Top 20 South Asia, diaspora films 2023

Illustration/Uday Mohite

Here's my #Top20 South Asian and South Asian Diaspora Films of 2023. Films 1-10 are here; films 11-20 will appear next week. List includes fiction, documentaries and shorts from Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Myanmar and South Asian Diaspora.

1. THE MONK AND THE GUN by Pawo Choyning Dorji, Dzongkha, Bhutan: This charming, thoughtful, international co-production, reflecting on the place democracy and violence in society, from tiny Bhutan, is on the Oscar shortlist for Best International Feature! India is nowhere on the list. Many big names are backing the film. Dorji's Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom had earned an Oscar nomination in 2022. TIFF Toronto. Women producers Xu Feng, Stephanie Lai.

2. TO KILL A TIGER by Nisha Pahuja, Hindi; Canada: A poor rice farmer in Jharkhand tries everything to get justice for his teenage daughter who was raped. In the Oscar shortlist for Best Documentary Feature Film. TIFF Toronto. Mindy Kaling, Dev Patel are Executive Producers. Woman director; women producers Nisha Pahuja, Cornelia Principe.

3. IN FLAMES by Zarrar Kahn, Urdu, Canada-Pakistan: Kahn sensitively understands that life for a South Asian single woman is a daily horror; and incorporates genre elements. Debut feature, Cannes FF Directors' Fortnight; TIFF Toronto. Woman producer Anam Abbas (and Kazakh woman cinematographer Aigul Nurbulatova!).

4. I AM SIRAT by Deepa Mehta and Sirat Taneja, Punjabi; Canada: On the dilemmas of transwoman Sirat Taneja, dutiful son to her mum at home in New Delhi, but a woman when with friends. TIFF Toronto. Women ‘collaborators' Mehta, Taneja.

5. SOMETHING LIKE AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY by Mostofa Sarwar Farooki, Bengali, Bangladesh: Partly autobiographical, poignant comment on a patriarchal society that devalues women, unless they are mothers. Busan FF. On Chorki. Women co-producers Anna Katchko, Nina Lath, Nusrat Imrose Tisha.

6. PARADISE by Prasanna Vithanage, Malayalam, Sinhala, Sri Lanka-India: As an Indian couple holidays in Sri Lanka, a theft triggers a local crisis, highlighting the larger economic crisis in Sri Lanka, as well as a marital rift. Busan FF.

7. A ROAD TO A VILLAGE (Gau Ayeko Bato) by Nabin Subba, Nepali, Nepal: Nepal is a nation of migrants; this is a poignant ode to those who stayed behind, as well as a father-son bond. TIFF Toronto, Busan, Jio Mami Mumbai FF.

8. THE QUEEN OF MY DREAMS by Fawzia Mirza, English, Urdu; Canada: When a Pakistani-Canadian woman's dad passes away in Karachi, she travels there; the film is a multi-era, multi-generation Canada/Karachi romp,
including a lesbian relationship, and reprising the Mere Sapnon ki Rani song from Aradhana (1969). TIFF, London FF. Mirza, who is outspokenly Muslim and queer, is also woman director, producer.

9. THE RED SUITCASE by Fidel Devkota, Nepali, Nepal-Sri Lanka: A Berlin/Kathmandu-based anthropologist and filmmaker, this is Devkota's debut fiction feature. As a delivery man delivers a parcel to a distant village in Nepal, the film comments on the exploitation of Nepali migrants overseas. Venice FF's Orizzonti section.

10. A HOUSE NAMED SHAHANA, Barir Naam Shahana, by Leesa Gazi, Bengali, Bangladesh-UK. Deeply felt feminist story. Teenage Dipa in Bangladesh is forcibly married to a widower in England, via a trunk-call wedding. Once she returns home on escaping marital rape, there's no holding her back. Jio Mami Mumbai FF. Woman director, producer, Gazi.

Meenakshi Shedde is India and South Asia Delegate to the Berlin International Film Festival, National Award-winning critic, curator to festivals worldwide and journalist.
Reach her at meenakshi.shedde@mid-day.com