The UK Asian Film Festival, previously known as the London Asian Film Festival, is a British
film festival
A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upo ...
organised by the not-for-profit organisation Tongues on Fire Ltd. and takes place annually in the spring in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
. The festival is the leading and longest running South Asian film festival in Europe having completed its 21st edition of the festival in April 2019. The festival caters mainly to South Asian films to date, with main events usually held at either BAFTA or the
BFI
The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
. At the 2019 film festival awards ceremony at BAFTA 195 Piccadilly, the festival presented Mr Ramesh Sippy with a Lifetime Achievement Flame Award, Radhika Apte with a Making Waves Flame Award and Shabana Azmi with a Revolutionary Icon Golden Flame Award.
History
Founding directors Dr Pushpinder Chowdhry and Mrs Harvinder Nath started the festival in 1999. The films featured are usually independent or arthouse cinema, as opposed to more popular or mainstream films as the festival has been celebrating Bollywood and Beyond since its conception. The festival's philosophy is to recognize that entertainment is intertwined with important political and social messages and to promote films that tackle challenging issues of society. Special guests from the industry have included
Mira Nair
Mira Nair (born 15 October 1957) is an Indian-American filmmaker based in New York City. Her production company, Mirabai Films, specializes in films for international audiences on Indian society, whether in the economic, social or cultural spher ...
Gurinder Chadha
Gurinder Chadha, (born 10 January 1960) is a British film director of Indian origin. Most of her films explore the lives of Indians living in England. The common theme among her work showcases the trials of Indian women living in the UK and ho ...
(
Bend It Like Beckham
''Bend It Like Beckham'' (also known as ''Kick It Like Beckham'') is a 2002 sports comedy-drama film directed by Gurinder Chadha from a screenplay by Chadha, Paul Mayeda Berges, and Guljit Bindra. The film stars Parminder Nagra, Keira Knight ...
),
Aparna Sen
Aparna Sen (, ''Ôporna Shen'') is an Indian film director, screenwriter and actress who is known for her work in Bengali cinema. She has received several accolades as an actress and filmmaker, including nine National Film Awards, five F ...
Meera Syal
Meera Syal FRSL (born Feroza Syal; 27 June 1961) is a English comedian, writer, playwright, singer, journalist and actress. She rose to prominence as one of the team that created '' Goodness Gracious Me'' and portraying Sanjeev's grandmother, ...
(
Anita and Me
''Anita and Me'' is Meera Syal's debut novel, and was first published in 1996. It is a semi-autobiographical novel, based on Syal's childhood in the mining village of Essington, Staffordshire, which won the Betty Trask Award.
The story revolves ...
), actors
Shabana Azmi
Shabana Azmi (born 18 September 1950) is an Indian actress of Hindi film, television and theatre. One of India's most acclaimed actresses, Azmi is known for her portrayals of distinctive, often unconventional female characters across several ge ...
,
Nandita Das
Nandita Das (born 7 November 1969) is an Indian actress and director. She has acted in over 40 feature films in ten different languages. Das appeared in the films ''Fire'' (1996), '' Earth'' (1998), ''Bawandar'' (2000), ''Kannathil Muthamittal'' ...
,
Madhur Jaffrey
Madhur Jaffrey CBE (née Bahadur; born 13 August 1933) is an Indian-British-American actress, food and travel writer, and television personality. She is recognized for bringing Indian cuisine to the western hemisphere with her debut cookbook ...
,
Kiron Kher
Kirron Anupam Kher (also Kiran ''Indian Express'', 12 May 2002. or, Kiron born 14 June 1952) is an Indian politician; theatre, film and television actress; television personality; singer; entertainment producer; and a member of the Bharatiya J ...
,
Tannishtha Chatterjee
Tannishtha Chatterjee is an Indian actress and director best known in the west for her performance in the British film ''Brick Lane'' (2007), the film adaptation of Monica Ali's best selling novel of the same nameBachchan family and Bollywood legend Helen. In addition to acting and directing, the festival also provides a platform for other aspects within film and arts. The 17th edition of the festival in March 2015 featured the phenomenal choreographer and director
Farah Khan
Farah Khan Kunder (born 9 January 1965) is an Indian film director, film producer, actress, dancer and choreographer who works predominantly in Hindi films. Khan has choreographed dance routines for more than a hundred songs in over 80 films, w ...
with a Choreography Masterclass at
Southbank Centre
Southbank Centre is a complex of artistic venues in London, England, on the South Bank of the River Thames (between Hungerford Bridge and Waterloo Bridge).
It comprises three main performance venues (the Royal Festival Hall including the Nati ...
, a Director's Masterclass at Brunei Gallery,
SOAS
SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury are ...
and the UK's first ever Bollywood sing along with
Om Shanti Om
''Om Shanti Om'' (transl. ''Peace Be With You'') is a 2007 Indian Hindi-language fantasy romance film written and directed by Farah Khan, co-written by Mayur Puri and Mushtaq Shiekh, and produced by Gauri Khan under the banner of Red Chillie ...
at the
Prince Charles Cinema
The Prince Charles Cinema (PCC) is a repertory cinema located in Leicester Place, 50 yards north of Leicester Square in the West End of London. It shows a rotating programme of cult, arthouse, and classic films alongside recent Hollywood relea ...
. The 18th edition of the festival in March 2016 featured an 'In Conversation with...' renowned Indian superstar author and screenwriter
Chetan Bhagat
Chetan Bhagat (born 22 April 1974) is an Indian author, columnist and YouTuber. He was included in Time magazine's list of World's 100 Most Influential People in 2010. Five of his novels have been adapted into films.
Family, education, a ...
(
3 Idiots
''3 Idiots'' (stylized as ''3 idiots'') is a 2009 Indian Hindi-language coming-of-age comedy-drama film written, edited and directed by Rajkumar Hirani, co-written by Abhijat Joshi and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. Adapted loosely from Ch ...
, 2 States, Half-Girlfriend.) More recently in March 2019 the festival opened with an 'In Conversation with..' acclaimed actress and former model
Zeenat Aman
Zeenat Khan (born 19 November 1951), better known as Zeenat Aman, is an Indian actress and former fashion model. She first received recognition for her modelling work, and at the age of 19, went on to participate in beauty pageants, winning both ...
.
Festival Administration
The festival's Patrons are;
Abhishek Bachchan
Abhishek Bachchan (born 5 February 1976) is an Indian actor and film producer known for his work in Hindi films. Part of the Bachchan family, he is the son of actors Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan and the grandson of poet Harivansh Rai Bach ...
, Prof. Rachel Dwyer, Lord Diljit Rana, Sunita Sangar, Sabiha Sumar and
Meera Syal
Meera Syal FRSL (born Feroza Syal; 27 June 1961) is a English comedian, writer, playwright, singer, journalist and actress. She rose to prominence as one of the team that created '' Goodness Gracious Me'' and portraying Sanjeev's grandmother, ...
. The Board is made up of Roddy Mullin, Anna Macdonald, Balvinder Mudan, Mamta Kaash, Suniya Qureshi, Pedro Carvalho, Rakhee Joshi, Jaanuja Sriskantha, Aditi Khanna and Ryan Lanji. The Festival Chair Person is Minu Bakshi and Vice Chair Person Nishi Anand. The Festival Directors are Dr Pushpinder Chowdhry,
Samir Bhamra
Samir Bhamra is a multi-faceted British artist, playwright, costume designer, producer and musical theatre director at Phizzical Productions. Samir graduated from Loughborough University with a BSc. in Mathematics and Computation where he honed ...
(Creative Director) and Saba Syed (Operations Director). The Festival Manager from 2019-2021 was Amandeep Dhillon.
Festival Films
The 21st Edition of UKAFF was held on 27 March - 4 May 2019, with the festival showcasing in London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leicester and Manchester.
The Short Film Competition Winner was Belmaya Nepali for Educate our daughters, the Youth Curated Choice Award was for film Chegu, Best Documentary to Roopa Barua for Daughters of the Polo God, Best Director to Madhumita for KD, Best Actor to Rasika Duggal for Hamid, Best Film to Hamid and Audience Choice Best Film to Pinky Memsaab.
The 16th Edition of LAFF was held on 1–14 June 2014. The Festival was opened by
Nagesh Kukunoor
Nagesh Kukunoor (born 30 March 1967) is an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter and actor known for his works predominantly in Hindi cinema, and few Telugu language films. He is known for his works in parallel cinema, such as ''Hyderab ...
's film on Child Trafficking
Lakshmi
Lakshmi (; , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism. She is the goddess of wealth, fortune, power, beauty, fertility and prosperity, and associated with '' Maya'' ("Illusion"). A ...
. The UK Pakistani collaboration Tamanna had its UK premier at the festival on 8 June 2014.
At the 14th LAFF in 2012 Pakistani films won 3 awards for the first time in the festival's history. '' Bol'' won three awards:
Humaima Malik
Humaima Malick (born 18 November 1987) is a Pakistani actress who works in Pakistani films and serials. She is known for ''Ishq Junoon Deewangi'' as Pares Usmani and social-drama '' Bol'' in 2011.
Personal life
Malick was born in Quetta into ...
won Best Film Actress,
Shoaib Mansoor
Shoaib Mansoor (Full name, Shoaib Mansoor), ( ur, ; born 4 February 1951 Karachi) is a Pakistani television and film director, writer, producer, lyricist and musician of Muhajir origin.
Active in the television industry since 1980, he first ...
won the award for Best Film and
Amr Kashmiri
Amir Kashmiri (born 2 February 1991) is a Pakistani-born actor and Film Editor who appears in Pakistani films. He made his film debut in 2011 with Shoaib Mansoor's '' Bol'' for which he won a London Asian Film Festival award.
Early life
Am ...
won the award for Best New Talent, and
Rahat Fateh Ali Khan
Rahat Fateh Ali Khan (Punjabi, ; born 9 December 1974) is a Pakistani Singer, primarily of Qawwali, a form of Sufi devotional music. Khan is one of the biggest and highest paid singers in Pakistan. He is the nephew of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan ...
won Best Music Talent Award for the song ''Koi Dil Mein'' from the film Tamanna.
Other stand out films to have premiered at LAFF include
Fire
Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products.
At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition point, flames ...
Khamosh Pani
''Khamosh Pani'' ( Punjabi: (Shahmukhi), ਖ਼ਾਮੋਸ਼ ਪਾਨੀ (Gurmukhi); ''Silent Waters'') is a 2003 Indo-Pakistani film about a widowed mother and her young son living in a Punjabi village as it undergoes radical changes duri ...
,
Barfi
Barfi, barfee, borfi or burfi is a dense milk-based sweet from the Indian subcontinent. The name comes from the Hindustani (originally Persian) word ''barf'', which means snow. Common types of barfi include ''besan barfi'' (made with gram flou ...
Waiting
Waiting, Waitin, Waitin', or The Waiting may refer to:
Film
* ''Waiting'' (1991 film), a film by Jackie McKimmie
* ''Waiting...'' (film), a 2005 film starring Ryan Reynolds
* ''Waiting'' (2007 film), a film by Zarina Bhimji
* ''Waiting'' (20 ...
,
Manto may refer to:
People
* Mando (singer)
Adamantia Stamatopoulou ( el, Αδαμαντία Σταματοπούλου; born 13 April 1966), known as Mando ( el, links=no, Μαντώ), is a Greek singer. She was born and raised in Athens by her ...
,
Rang Rasiya
''Rang Rasiya'' (English title: Colours of passion) is an Indian erotic drama film based on the life of the 19th-century Indian painter Raja Ravi Varma. Made as a bilingual, the film is titled ''Rang Rasiya'' in its Hindi version and ''Colours of ...
Good Morning Karachi
''Good Morning Karachi'' (formerly ''Rafina'') is a 2013 Pakistani drama film directed by Sabiha Sumar and produced by Sachithanandam Sathananthan under the banner ''Vidhi Films''. The film is written by Malia Scotch Marmo, Sumar and Samhita Ar ...