Kulsoomified

Tag: nepal

  • When South Asia Meets Sunset: IFFLA 2025’s Industry Days Promise a Cinematic Revolution

    By Kulsoom Abid

    In a world where stories cross borders before passports do, there’s a place where South Asian cinema takes center stage not just as culture, but as future. The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) is back—bigger, braver, and more beautifully interconnected than ever before.

    2025 marks a cosmic expansion for IFFLA Industry Days, unfolding on May 8 and 9 at the Landmark Theatres Sunset, where narratives from India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and the South Asian diaspora meet the very core of Hollywood. And it isn’t just a festival—it’s a movement.

    This year’s heartbeat? IFFLA Connect—a cinematic constellation born in collaboration with Cinévesture. It’s more than a program—it’s a bridge. A handpicked bouquet of emerging and established storytellers are set to bloom on global soil. From Radhika Apte’s directorial debut Koyta to Nuhash Humayun’s bold Moving Bangladesh, the lineup whispers revolution, reels resilience, and roars representation.

    “Our focus is access,” says Noopur Sinha, Festival Producer. “These ten powerful South Asian-led projects deserve the chance to not just survive, but soar in global cinema.” And with champions like Netflix, Orion Pictures, Film Independent, Neon, and Temple Hill watching closely, the world might just listen a little more intently.

    But this festival doesn’t stop at showcasing. It dares to sculpt the future. The Launchpad: Pitch Competition returns, offering five dreamers the stage, a listening industry, and a chance at $10,000 in development funding. In a room full of believers, sometimes that’s all a story needs.

    Panels that Matter, Questions that Echo

    The Industry Days are rich with brain and soul food:

    The Human Loop panel asks: “Can storytelling stay human in the age of AI?”

    Global Vision challenges studios to look beyond Western borders, diving deep into how international voices are redefining cinematic futures.

    And in a heartfelt nod to literature and theatre, a panel on the Life of Pi stage adaptation explores how a tale from Pondicherry now moves hearts from Broadway to LA.

    Magic has a Masterclass too.

    One of the most anticipated events is “From Dhaka to Hollywood”, where South Asia’s horror whisperer Nuhash Humayun dissects how local stories can scream on global stages. From his breakout Moshari to hauntingly poetic cinema, it’s a classroom where the future listens.

    The Jury that Breathes Stories

    This year’s juries—both for features and shorts—are a soulful blend of insight and artistic fire:

    Rajshri Deshpande, known for Sacred Games and Sexy Durga

    Carla Renata, a.k.a. The Curvy Critic, whose words have shaped Variety, RogerEbert.com, and beyond

    And Maureen Bharoocha, whose lens bridges genres and hearts alike.

    With names like Priyanka Mattoo, Kausar Mohammed, and Sudeep Sharma in the mix, it’s clear: these are not gatekeepers—they’re gate-openers.

    For the Dreamers, the Believers, and the Storytellers

    IFFLA 2025 isn’t just a festival. It’s an invitation to the world to sit down, lean in, and feel the pulse of South Asia—loud, luminous, and unapologetically original. From bustling Mumbai sets to quiet Bangladeshi scripts scribbled at midnight, this is where those dreams take their first Hollywood breath.

    Passes are now live at indianfilmfestival.org.
    And for the readers of Kulsoomified: if you’ve ever believed in the poetry of film, this is your call to witness a new chapter in the language of cinema.

  • तस्वीर

    Hello everyone, I was just wondering I never posted anything in Hindi. So here’s a poem by me in Hindi.

    तस्वीर

    बस एक तेरी तस्वीर ही है अब मेरे पास, वरना बचा क्या है?
    रिश्ता ज़िंदा है आज भी मेरे दिल में,
    वरना निभाने की वजह क्या है?
    माना नाराज़ थे हम,
    पर खफा तुम भी तो थे…
    मेरी बेरुखी की वजह तुम भी तो थे|
    “प्यार है तुमसे, लौट आओ”, कहा था हमने
    “नहीं, चले जाओ”, अलफ़ाज़ तुम्हारे ही तो थे|
    मेरे दिल में हो तुम, इसलिए इन कविताओं में हो…
    ये कवितायेँ, ये एहसास, ये प्यार ही तो है
    वरना बचा क्या है?
    एक तेरी तस्वीर से इश्क़ निभाने की
    वरना वजह क्या है?

    – ©Kulsoom Abid

    Your views are reviews are most welcomed, feel free yo comment below.

    Thank you for reading.

  • Why is Racism even a Thing?

    ©Kulsoom Abid

    I was into my routine “late-night-overthinking” when I realized that sometimes I don’t understand why “Racism” is even a thing?


    I mean it’s like saying white flowers are beautiful because they are white and purple or blue ones are ugly because they are purple or blue.


    At the end of the day, they all are flowers. They all are beautiful.
    Imagine if the World had only white or yellow flowers… Now imagine the world with only red or purple or blue flowers…?
    There will be no variety in gardens and bouquets, everything will look the same.

    Let’s look at it in this way.

    When we make a painting, we colour it the way we want to, we use the colours we think will look good on the object and we go deep down into our creativity and imagination to come up with what we desire for. And when we are done, we don’t care what others think, we love our painting because it is ours it is purely our creativity.

    Now, think of us (the people in the world) as paintings and think of God as an artist. He painted us this way, he painted the flowers this way because he wanted to. It’s his creativity and he loves us he is proud of us for the way we are. In the same way, we would have been of something we created.

    Purple and white flowers look more beautiful together than separately, whether in the Garden (normal life, local places and society) or in the Bouquet (high ranking jobs, prestigious sectors and in the decision making bodies). Understand that. Because we won’t like the future generations to think we were stupid to not understand such simple things, because the world will always be a colourful place, whether you like it or not because the Creator likes it this way.

    I would love to know your views, reviews and suggestions on the topic and my blog too. Feel free to comment below.

    Thank you for reading.