FIPRESCI–IIC SHOWCASE: STORIES FROM CONTEMPORARY INDIA

Yakasi's Daughter
(2025; 74 minutes; Assamese with English subtitles)
Director: Jayanta Madhab Dutta
With Rina Dole, Diganta Pegu 
Fourteen-year-old Jariyum lives with her family on a remote river island in Assam, where annual floods, poverty and isolation shape everyday life. A member of the Mising community, she dreams of a future different from that of her mother, Yakasi, whose life has been marked by hardship and domestic drudgery. As Jariyum prepares to elope with her young fiancé in the hope of a better life, she finds herself confronting the realities of the world around her and the uncertainties that lie ahead. 
 

(India International Centre Film Club in collaboration with FIPRESCI-India, presents a selection of acclaimed contemporary Indian films from across the country. Representing diverse languages, regions and cinematic traditions, these films offer compelling reflections on identity, community, memory and social change, while highlighting some of the most exciting voices in Indian cinema today.)

FIPRESCI–IIC SHOWCASE: STORIES FROM CONTEMPORARY INDIA

Whispers of the Mountains
(2025; 90 minutes; Rajasthani with English subtitles)
Director: Jigar Nagda

With Harshant Sharma, Rajveer Rao and Kunal Mehta.

Official Selection, Indian Panorama, 56th International Film Festival of India (IFFI); Official Selection, Indian Language Competition, Kolkata International Film Festival 2025.

Set in Rajasthan's rugged Aravalli region, the film follows Tilak, a widowed tea stall owner struggling to make ends meet, and his twelve-year-old mute son Raghu, who shares a deep and instinctive bond with the mountains surrounding their village. While Tilak sees mining as a path to economic survival, Raghu witnesses the gradual destruction of the landscape he loves. When a scholarship offers him the possibility of a different future, he finds himself torn between personal aspirations and familial responsibilities. As economic hardship and environmental degradation increasingly shape their lives, the fragile relationship between father and son is tested. 

(India International Centre Film Club in collaboration with FIPRESCI-India, presents a selection of acclaimed contemporary Indian films from across the country. Representing diverse languages, regions and cinematic traditions, these films offer compelling reflections on identity, community, memory and social change, while highlighting some of the most exciting voices in Indian cinema today.)

FIPRESCI–IIC SHOWCASE: STORIES FROM CONTEMPORARY INDIA

Adamya
(2026; 110 minutes; Bengali with English subtitles)
Director: Ranjan Ghosh

With Aryuun Ghosh, Senjuti Mukhopadhyay, Relish Hoque and Sourya Madrajee.

Palash, a young man caught in the turbulent currents of contemporary politics, finds his life irrevocably altered when a political assassination goes tragically wrong. Forced to flee and live as a fugitive, he embarks on a journey through a landscape marked by fear, uncertainty and shifting loyalties. As he struggles to evade capture and come to terms with the consequences of his actions, the boundaries between conviction, survival and morality begin to blur.

(India International Centre Film Club in collaboration with FIPRESCI-India, presents a selection of acclaimed contemporary Indian films from across the country. Representing diverse languages, regions and cinematic traditions, these films offer compelling reflections on identity, community, memory and social change, while highlighting some of the most exciting voices in Indian cinema today.)

FIPRESCI–IIC SHOWCASE: STORIES FROM CONTEMPORARY INDIA

Magazine
(2025; 110 minutes; Marathi with English subtitles)
Director: Shubham Sanjay Shevade

With Atul Parchure, Dr. Nilesh Mane, Kishore Kadam, Raghav Vartak, Shivaji Satam, Sudarshan Deshmukh, Vedika Kulkarni

A restless young cinephile leaves the city behind and returns to his ancestral village in search of meaning and inspiration. Amidst sprawling sugarcane fields and the rhythms of rural life, he gradually discovers a world shaped by quiet dignity, human connection and an unhurried sense of belonging. What begins as a temporary escape evolves into a journey of self-discovery, revealing that the most profound stories are often found in life's simplest moments.

(India International Centre Film Club in collaboration with FIPRESCI-India, presents a selection of acclaimed contemporary Indian films from across the country. Representing diverse languages, regions and cinematic traditions, these films offer compelling reflections on identity, community, memory and social change, while highlighting some of the most exciting voices in Indian cinema today.)

FIPRESCI–IIC SHOWCASE: STORIES FROM CONTEMPORARY INDIA

If on a Winter’s Night
(2025;100 minutes; Malayalam with English subtitles)
Director: Sanju Surendran

With Bhanu Priyamvada, Roshan Abdul Rahoof, Raichel Samuel, Arathy K. B. and Shobhana Sharma.

Recipient of the Hylife Vision Award at the 30th Busan International Film Festival (2025); North American Premiere, New Directors/New Films 2026, Film at Lincoln Center and The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)

Sarah and Abhi, a young couple from Kerala, move to Delhi in search of a new life together, hoping to build a future shaped by love, creativity and independence. Far from home, however, they find themselves confronting the realities of life in an unfamiliar city, precarious employment, financial uncertainty, language barriers and the subtle prejudices faced by outsiders. As mounting pressures begin to test both their ambitions and their relationship, the promise of reinvention gives way to a more complex understanding of adulthood and belonging.

(India International Centre Film Club in collaboration with FIPRESCI-India, presents a selection of acclaimed contemporary Indian films from across the country. Representing diverse languages, regions and cinematic traditions, these films offer compelling reflections on identity, community, memory and social change, while highlighting some of the most exciting voices in Indian cinema today.)
 

Twamaham Vande

A journey for the search of One through the vision of two

Concept, direction and performance by Jalsa Chandra, renowned Bharatanatyam and Kathak dancer, choreographer, fellow of Ministry of Culture and empanelled artiste of ICCR and Doordarshan. Trained under eminent gurus including Smt. Thankamani Kutty, Pt. Rajendra Kumar Gangani, Smt. Nandini Ramani, Padma Shri Chitra Visweswaran, Smt. Rama Vaidyanathan, and Padma Bhushan Saroja Vaidyanathan.

Accompanying artistes: Pallabi Chatterjee, Adrija Mondal and Agnimita Das

The performance presents a soulful journey of the maturing spirit, exploring the "one-to-one realization of God" through the timeless wisdom of Bhakti saints. This production weaves together the cosmic rhythms of the Nasadiya Sukta with the intricate "Deha Tatwa" of Lalon Fakir to depict the cyclical nature of creation. From the unwavering faith of Sita to the Thevaram in celebration of the liberation to find and love the Divine in one's own light. The journey culminates in the oneness of the Parabrahman, where individual identities dissolve like rivers into the vast ocean.

BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP

Indigenized/ Tribalized: Poems
By Nishi Chawla (Human Error Publishing, 2026)

Discussants:  Prof. Amrita Bhalla, Academician, Author and critic, Associate Professor, Department of English, Jesus and Mary College, University of Delhi; Prof. Sukrita Paul Kumar, Guest Editor, Indian Literature, Poet, Academic and Critic; Prof. Radha Chakravarthy, Writer, Critic; Translator & Author of the book