3 min readMumbaiUpdated: Jul 4, 2026 09:47 PM IST
With the screening of Panha, a Marathi-language short film directed by Sakshi Mishra, Parda Faash 3.0 opened in Mumbai on Friday evening. The film — which is a poignant meditation on the human cost of development and, at the same time, infused with hope — set the tone for this year’s festival. ‘Acts of Hope’ is the theme of the third edition of this festival of independent South Asian cinema which is organised by the Asia Society India Centre.
For its latest edition — being held at The Pavilion by Quorum in Mumbai’s Lower Parel on July 4 and 5 — the festival brings together documentaries, fiction, shorts, and hybrid works from across South Asia, united by stories of identity, migration, belonging, memory, and resilience. This edition, shaped in collaboration with Smriti Kiran, guest creative director of Parda Faash 3.0, is showcasing films that ‘sit at the intersection of the personal and the political, rooted in distinct places and lived realities, yet resonant with shared human experience.’
Elaborating on the theme of the festival, Inakshi Sobti, chief executive officer of the Asia Society India Centre, said, “We are living through a difficult period when we are pounded by information, most of which make us rather uncomfortable. Even during these uncertain times, there are these exceptional stories of people, especially about resilience and hope and how they manage their lives with a sense of dignity and fortitude.” Though people often think of ‘hope in this very triumphant sort of way’, according to Sobti, ‘it’s also about being able to accept the situation we are in, and finding our way around it’ to make things better.
The opening day’s line-up included Jacob Jeroshan-directed The last Endless Night (Sri Lanka); Chand Kr Rai-directed Zampa…The Bridge (Bhutan); Subina Shrestha-directed Devi (Nepal); Anuparna Roy-directed Songs of Forgotten Trees (India); Kinshuk Surjan-directed Marching in the Dark; and Taira Malaney-directed Turtle Walker (India) on July 4.
On its second day, July 5, the festival will screen Rahul Aijaz-directed Sindhu Ji Goonj (Pakistan), ABM Nazmul Huda-directed Mro Rupkotha (Bangladesh), Leena Manimekalai-directed Is It Too Much To Ask?, Mian Adnan Ahmad-directed The Journey Within (Pakistan), Pradip Kurbah-directed The Elysian Field and Tribany Rai-directed Shape of Momo.
Over two days, the festival is scheduled to feature film screenings, conversations, and curated sessions that open up the worlds behind independent cinema, exploring the ecosystems, collaborations, and structures that bring these films into being today.
Commenting on the curation and theme, Kiran said, “Hope is often regarded as a lesser feeling than despair at the state of the world right now. I believe that both are essential for existence. Hope as a practice and despair as awareness. Parda Faash gave me an opportunity to reframe hope. I chose material that pushed the idea of showing up even at the most difficult of times.”
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