Honoring Global and Local Talent

“Film creates compelling world and narrative that feels authentic, while offering the audience strong, relatable female characters to admire and connect with.”

“The filmmaker has masterfully crafted the film with precision in the screenplay and brilliance in the meticulous mise-en-scène.”

“If’ is that rare confluence of gentle and scathing, something that is not easy to achieve in the realm of cinema. It is quiet in its rage, non-judgemental in its indictment, and surprises with its cinematic choices every once in a while. I wish the filmmaker more such films.”

“Mic drop’ is hard to classify. Its dramatic arc could well have made it a compelling piece of fiction storytelling. That it is in fact a documentary makes it a sharp rap on the knuckles of all of us who watch it. This film thumps with indignation like a furious bass pedal as much as it simmers silently like a vessel forgotten on a dying flame.”

Set in a small apartment, the story follows the chaotic daily routine of Varsha. She lives with her husband, Amol, and their son, Yash. They care for 70-year-old Narmada, who is suffering from the late stages of Alzheimer’s. Narmada’s past memories and her consciousness have diminished almost entirely. Even so, she remembers a few Ovis (folk songs) from her laborious past, her fingers remember the touch of garlic and how to peel it, her body remembers the addiction to roasted tobacco (misri), and she remembers her son, who never existed.
Amongst all this chaos, Varsha realises she has missed her period, and a paradox unfolds.

In a small town of 1960’s India, where cinema is forbidden for women, a 14-year-old embarks on a quest to watch her first film.