NRI PULSE STAFF REPORT
Seattle, WA, September 28, 2026: The 21st Tasveer Film Festival & Market will bring 136 films from 16 countries to Seattle from October 13 to 18, 2026, showcasing South Asian cinema through stories of identity, belonging, gender, sports and the immigrant experience.
Under the theme “Bring Your Story Home,” this year’s festival will feature films in more than 25 languages, including stories from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tibet and the South Asian diaspora. For the second consecutive year, the festival will take place at Tasveer’s own theater, the Tasveer Film Center in Seattle’s Columbia City neighborhood.
“I have been programming this festival for 21 years, and I am still not over this lineup,” said Rita Meher, festival director, co-founder and executive director of Tasveer. “136 films, 35 World & North America Premieres, filmmakers coming in from 16 countries. The sports films, the queer stories, the animation, all of it arrived with a boldness that tells me something has shifted in South Asian cinema.”
The festival will feature 20 world premieres, four North American premieres and four U.S. premieres, according to organizers.
This year’s program places particular emphasis on women filmmakers, animation, sports and LGBTQ+ storytelling. Four films explore the lives of athletes, teams and their families, examining questions of class, gender and opportunity through sports ranging from cricket to gymnastics. Another 12 films from six countries explore LGBTQ+ experiences through love stories, family dramas, coming-of-age narratives and everyday life.
The festival will open on October 15 with the West Coast premiere of Lali, directed by Pakistani filmmaker Sarmad Sultan Khoosat. The film previously screened in the Panorama section of the Berlin International Film Festival.
Other highlights include Mayilaa, directed by India’s Semmalar Annam, which will have its North American premiere as the festival’s centerpiece film; Breaking the Code, directed by Ben Rekhi, as the documentary spotlight; and The Chair, directed by Triparna Maiti, as the animation spotlight.
The festival will close on October 18 with the North American premiere of Elephants in the Fog, directed by Abinash Bikram Shah.
Aparna Purohit, CEO of Aamir Khan Productions, will attend as chief guest and head of the festival jury.
Several films in the lineup also have connections to Washington state. Among them is Gaa Ghar (Home) (see cover photo), directed by Vaibhavi Bansal, which follows two people reflecting on their relationship as a visa nears expiration. The Turning Point imagines a future Seattle divided by civil war, where a man and his niece attempt to escape a violent militia.
Other featured stories include Three Sisters, a family-centered tale revolving around three siblings and a plate of fried fish; Eka, about a video-game artist who launches a studio to tell untold stories; and Riding Time, which follows a dual-heritage rider in Britain’s Pakistani tent-pegging circuit.
Alongside the screenings, the Tasveer Film Market will run from October 13 to 15. Now in its third year, the market connects South Asian filmmakers with producers, financiers and distributors through co-production opportunities, industry panels, networking sessions and project pitches.
A major component is the Tasveer Film Fund, which will award four filmmakers grants of $35,000 each to support their projects. The Film Fund pitches are scheduled for October 15.
“We are welcoming filmmakers, industry leaders, and audiences from all over the world, whether they’re flying in from Mumbai or coming from just down Rainier Avenue,” Meher said. “Then the Market sends four of these filmmakers home with funding to make the next one.”
The market will open on October 13 with a reception in partnership with SeaDoc. Other events include industry discussions, a panel focused on sports production, a filmmakers’ brunch on October 18 and the closing-night awards ceremony and reception that evening.
An AARP-sponsored panel highlighting films featuring senior citizens is also scheduled for October 11, ahead of the main festival.
Founded in 2002, Tasveer is a nonprofit organization dedicated to amplifying South Asian voices through film, art and storytelling. Its programming has addressed issues including race, gender, caste, class, religion and sexuality. In 2025, the organization acquired Ark Lodge Cinema in Seattle’s Columbia City neighborhood and transformed it into the Tasveer Film Center, which now screens global cinema seven days a week.
An All Access Badge for the festival and market costs $350, while one-day passes are available for $75. Opening- and closing-night tickets are priced at $50 each. All films with non-English dialogue will be screened with English subtitles.
The festival is supported by several organizations, including 4Culture, the City of Seattle, King County, AARP, the Port of Seattle and Visit Seattle. Festival awards are sponsored by the RAGS Foundation.
For tickets, passes and the full festival lineup, visit tasveerfestival.org.
