The 13th edition of the Chicago South Asian Film Festival will take place from Sep 22nd to Sep 25th with over 125 filmmakers and artists making their way to the Windy City for the special occasion. The festival will screen films in Downtown Chicago at Film Row Columbia College and DePaul University with the curtain raisers taking place on Sep 16th and 17th at DePaul University.
The festival opens on Sept. 22nd with the feature film “Lost”, starring Yami Gautam Dhar and Rahul Khanna, who will be present along with director Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury. Chowdhury’s previous film, ‘Pink,” which stars Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan and Taapsee Pannu, made its mark in Indian cinema and sparked many discussions around women’s consent.
Alongside “Lost’, the line up of films this year includes ‘No Land’s Man,’ ‘Four Samosas,’ and the North American premiere of ‘Shiv Shastri Balboa’ as well as several other documentaries.
“Four Samosas” by Ravi Kapoor will be closing out the festival with filmmakers and actors Ravi Kapoor and Venk Potula in attendance. The film, which recently made giant waves earlier this summer at New York’s Tribeca Film Festival, brings together a stellar ensemble cast led by Venk Potula (“Veep”) and Karan Soni (“Deadpool”). IFC films has acquired the North American rights to film and will be handling the national release later this year.
With a focus around diversity, CSAFF will be spotlighting a selection of films representing LGBTQ voices, such as “Coming Out with the Help of a Time Machine,” featuring Karan Soni; “Same Love,” “Pav Bhaji,” “Look Like You,” and more. “Bully High,” written and directed by Bill McAdams, Jr., centers around issues of religious prejudices, sexual orientation, and bullying.
CSAFF Festival Director Jigar Shah says, “Our mission at CSAFF is to further diversity and cultural education in Chicago so that young multicultural filmmakers and artists can be given a strong platform to tell their stories and share their art.”
CSAFF will close on Sunday, Sep 25 with an awards ceremony for best feature and short films.
