Celebrating the best of Independent Asian cinema, Bollywood and beyond
By Sanam Hasan
The Tongues on Fire (TOF) is a London based non profit film festival dedicated to expressing the drive and spirit of Asian independent media and cinema cultures of South Asia.
The festival was created eleven years ago to provide an international platform for Asians working in film and media around the world. The festival founders were motivated by the need for a forum through which Asians could develop and promote their work and to address the general opinion in the UK Asian communities of filmmaking not falling under the “respectable profession” category. While discussing the festival’s early years, Dr. Pushpinder Chowdhry, Co-founder and Director, elaborates “the festival was inspired by the need to promote and encourage young Asian film makers and develop positive Asian role models for the industry. We have a genuine love for South Asian cinema and aimed to bring these films to London screens.”
Over the course of a decade, the festival has grown from grassroots to mainstream and has gradually shifted its sole focus on women filmmakers and female perspectives to incorporating a range of films. The festival has been an important bridge between the UK Asian community and the UK film industry and its partners include The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), The British Film Institute, the UK Film Council and other prestigious film associations.
This year’s festival ran from March 6th-15th 2009 and opened with Deepa Mehta’s Heaven on Earth starring Chicago International Film Festival’s Best Actress Preity Zinta. The film, reviewed as “a strong artistic statement” by the Hollywood Reporter (September 9th, 2008) deals with the complex issues of immigration, isolation and domestic violation.
The opening gala included Ramchand Pakistani by Mehreen Jabbar alongside an art exhibition by Faiza Shaikh on March 8th, 2009 at BAFTA. This landmark event offered an opportunity for the UK film industry and the mainstream community a rare view of film and art by Pakistani women and falls on International Women’s Day.
Celebrating Gurinder Chadha’s contribution to British film, special “In Conversation” evenings were included in the festival with the filmmaker. To encourage aspiring filmmakers, Film and Director’s Workshop by director Asif Kapadia with a screening of his film Far North took place. The TOF held a short film competition with entries from all over the world to engage new filmmakers and showcase their work.
This year, TOF is launching “Film Frat”- an exclusive club for upcoming filmmakers. Film Frat provides the opportunity to become part of Asian Arthouse cinema community. TOF believes that providing a forum to share and network is integral to showcasing talent and spearheading filmmaking efforts.
Film Frat offers:
- Discounted and/or free access to year around special events and workshops designed exclusively for filmmakers.
- Build and Expand your filmmaking network- Meet your colleagues, peers and share your knowledge and experience
- Mentoring programs with well known Asian Film makers. A few selected members may get the chance of winning the mentorship, advice and guidance from our community and access to well known filmmakers and actors.
“I have been very proud to be associated with the Tongues On Fire over the past 7 years, both as an excited viewer and also as a participant. As a festival, this one is unique. Nowhere else in the world is there a dedicated film festival to the many talents of Asian film makers and all of them have gladly come to share their knowledge and celebrate our collective output.”
Meera Syal, Writer, Actress and comedienne
Sanam Hasan is a film and media professional based in London
