Anuj Rastogi is a Toronto based multi-disciplinary artist. As a film composer, music producer, spoken word artist and writer, he has composed and produced for film, studio, and has performed with a number of diverse artists across Canada, the US, the UK and India. As a Spoken Word artist, Anuj uses elements of word play and storyline that thread together broad narratives about social, political, personal and human insights. Anuj is currently working on a number of projects including a new studio album, a new Spoken Word EP, and two new feature scores in pre-production for 2015 / 2016. Anuj brings a forward a sensitivity that is a unique product of his intuition and environment, and is now adding “filmmaker” to his bucket-list
Links:
- Website: www.omnesia.com
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WShkHh-OyGs
- Twitter: @omnesia
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/omnesia
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0 Dream
Dream
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0 Grin F*ckers AKA corporate BS Artistes
Grin F*ckers AKA corporate BS Artistes
Grin F*&ckers AKA Corporate BS Artistes
Director: Firdaus Bilimoria
A group of management consultants grinf*ck or in other words, schmooze, lie and deceive, their clients and each other.
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0 Preeti and Sweety’s Canadian Christmas
Preeti and Sweety’s Canadian Christmas
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0 First Session
FIRST SESSION
Canadian Premiere
SYNOPSIS: Two women attempt to repair their relationship with the help of an unconventional therapist and the healing power of the mango.
RYAN LOGAN (director/editor)
An LA-based film editor who has also directed and written numerous award-winning films garnering notice at over 100 festivals and museums worldwide. Notable screenings include the Chicago International Film Festival, Palm Springs International Shortfest and Seattle International Film Festival (and venues as diverse as the Director’s Guild of America, Lincoln Center, Film Institute and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts). His work has been featured in Indiewire, Movie Maker Magazine, the Chicago Tribune and The LA Times. He focuses a lens on marginalized and frequently overlooked characters, typically branded as outsiders. He often explores these difficult themes through darm comedy and experimentation, inviting the audience to experience “a day in someone else’s shoes”.
Director twitter: ryanloganchi
Actor twitters: thefawz, mouzam, parvey
Featured Artist as part of CHICAGO ARTISTS MONTH (CAM) by the Chicago Cultural Center.
My 1-woman comedic play ME, MY MOM & SHARMILA toured 3 cities in Pakistan! Upcoming performances at The Chicago South Asian Film Festival, Tasveer: The Seattle South Asian Film Festival and 3rd-I.
“Some actors hold an audience, a few possess it. Some actors light up a scene, a few ignite it…FAWZIA MIRZA belongs to the latter category” – Zia Mohyeddin
Watch my new 8 minute documentary RECLAIMING PAKISTAN about the work of Pakistani revolutionary Mohammad Jibran Nasir and Pakistan for All.
THE FIRST SESSION, a short I wrote, produced & star in, named a SEMI-FINALIST in the NBCU Short Film Contest! It screened at The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, Palm Springs Short Fest, Frameline, Outfest and more!
‘LIKE’ the facebook page for the new short film I co-wrote, produced and star in: SPUNKLE.
twitter: @thefawz
facebook: fawzia.mirza Website | IMDB | YouTube Kam Kardashian | Brown Girl Problems
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0 We’re Late
WE’RE LATE
Written & Directed by: Huse Madhavji
Starring: Rizwan Manji & Aly Mawji
All he wants is some time.
MadHuse Productions 2015
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0 Haraamkhor
OPENING NIGHT FILM
TORONTO PREMIERE
Haraamkhor (English: The Wretched)
FILMI 2015
OPENING NIGHT FILM
TORONTO PREMIERE
Haraamkhor (English: The Wretched)
Tickets on Sale NOW!
http://tinyurl.com/p3n54dw
The story is about Shyam (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), and complications around his extramarital affair with his young student, Sandhya (Shweta Tripathi). This relationship is set against the foil of Sandhya’s classmates- Mintu (Mohd Samad) and Kamal’s (Irfan Khan) friendship. Kamal is in love with Sandhya.
Haraamkhor was priemered in 15th annual New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF) and Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA). Nawazuddin Siddiqui received the Best Actor award for the film at the New York Indian Film Festival
TRAILER
http://tinyurl.com/o7zuqr5
0 My Hot Mom Gandhi
My Hot Mom Gandhi
‘MY HOT MOM GANDHI’
A diasporic desi couple imagines what it would be like to wear politically sensitive
Halloween costumes at a house party in San Francisco.
SYNOPSIS
Partners in antics and life, Shane and Reena drive around the streets of San Francisco
talking about politics and what to be for Halloween. Driven by a desire to share Indian
history and their political views, each costume scenario is tested out on party goers.
The costume choices touch upon sensitive issues such as political assassinations,
white privilege, and drone strikes.
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0 A Silent Treatment
A Silent Treatment
Using modern day technology, a couple silently resolves their differences.
Director: Ash Varma
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0 Onto Us
Onto Us
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0 Aloo Tikki
Aloo Tikki
Director: Ash Varma
Synopsis:
A couple’s conversation over Aaloo Tikki (Potato Patty) on a Sunday afternoon.
Akash is looking for answers from his long time girlfriend (Neha), more specifically to his marriage proposal.
In a beautiful restaurant, Neha teaches him the true meaning of being in a relationship.
Watch this conversation unfold.
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0 A Disappearance
0 Licks
Licks
Director: Jazz Virk
A young couple is having a fun night out in the back of a 1968 Chevelle SS 320. A strange sound is heard by EVE and her boyfriend ADAM goes to investigate. After a long silence… The Crazed Lunatic whose name is known as PREACHER appears and hunts down ADAM.
EVE helpless in the convertible car, tries to escape only to find out that all the exits have been sealed off by PREACHER. ADAM’s neck has been slit and EVE is finally tackled down and mounted by PREACHER. He takes out his dagger and goes for the kill, but EVE transforms into a VAMPIRE and throws PREACHER to the ground. She mounts him and bites him in the neck turning him into the only thing he’s hated his whole life; a VAMPIRE.
EVE takes off in the car and leaves before the sun rises. PREACHER kneels down and LICKS up all the blood of ADAM because he has turned into a full out VAMPIR
Still Attached
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0 Deadline Dawn
Deadline Dawn
Stuck late at the office, four co-workers at an advertising agency mistakenly resurrect an evil spirit that threatens to keep them from meeting their boss’ unfeasible deadline.
Elvis Deane does a lot of different things. He scribbles in notebooks, makes cartoons, and always has at least one camera with him. He has written a novel, Pistachio the Tyrant, and has directed a feature film, Separation Anxiety (2014). His short films include Deadline Dawn (2015), Faithful (2012), and Victoria (2011). Across All Galaxies, a feature film concept that he shepherded, made it into the Final 5 of the 2015 CineCoup Film Accelerator.
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0 SUN
SUN
A mother and her teenage son, Chandni and Aman, each try to find their own way of living with their
alcoholic and abusive husband/father Sunny. Chandni, at all costs, protects her son from her husband’s
wrath but she soon discovers that she has failed. With little hope left for living a normal life with Sunny,
Chandni makes a difficult decision to salvage what’s left of their family and Aman’s well-being. Sunny
comes home to an unexpected and unwelcome surprise while Chandni hopes her actions will lead to a
better future for her and Aman, but little does she know it’s already too late.
Director – HARMINDER PHULL
Harminder has spent the last five years honing his skills as a screenwriter. His directorial debut was in
2013 with his film Baggage, the story of a lonely south asian truck driver who makes a difficult and
dangerous decision to smuggle drugs and send money back home. Baggage went on to premiere at the
Punjabi International Film Festival 2013 and played in festivals in both New York and San Francisco. SUN
is Harminder’s second film as both writer and director.
CAST
MINDY SHOKAR as Chandni
SACHIN MAHASHI as Sunny
JAHAAN CHECHI as Aman
SID SAWANT as Older Aman
SERGE SAHOTA as Randip the Mechanic
CREW
KEVIN RASMUSSEN – Director of Photography
IMRAN ANSARI – Assistant Director / Script Supervisor
THOM VAREY – Sound Supervisor / Audio Recording & Mixing / Additional Music Recording
VIRINDER PAUL SINGH – Python Wrangler
MANVIR RAI – Composer
SARAH MILK – Make Up
MARIANA DELANCEY – Make Up
PREET SIAN – Wardrobe
HARPREET PHULL – Production Assistant
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0 Bonjour Ji
Bonjour Ji
Duration : 15:40 minutes
Website: http://bonjourthemovie.com
Bonjour Ji is a short film that shows that the assumptions we keep about other races, religions
and cultures decide our interaction with them. Bonjour Ji asserts that our behavior driven by
assumptions is the real reason such assumptions grow and spread. Bonjour Ji revolves around
two characters who feel sidelined by each other’s community. But when they meet, they realize
how a change in their perspective on other people can drive different behavior out of the same
people.
Director’s statement
In short span of my life time, I have traveled as much as a man in my capacity could afford. I was
born in Punjab, India and like my forefathers I probably could have spent my entire life in my
native village, if I wasn’t curious. My first out-of-home experience happened when I went to an
Engineering College in Maharashtra, a state far from my home. Sardar jokes were the first
cultural shock I had. Being a Sikh boy, it did hurt and soon I realized that when people look at
you they look at all the tags you come with. Sikh, Hindu, Muslim, Jatt, Punjabi, Bengali etc.
After 13 years of my stint with Engineering, I have lived in multiple cities of 3 continents and
worked with clients from almost all major ethnicities. Despite of having absolutely no personal
experience of interacting with people from other religions, races and/or countries, I have been
fascinated with how we pre-judge others solely based on those ‘tags’. I have been guilty of this
and I am ashamed of that.
Bonjour Ji is my first short film as a director. I wanted to convey that when we don’t keep any
assumptions; our experiences can be very different from the popular beliefs. Although my film
has a Sikh lead but it’s not a religiously oriented film, neither it is a cultural film. This film is
about a day of two characters, one happens to be Sikh and the other one is French. I chose
these ethnicities because I have seen their social dilemma up close.
Despite of not knowing French, I chose French to be the language of the film. I wanted to stay
close the place where my film happens. I wrote my script in English and then got it translated in
French keeping the context and local dialect in view. It was hard to direct my French actors but I
wanted to explore the film just like my viewers would when they would see the film.
Credit List
Script, Direction, Editing: Satinder Kassoana
Story: Satinder Kassoana, Rup Magon, Surjit Pahwa
Executive Producer: Surjit Singh Pahwa
Cinematographer: Robert Rioux
Sound Recordist: Christian Olsen
Cast
Rup Magon, Benjamin Meneghini, Alice Tixidre, Kenny Wong, Mark Aylward, Srishtie Banga,
Astrida Auza, Simon Belanger, Manveer Singh, Daphnee Duval, Satinder Kassoana, Joan
Gosselin, Cindy Piché Bernier, Sabrina Djoghlaf, Tiffany Lu, Yan Nie, Karine Turcot
Short bios of cast and crew could be found on http://bonjourthemovie.com/cast-crew/.
23rd Filmi: Toronto's South Asian Film Festival Dec 6-7 2025 
