The sixteenth annual Chicago South Asian Film Festival (CSAFF) will take place
in Chicago from September 18 through September 21, 2025. Like every year, the
Festival is geared to provide South Asian talent, stories and themes a world
platform.
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Founded in 2010, and organized by the non-profit organization; Chicago South
Asian Arts Council, Inc; CSAFF is dedicated to promoting diversity in the Chicago
area through international cinema, conversation and culture, according to its
website.
The Festival has gained valuable support over the years from Chicago’s local
administration, cultural institutions and the South Asian community. These include
the support of Chicago’s Mayor, the City Film Office, City Department of Cultural
Affairs and Special Events, the Consulate General of India in Chicago, the
Consulate General of Pakistan in Chicago, Chicago Sister Cities, the City of
Evanston, educational institutions and industry representatives.
The Festival’s format consists of premier screenings of films, panel discussions,
speaker series, workshops, film awards, receptions, after parties and networking
events for filmmakers, film crews, and filmgoers.
Films featured in the Festival fall into five different categories, including Fiction
Feature Film of more than 30 minutes, Fiction Short Film of less than 30 minutes,
Documentary Feature Film of more than 30 minutes, Documentary Short Films of
less than 30 minutes, and Episodes of multi episode web series, docuseries or
limited series. All the films at the 2025 Festival were completed within two years
of the festival date, thus made since 2023 till date.
The Festival includes films from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India,
Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Iran and Tibet as South Asian films. All the
films shown at the Festival present South Asian content from any of the countries,
topics, themes or have producers, directors, screenwriters, composers or actors of
South Asian heritage. This protocol is not binding to Chicago based and
international student filmmakers.
The Festival organizing committee includes Festival Director Jigar Shah, Co-
Founder and Board Member Ketki Parikh, Co-Founder and Board Member Amit
Rana and Board Member Arup Raha, Operations Specialist Anup Gurnani,
Marketing and Technology Specialist Rahul Rana and Public Relations Specialist
Sonya Sachdeva. Aparna Sen, Shabana Azmi, Lillete Dubey, Vishal Bhardwaj and
Bhawana Somaaya are the noted film personalities making the Honorary Board.
More than 110 film entries have been received this year including political and
family dramas, comedies, verité films that follow organizers and climate
storytellers, intimate stories of love and loss, and animation and experimental
shorts, according to the website.
Of these, over 60 films will have Midwest and Chicago premiers, more than 20
films will have premier in US and North America and over 15 films will have
World premiers.
Films will be screened at two different locations, the Matrix Club at 808 Illinois
Route 59 in Naperville, IL 60540 and the AMC River East 21 at 322 East Illinois
Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611.
Films in Fiction series, feature and short, include some remarkable and new films
by promising filmmakers. These include, to name a few, The Bird Ek Thi Chidiya
in Hindi; Chashma in Hindi; Obsolete in Marathi and English; DreamHotline in
English, Gujarati and Marathi; Famished in English and Sinhala; The Cycle in
Hindi and Punjabi; Red Lavender in English, Tamil and Sinhala; Elijah in Bengali
and English, portraying a variety of cultures and languages. Documentary features
and shorts include The Caste Rush, Love Chaos Kin, Rhythm of a Flower, A Fly
on the Wall and more.
Spread over three days into late evenings, the screenings will be followed by a
question and answer session with the film’s team.