'Verna' To Screen At UK Asian Film Fest
The UK Asian Film Festival this time around will be celebrating 20 years of championing independent South Asian cinema by hosting a 12-day season of film screenings and events in Edinburgh, Manchester, Leicester and London.
According to the organisers of the film fest, they will be screening women-centric movies, and the opening gala, will feature an awards presentation honouring women that have successfully broken stereotypes to make a difference.
Talking about the event, Dr Pushpinder Chowdhry, Festival Founding Director, said, “We are delighted to be celebrating the festival’s 20th anniversary by expanding nationally and giving audiences across the UK the opportunity of engaging with our programme of screenings, guest talks and events with a strong, feminist theme.”
“From its inception, the festival has always championed gender equality in cinema, launching 20 years back at a time when there was but a handful of Asian women film-makers and the scope of female roles was restricted to women of a certain age, confined to certain archetypal parameters. We are finally seeing a shift in this, as women continue to create a space for themselves in South Asian cinema, redefining and expanding their roles both in front of and behind the camera and on their own terms. We continue to celebrate those achievements with a rich showcase that represents the ever-evolving contributions and representations of women to cinema,” she added.