Bulbul Can Sing, Bombay Rose, Aamis to be screened at 17th San Francisco International South Asian Film Festival

The five-day San Francisco International South Asian Film Festival will host features, documentaries and short films from India, Sri Lanka, the UK, Italy and the USA for its 17th edition.

The festival opens with Rima Das's Bulbul Can Sing and is followed by the documentary American Hasi featuring Indian-American comedian Tushar Singh and Ronny Sen's black and white film Cat Sticks at the New People Cinema in San Francisco.

Bhaskar Hazarika's Aamis, Dar Gai's Namdev Bhau: In Search Of Silence, Prasanna Vithanage's Children Of The Sun (Gaadi), and Gitanjali Rao's Bombay Rose will be screened at the Castro Theatre. Vithanage will be present for a panel discussion after the screening of his film.

The last day in San Francisco will showcase Safdar Rahman’s Chippa, Vasanth S Sai’s Sivaranjani And Two Other Women and the festival's signature shorts program. Varun Chounal's Gabroo (2018), Mahesh Pailoor's Mona Shaikh (2017), and Andrew Sturm's 31 Foot Ladders (2017) are just some of the shorts which will be screened.

Documentary filmmaker Nishtha Jain, known for Lakshmi And Me (2007) and Gulabi Gang (2012), will host a free masterclass and talk about her career and process on 10 November.

As the festival moves to Palo Alto on 16 November, Prarthana Mohan will present her film The Miseducation Of Bindu, starring Priyanka Bose and David Arquette. The film will be followed by a question-answer session.

Phaim Bhuiyan's romantic comedy Bangla and Rohena Gera's Sir will conclude the festival at the Palo Alto Art Center.