Shashank Walia's 'Birds in the Dark' to Close Dharamshala Film Festival

Shashank Walia’s debut feature, 'Birds in the Dark,' will conclude the 15th Dharamshala International Film Festival with its India premiere. The film, which follows a call center executive mistaken for a suspect by a police informer, won two prizes at the Busan International Film Festival earlier this month.

The festival runs from October 29 to November 1 at the Tibetan Children's Village in Upper Dharamshala. Organizers have added several new titles to the program. Mehrdad Oskouei’s 'A Fox Under a Pink Moon,' made with Afghan artist Soraya Akhlaghi, depicts her efforts to reach her mother in Austria. Paromita Vohra’s 'Working Girls' examines the labor performed by women across India.

Yashasvi Juyal’s 'The Ink Stained Hand and The Missing Thumb' will have its South Asia premiere. The film is set at a highway toll booth in northern India where grief disrupts daily routine. Ridham Janve’s 'Hunter’s Moon' is set in the Upper Dhauladhar range. The shorts section includes the world premiere of Aastha Tiku’s 'Dreamboat,' as well as works by Arun Fulara and Varun Grover.

Bina Paul, the festival’s director of programming, stated that curation remains central to the event’s identity. "While curating, we look for distinctive voices, boundary-pushing filmmaking and films that open up new ways of seeing and thinking," Paul said. She noted that this approach has allowed the festival to build a program diverse in geography and form while maintaining a commitment to independent cinema.

Rima Das’ 'Not a Hero' opens the festival with its South Asia premiere. Other titles in the lineup include Óliver Laxe’s 'Sirāt,' Shaunak Sen’s 'Termite,' and Gurvinder Singh’s 'Rehmat.' 'Termite' will have its Asia premiere, while 'Rehmat' will have its India premiere. The program also features 'Time and Water' by Sara Dosa and 'Celtic Utopia' by Dennis Harvey and Lars Lovén.

The festival’s Himalayan Film Fellows initiative, supported by Arthshila, is currently working with seven filmmakers from the Indian Himalayan Region on their early fiction features. Mentors for the program include Dechen Roder, Umesh Kulkarni, and Dominic Sangma. In partnership with the Royal Enfield Social Mission, organizers are also completing 24 community screenings across Kangra district, including at schools, nunneries, and the local jail.

Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam launched the festival in 2012 to create a communal space for independent films in Dharamshala. "Fifteen years later, that spirit remains at the heart of the festival," they said, adding that they were excited to welcome audiences back to the mountains for the anniversary edition.