The South Asian Film Festival of Montreal (MSFF) is dedicated to exploring and introducing Montreal audiences to the work of filmmakers of South Asian origin. This 13th edition is an opportunity to discover many recent works, both documentary and fiction, that focus on the Indian subcontinent and its diaspora.
The youngest son of a traditional Pakistani family takes a job as a backup dancer in a Bollywood-style burlesque, and he quickly becomes infatuated with the strong-willed trans woman who runs the show.
Saim Sadiq
The first short of Saim Sadiq, Nice Talking To You, was an official selection at SXSW 2019, Palm Springs 2019 and was a BAFTA Shortlist for Best Student Film. He also won Vimeo’s Best Director award at Columbia University Film Festival along with the Kodak Gold Award. For his Columbia film school thesis, he explored the world of trans dancers in the short Darling, which won the Orizzonti Award for Best Short Film in the 76th Venice International Film Festival. It was also the first Pakistani film to screen and win an award at the Venice Film Festival and received special jury mention at SXSW and was an official selection at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival before being acquired by Focus Features. Sadiq said that his filmmaking has been inspired by his upbringing and discovery of a transgender community in Lahore that is only a 10-minute ride from his childhood home.
