6.11.2025, 14:30, Kino Cameo
EN UT + Q&A
7.11.2025, 20:00, Kino Cameo
EN UT + Q&A
9.11.2025, 15:30, Maxx 3
EN UT + Q&A
«The truth leaks out in our dreams» writes Indian-born author Salman Rushdie. Indeed, these all-female-directed films use the cinematic language of dreams to illuminate what cannot be spoken out loud: the loss of a loved one, the quiet tremor of Hindu nationalism, an unsatisfied longing for another, an impossible love… Poetic and enigmatic, the films make us listen closely to intimate whispers in the night and show that the truth leaking out of our dreams is oftentimes a desire for connection and belonging.
Afternoon Clouds
Payal Kapadia / India 2016 / 13' / DCP / colour / Hindi / Fic
Kaki is a 70-year-old widow who lives with her Nepali domestic help, Malti, in Mumbai. Malti meets a boy, a sailor from her hometown, unexpectedly. Meanwhile, men in the passage spray mosquito repellent that gives Kaki bad dreams.
Raati o bhaya
Lipika Singh Darai / India 2023 / 28' / colour / Oriya / Doc/Exp
Lipika Singh Darai salvages rest material from her private archive that, with the passing of time, has acquired new meaning. A range of experiences – from the searing story of a local witch hunt to a meeting at a stunning waterfall – complement each other perfectly.
Whispers of a Qareen
Maaria Sayed / India 2023 / 15' / DCP / colour / Hindi / Fic
Twelve-year-old Jahaan’s daily routine in her Himalayan village exists somewhere between reality and imagination, as she struggles to cope with the recent loss of her sister and father in a landslide incident. Jahaan’s sudden visions that connect her to another realm, a place where the dead exist, question the spiritual connection shared between her and her sister.
Amma ki Katha
Nehal Vyas / USA/India 2023 / 20'28" / DCP / colour / Urdu/Hindi / Doc/Exp
India – my nation – is being rebuilt. Her foundation is being laid on the imagined land that claims to be the birthplace of my grandmother’s God. In the mythology that she passed down to me during many summer nights, her God was magical, kind, imaginative, and democratic – just like my India was supposed to be. But today, through its many retellings and reimaginings, the tale is being used as a political tool to manifest the violent desire of a Hindutva state. This film attempts to remember – as well as dream – a forgotten nation.
Madhu
Tanvi Chowdhary/Tanmay Chowdhary / India 2022 / 12'32" / DCP / colour / Bengali / Fic
Satakshi and Madhu, who went to school together, reunite after years of being apart on a night of festivities during the Durga Pujo festival in Kolkata. As the night progresses, we find out that they have feelings for each other, but they are not able to express them. Their secrets are preserved in a notebook entry by Madhu from her school days and a postcard that Satakshi sends Madhu six years after this night.
