South Asian Film Festival highlighting complex topics

The South Asian Film Festival of Montreal (SAFFMontréal) is set to take on its 12th annual event.

The event will run in collaboration with Cinémathèque Québécoise and Ville de Saguenay, both in-person at cinemas and online.

“When it comes to South Asian films, the big center of gravity is Bollywood,” said T.K. Raghunathan, president of SAFFMontréal. “You know, everybody knows about Bollywood, but Bollywood is commercial cinema.

Bollywood is just Bombay and Hindi films, but there is a tremendous number of independent filmmakers in all kinds of language in India and also neighboring countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan.”

Throughout the festival, 58 award-winning films from 12 countries will be shown and will all be up for awards.

“We are proud to bring such a diverse lineup of stimulating films that challenge stereotypes and shed light on the complex social and political issues facing South Asia today, as well as its rich and varied cultures. One example is films that highlight gender-based oppression and its consequences for women in certain countries,” said Syeda Nayab Bukhari, festival director and head of programming, in a statement.

“We have films on all sorts of themes. For example, women empowerment, women struggling with different issues in different parts of the world, environmental issues, films about art and culture, films about Islamophobia,” Bukhari said in an interview with CityNews.

“We believe in having diversity, inclusiveness and giving a platform to all voices. That is the main criteria,” Bukhari explained, on the films chosen for this year’s lineup after receiving hundreds of submissions.

Films will be featured in a wide variety of languages including Urdu, Hindi, Nepali, and Czech. Those looking to watch the films will be able to enjoy them with both English and French subtitles.

“We want to increase access for these films,” Raghunathan said. “We added French subtitles for each film and that’s a tremendous job.

It requires an understanding of the original version. What exactly they say, what’s the meaning, etc.”

According to SAFFMontréal organizers, the films explore a wide range of matters including; “immigration and displacement, LGBTQ+ issues, religious freedom, women’s rights, aging and the generation gap, the environment, gender parity, parenthood, various art forms and the struggles of rural life.” They say it is also the only cinema that “combines the talents of many South Asian countries.”

SAFFMontréal will run from April 28 until May 7 at cinemas and from May 1 to 10 online.