A Red Carpet event to rival those from Bollywood to Hollywood. However,the honorees had stories to tell of everyday life in South Asia, brought to life with stories that hit close to the heart and actors who could easily be your neighbors, classmates, and colleagues. These films were funny, heartwarming, thought-provoking, and taboo at times. The event brought together talented and inspiring filmmakers with voices, ideas, and passion to reach an audience thirsty for new perspectives, ideas, and most of all voices.
Opening night (Thursday 19 April) kicked off with a youth initiatives program to promote the next generation of filmmakers. Youth from different schools contributed six films to the event, with each one representing a different cause, marvelous and unique in its own way. One of these, Don’t Ask was made by two young men to capture the spirit of South Asian moms and all the laughter and growing pains of being raised in a bi-cultural environment while forging bonds with family. From young adolescent perspectives, our very own Austinite Tania Romero brought us Hakla, which demonstrated the loving bond between mother and son while following a young man’s passion for dance portrayed brilliantly by Prayas Wats. The evening closed with Bhamasur, a compelling look at making difficult decisions and growing up sooner than expected through the eyes of a 10 year old boy.
Friday 20 April was the official red carpet pageantry and featured Turup (Checkmate), a look at political ideologies in a small community through the game of chess and unique in the line-up had duo of filmmakers partnering to bring this story to life.
Saturday took us from dance, loss of innocence, and chess to Counterfeit Kunkoo showcasing a young woman’s struggle with societal views on divorced single women, an abusive relationship, and a difficult socio-economic status. From complicated relationships and personal struggle, we were then introduced to cultural revolution through Vaishali Sinha’s Ask the Sexpert. The documentary shined a light on Dr. Mahindra Watsa and his progressive advice to enlighten the youth (and the not so youth) of India about agency over their own bodies, relationships, and sex. This then gave way to a tale of parenthood as young adults in Ribbon which examines a young couples’ struggles raising a newborn, reminding us we’re all adults until we’re met with life challenges beyond our control.
Tania Romero and Pryas Wat
The Audience Choice Award went to Abu by Arshad Khan. Khan narrated this film depicting a young man’s journey through life with his family and his own sexual identity, across continents and countries. His story brought light to issues of child sexual abuse and being gay out to the forefront. The masterful storytelling rendered a standing ovation at the end of the screening.
4 days of extraordinary stories wrapped up on Sunday 22 April with Chumbak, depicting a con artist’s change of heart when he realizes his latest victim is mentally challenged. A tale of daily survival mingled with one’s conscience surfacing to make you think about the bigger things in life.
All in all, Indie Meme brought together a community of movie buffs and those with a passion for storytelling to the Austin community and let us experience a taste of the larger world beyond. The team worked tirelessly to make this event happen and forged new friendships throughout the 4-day festival through opening party on Friday at Brio with decadent Italian eats, a lovely brunch at a team member’s home for the filmmakers, and an on-trend wrap-up party at 77 Rooftop. Though the diverse topics relationships, abuse, politics created vastly different stories, a common thread among all the movies is the strength of the human spirit.
photo:
All the filmmakers, from left to right Shilpi Gulati, Maheen Mizra, Puloma Pal, Alka Bhanot (Indie Meme Program Coordinator), Sangeeta Agarwal, Arshad Khan, Vaishali Sinha, (Indie Meme volunteer) and in orange on the end, Tania Romero.
