parallel-visions

Parallel Visions: Omar Ahmed on the Politics of Film Curation

Ankan Kazi Sep 17, 2026

In the second part of this conversation, Ankan Kazi speaks with film curator and scholar Omar Ahmed about the connections of Indian Parallel Cinema with Third Cinema and African decolonising cinema. Ahmed reflects on the political possibilities of looking beyond established canons and discusses the challenges of curating and programming Indian independent cinema abroad—from rights and access to the persistent expectations that shape how Indian cinema is encountered by Western audiences.

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indian-parallel-cinema-and-the-global-south
stories

Indian Parallel Cinema and the Global South: In Conversation with Omar Ahmed

Ankan Kazi Sep 16, 2026

In the first part of this conversation, Ankan Kazi speaks with film curator and scholar Omar Ahmed about his book, The Revolution of Indian Parallel Cinema in the Global South (1968–1995): From Feminism to Iconoclasm (2025), tracing its political and aesthetic formations across changing structures of production.

on-bimal-roy
stories

On Bimal Roy: In Conversation with Aparajita Roy Sinha, Joy Bimal Roy and Rinki Roy Bhattacharya

Shamya Dasgupta Sep 11, 2026

In this edited conversation, Shamya Dasgupta speaks with Bimal Roy’s children Aparajita Roy Sinha, Joy Bimal Roy and Rinki Roy Bhattacharya about the filmmaker’s life, work and enduring legacy. Through memories of his films and the creative communities around them, they consider Roy’s approach to filmmaking and the relationships that shaped his practice.
multisensorial-ephemera
albums

Multisensorial Ephemera: Bombay Cinema’s Song Booklets 

Vansh Sharma Sep 09, 2026

Vansh Sharma considers the song booklet as a multisensory archive of Bombay cinema, tracing how film ephemera extended the cinematic experience beyond the theatre. Drawing on the Rahaab Allana Collection, this album looks at the material, visual and multilingual aspects of the booklets as well as their role in preserving fragments of films that may no longer survive.
archives-of-excess
events

Archives of Excess: Cinephilia and Hindi Film Posters

Dev Saraswat Sep 05, 2026

In his review of the exhibition Duniya Parchhaiyon Ki: Elusive Frames, Resonant Echoes, Dev Saraswat considers how Hindi film posters, song booklets and other ephemera reshape how cinema is archived and remembered. Moving through the exhibition’s unofficial visual cultures, he outlines an “archive of memory traces”sustained through copying, recycling and cinema’s persistent afterlife.
the-time-it-takes-to-be-seen
stories

The Time It Takes to Be Seen: Pushpa Rawat’s Mod

Tanay Shrotriy Sep 03, 2026

Tanay Shrotriy writes on Pushpa Rawat’s Mod (The Turn, 2016), tracing how the filmmaker’s recurring encounters with a group of young men in Ghaziabad unearth familiar narratives of delinquency, exposing the caste and class-bound conditions shaping their aspirations, expectations of masculinity and precarious futures.

WATCHLIST

SOAS invites interdisciplinary abstracts for a one-day workshop exploring how young people across South Asia and its diaspora draw on histories, memory and affect to imagine political futures. Proposals may engage with youth movements, archives, transnational mobilisation, institutions, dissent and new forms of political expression. Abstracts of up to 500 words, accompanied by a short biography, are due by 30 September 2026.

WATCHLIST

The Charles Wallace India Trust, the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) and the Alkazi Foundation for the Arts (AFA) invite applications for a 3–6 month Curatorial Research Fellowship at the V&A’s Photography Section, London. Open to mid-career cultural producers in India aged 25–45, the Fellowship supports original research in the Museum’s collections, with a monthly stipend of £1,600, airfare contribution and visa support. Apply by 7 November 2026

WATCHLIST

The Regional Curatorial Fellowship by This is Gender and Global 50/50 invites early-career curators, critics, writers, researchers and cultural practitioners from historically underrepresented communities to shape the selection and interpretation of work for its global photography competition. The seven-month, part-time fellowship includes curatorial work, international exchange and public-facing projects, with a stipend of up to £3,000. Apply by 22 September 2026.

WATCHLIST

As part of Critical Praxis, 1Shanthiroad invites applications from Indian nationals for a month-long Writers’ Residency, offering one selected writer dedicated time to research contemporary art practices in Bangalore through engagement with its archives. The residency covers accommodation and workspace, along with a stipend, travel allowance and production budget. The program will culminate in a publication or series of publications. Apply by 1 October 2026.

WATCHLIST

Sher-Gil Sundaram Arts Foundation (SSAF) announces the ninth edition of the Umrao Singh Sher-Gil Grant for Photography. For the USG Grant 2026, SSAF pledges two grants of INR 5,00,000 each, to photography projects working with staged/constructed images and to documentary photography, while recognising the blurred boundaries between the methodologies and forms of both genres. Apply by 20 September 2026.
pushpa-rawat-s-nirnay
stories

Pushpa Rawat’s Nirnay: An Anti-Tragedy

Tanay Shrotriy Sep 02, 2026

In Nirnay (Decision, 2012), Pushpa Rawat turns the camera towards her own life and those of the women around her, transforming the documentary into a way of confronting the constraints of caste and patriarchal authority. Tanay Shrotriy considers how the film unsettles the conventions of tragedy, allowing anguish, wound and thwarted desire to remain present within the image.
bad-education-pressures-of-childhood-in-abbas-kiarostami-s-homework
stories

Bad Education: Pressures of Childhood in Abbas Kiarostami’s Homework

Sucheta Chakraborty, Translated by S.M. Aug 29, 2026

Continuing her reflections on Abbas Kiarostami’s Homework (1989), Sucheta Chakraborty examines childhood in post-revolutionary Iran through schoolchildren’s voices and the pressures shaping their lives. The Farsi translation by S.M. extends her reflections to a Persian-speaking audience, returning the film’s questions around childhood, education and the camera to its Iranian context.
abbas-kiarostami-s-homework-on-kanoon-children-and-cultural-reforms
stories

Abbas Kiarostami’s Homework: On Kanoon, Children and Cultural Reforms

Sucheta Chakraborty, Translated by S.M. Aug 28, 2026

Sucheta Chakraborty revisits Abbas Kiarostami’s Homework (1989), exploring childhood, education and cinema as a space for inquiry in post-revolutionary Iran. The Farsi translation by S.M. extends her reflections to a wider readership, opening new conversations around Kiarostami’s practice and Kanoon’s role in shaping Iranian cinema.
mann-ka-thela
podcasts

Mann ka Thela: In Conversation with Ektara Collective

Kshiraja Aug 13, 2026

In this podcast, Kshiraja discusses labour, livelihood and community-led filmmaking with the directorial team of Mann ka Thela (Mind the Cart, 2024), tracing their journey with the Ektara Collective. Screened at the Kolkata People’s Film Festival in 2025, the film follows thirteen-year-old Mann from the Pardhi community as he navigates the streets of Bhopal alongside his cherished handcart.

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shape-of-momo-and-the-myth-of-return
events

Shape of Momo and the Myth of Return: In Conversation with Tribeny Rai

Shefali Khan Aug 11, 2026

Tribeny Rai's Nepali-language film Shape of Momo (2025), set in Sikkim, explores migration, belonging and the unsettling experience of returning home. In conversation with Shefali Khan, Rai reflects on portraying lived realities of the Northeast through filmmaking and on creating women protagonists who resist the expectations placed upon them.

those-who-stay
events

Those Who Stay: Pradip Kurbah's The Elysian Field

Banhi Sarkar Aug 08, 2026

Screened at the third edition of Parda Faash, Pradip Kurbah’s Ha Lyngkha Bneng (The Elysian Field, 2025) turns to villages that are emptied as a result of migration. Banhi Sarkar explores how the film focuses on those who stay and asks what it means to continue inhabiting a place that the language of progress has already left behind.
rhythm-of-the-land-mani-kaul
stories

Rhythm of the Land: Mani Kaul's Desert of a Thousand Lines

Arindam Sen Aug 06, 2026

In Desert of a Thousand Lines (1981), Mani Kaul threads skeletal narratives—the migration of the Paliwal Brahmins, a Manganiyar musician's recitation of Bhati Rajput genealogy and the caste dynamics between Langa and Manganiyar performers and their patrons—to paint a picture of the layered cultural life of Rajasthan.
like-a-rising-river-speaking
events

Like a Rising River: Speaking of the Unspoken

Barsha Bhandari Jul 29, 2026

Drawing on the lived experiences of 100 women across Nepal, the exhibition Urlado Nadisari (Like a Rising River), held at the Nepal Art Council, brought together fourteen artists as part of a larger initiative that used forms of storytelling to challenge gender norms.
longing-is-the-plot-on-secret
events

Longing is the Plot: On Secret of a Mountain Serpent

Riddhi Dastidar Jul 28, 2026

Conceived by Nidhi Saxena as a poem, Secret of a Mountain Serpent (2025), which had its Indian premiere at the Dharamshala International Film Festival (DIFF) in November 2025, reflects on the loneliness and desires of Pahadi women.
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