Awards season descended on London this weekend — and South Asian cinema arrived with it.
“We are living in a time, particularly in the U.S., an incredibly alarming and dangerous time,” double Oscar-nominated filmmaker Geeta Gandbhir told guests at a new South Asian industry gathering in London on Friday, held during the BAFTA Film Awards weekend. “The person who gave me my first opportunity to film was the great Spike Lee – it was the Black community in the U.S. that actually opened the door for me, and I stand on their shoulders. We fight this fight, but what happens in the U.S. has a ripple effect around the world. We speak up for ourselves, we are here for us – but you must be there for others in this time. Together we are strong.”
Gandbhir is doubly represented at this year’s Academy Awards. Her documentary “The Perfect Neighbor” carries both a BAFTA nomination and an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary Feature, while “The Devil Is Busy,” which she co-directed with Christalyn Hampton, is nominated for Best Documentary Short Film. Gandbhir has previously won two Primetime Emmys for editing.
The event, held at the BAFTA headquarters, was co-hosted by Society O – a new British cultural platform dedicated to amplifying Asian voices in theatre, film and television – and U.S.-based strategy and distribution company Product of Culture. Designed as a dedicated space within awards season, the gathering convened nominees, filmmakers, executives and industry leaders.
Two further BAFTA-nominated titles were recognized at the event. Luís Hindman, director of the British Short Film nominee “Magid/Zafar,” offered a stirring reflection on the significance of the recognition. “When the work is a highly specific, unapologetically British Asian film, you don’t expect the recognition, you don’t feel entitled to it, and you can’t see any evidence of it,” he said. “For that evidence to be seen, and for it to be our own film, is incredibly humbling. Come Sunday, we will be taking this film into a space which is not South Asian dominated – and whilst we’re happy to be invited in to take our pick axes to the glass ceiling, I can’t overstate the importance of beginning this weekend here with all of you.”
Rahul Sharda, assistant director of “Boong” — nominated in the Children’s & Family Film category and directed by Lakshmipriya Devi — said the event underscored the growing international appetite for Indian regional cinema. “India has such diverse cultural perspectives to offer, and it’s wonderful that regional storytelling can emerge and be celebrated internationally at BAFTA.”
The evening also marked a reunion for the cast of “Goodness Gracious Me,” the groundbreaking BBC sketch comedy series that ran from 1998 to 2001, with one off specials in 2014 and 2015, and became a landmark in British Asian representation on television. The show’s four leads – Sanjeev Bhaskar, who went on to star in “Unforgotten” and “The Kumars at No. 42”; Meera Syal, the BAFTA Fellowship recipient and award-winning actor novelist and playwright behind “Anita and Me”; Kulvinder Ghir, a veteran of stage and screen; and Nina Wadia, known to millions for her long-running role in “EastEnders” – were together for the first time in a decade. Other guests included Aziz Ansari, Adil El Arbi, Daniel Francis, Adeel Akhtar, Varada Sethu, Alan McAlex, Sufiyaan Salam, Richie Mehta and Gurinder Chadha.
Society O was founded by filmmakers Sukki Menon (“I See Her”) and Parvinder Shergill (“Kaur”). Product of Culture, a women-of-color founded company run by Archana Misra Jain and Monika Sharma Abbas, has previously partnered with Netflix, Universal Studios, Sony, HBO and Meta, and organized events including the South Asian Women Oscars Brunch and the South Asian Film Festival of America.
“This year’s nominations highlight the breadth and impact of South Asian creatives across the industry – from internationally distributed documentaries and award-winning British shorts to groundbreaking regional cinema reaching new audiences worldwide,” said Menon and Shergill alongside Misra Jain and Sharma Abbas. “By bringing together nominees, collaborators and industry leaders, we aim to create a meaningful space that celebrates artistic excellence while strengthening the connections shaping the future of the screen industries.”
English (US) ·