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
|
Category: Uncategorized
0 Among the soil
Among the soil
A lonely gardener of a secluded property is unable to cope with his hired helps’ sudden resignation.
Francis Luta is a Canadian filmmaker, born in the Philippines, with works ranging from fiction and non-fiction. He started out as a graphic designer in Toronto Canada, then moved to Berlin Germany to work as an installation artist intern for art duo ‘GodsDogs’ while working two part-time jobs as an art director for galeries ‘Michael Janssen’ and ‘Loop Raum’. One year later he moved back to Toronto to exhibit his first-ever solo art show “Trichophilia” in 2011. He then became an Art Director and curator for Eastern European art gallery ‘Bezpala Brown’. In 2012 he shifted his focus on videography. He directed the short film “Seeing” in 2014, produced by Oscar-winning cinema lens company Cooke Optics. In 2015 he directed a short documentary “The Hammer Band: Music Child” that won Best Music Video at the Toronto Short Film Festival. In 2016 he directed a short biography film on Adam Shoalts “Explorer” which premiered at the Victoria Film Festival. The same year his social commentary documentary “Project Gelb” premiered at the Vancouver Queer Film Festival. In 2017 he wrote and directed a short horror film “Vivid” produced by Canon Canada. His most recent projects include his first feature-length documentary “Alone Across The Arctic” and biopic “Brent Everett x”.
I’m inspired by investigative journalism and local crime when it comes to doing research for a project I intend to write myself. I wanted to explore the psychology behind a man unable to cope with rejection and abandonment and at which point sends him to commit the unspeakable act. I’m asking the question: “is he a damaged person full of resentment that has morphed over time or is he a bad seed to begin with plain and simple?” I’m curious about the conversations that took place between the two characters before one of them ultimately faced their demise. This project was also born out of need for a respite from my first feature length documentary film.
Share this:
0 SILENT BUT DEADLY
SILENT BUT DEADLY
A ninja comes home to find several people waiting for him in his dark apartment.
BIO
Maninder Chana is a critically acclaimed, award-winning writer and director. His action heist film Scratch won 30 international awards, including 11 for Best Film and 4 for Best Director. Maninder’s four-language feature Little Terrors, starring Bollywood legend Om Puri (Gandhi, The Hundred-Foot Journey) was released theatrically to rave reviews and won Best Film and Best Director awards at festivals. His supernatural thriller Cell 213, also had a theatrical release. That film stars Eric Balfour (Skyline), Michael Rooker (Walking Dead, Guardians of the Galaxy) and Bruce Greenwood (Star Trek). Additionally, he’s produced two features: the sci-fi thriller Mystic and a horror yarn Carbon Copy. Maninder is also a published author with a short story collection, Gunga Din Lite & Other Delights (of Lust and Comedy).
Maninder Chana is a critically acclaimed, award-winning writer and director. His action heist film Scratch won 30 international awards, including 11 for Best Film and 4 for Best Director. Maninder’s four-language feature Little Terrors, starring Bollywood legend Om Puri (Gandhi, The Hundred-Foot Journey) was released theatrically to rave reviews and won Best Film and Best Director awards at festivals. His supernatural thriller Cell 213, also had a theatrical release. That film stars Eric Balfour (Skyline), Michael Rooker (Walking Dead, Guardians of the Galaxy) and Bruce Greenwood (Star Trek). Additionally, he’s produced two features: the sci-fi thriller Mystic and a horror yarn Carbon Copy. Maninder is also a published author with a short story collection, Gunga Din Lite & Other Delights (of Lust and Comedy).
Share this:
0 SILENTIUM
SILENTIUM
An audio file is emailed which contains a strange & terrifying message that unleashes a demonic presence
Julian Bate-Vergette is an Ottawa-Canadian director known for The Silencer which as has been accepted in numerous festivals & won a few awards including Best Director. He is an up and coming film maker who has been expanding his strengths by working in the local Ottawa film community and curating genre films with his company, Zero Theory Media.
SILENTIUM is the second film where horror and technology is explored. We first tackled this combination with the film NEUROtonin about a man who has trouble sleeping and has a chip in bedded into his brain to aid him that causes horrific effects.
This film uses Sound Files as a method of unleashing terror with the use of file sharing. Taking a cue from The Ring, we used the method of digital files and how we nonchalantly transfer them peer to peer to bring about horrific effects to the individual unknowingly.
Filmed primarily in Ottawa and in a coffee shop located in the Byward Market, we want to highlight the talent in genre filmmaking which Ottawa has.
Our company, Zero Theory Media, is fully committed to exploit the creatives in the Ottawa region that want to make genre films and let everyone know about the talent that is located here.
This film uses a Giallo type of lighting primarily to give a surreal feel when things ramp up.
We want to explore more ways horror can be infused with modern technology and hope you enjoy this entry.
Share this:
0 Namaste
0 Rishta
Rishta
Rishta explores the conflicting romantic ideals of Eastern and Western cultures. The short film is set over the course of one evening after Saba has reluctantly agreed to meet a potential suitor identified by her parents. The experience forces Saba to reconcile her own views with the expectations of her traditional Pakistani family.
https://rishtamovie.wixsite.com/rishtamovie
Director
Silvet Ali is a Montreal-based journalist and filmmaker who graduated from Ryerson University’s Chang School Film Program in 2018. She completed her BA in Journalism with a Minor in Film Studies at Concordia University and joined the CBC Montreal team as a journalist and producer in both radio and television in 2009. After nearly a decade of working at CBC, she decided to explore her love for film and now divides her time between Montreal and Toronto, working in both broadcast journalism and film. Ali was inspired to tell the story of Rishta based on her personal experience growing up as the daughter of Pakistani immigrants in Montreal and navigating societal pressures.
Rishta is a personal story that I feel will resonate with many first-generation South Asians. It delves into the debate of love vs. arranged marriage, and a Pakistani woman feeling pressure to go the traditional route. The protagonist, Saba, is obsessed with Hollywood’s depiction of romance, and I wanted to depict the story of an arranged marriage using traditional rom-com tropes, with references to When Harry Met Sally, Romeo + Juliet and My Fair Lady. It’s a story I’ve wanted to share for a long time, to give others insight into the societal pressures women from traditional backgrounds can face.
Share this:
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
23rd Filmi: Toronto's South Asian Film Festival Dec 6-7 2025 