In 1986, Saroo was a five-year-old child in India of a poor but happy rural family. On a trip with his brother, Saroo soon finds himself alone and trapped in a moving decommissioned passenger train that takes him to Calcutta, 1500 miles away from home. Now totally lost in an alien urban environment and too young to identify either himself or his home to the authorities, Saroo struggles to survive as a street child until he is sent to an orphanage. Soon, Saroo is selected to be adopted by the Brierley family in Tasmania, where he grows up in a loving, prosperous home. However, for all his material good fortune, Saroo finds himself plagued by his memories of his lost family in his adulthood and tries to search for them even as his guilt drives him to hide this quest from his adoptive parents and his girlfriend. Only when he has an epiphany does he realize not only the answers he needs, but also the steadfast love that he has always had with all his loved ones in both worlds. Written by Kenneth Chisholm (kchishol@rogers.com)
Teenager Amir is constantly dodging trouble while dealing drugs in the underbelly of Mumbai. Following a drug bust, he evades the cops and ends up on the doorstep of his estranged sister Tara. Complications from concealing Amir land Tara in jail, but she still sees her brother as her only hope of living in the outside world again. While their lives have been darkened by despair, hope may shine from beyond the clouds.
Meera, a beautiful Australian woman of Indian origin, living in Sydney as a single mother, she follows her dreams, instead of that of her parents'. She falls in love with a man named Will, for Meera is not only scandalous, it's UNindian. Written by Thushy Sathiamoorthy
'Parched' is a story about women set in the heart of parched rural landscape of Rajasthan, India. It traces the bittersweet tale of four ordinary women Rani, Lajjo, Bijli and Janaki. We see them unapologetically talk about men, sex and life as they struggle with their individual boundaries to face their demons and stage their own personal wars. Written by Anonymoud
Thirty years on from the 1984 Union Carbide plant malfunction, the consequences of which are tragically ongoing, A Prayer for Rain is the powerful and moving story of the Bhopal tragedy, one of the great corporate and environmental scandals of the last half-century. It dramatises the dependence of the local community on the chemical plant that will eventually cause catastrophe, and the series of oversights that led to an event that stands as a benchmark for corporate irresponsibility in the developing world.
Inspector Joshi is a grieving father searching for his daughter Aruna, kidnapped years ago when she was six. In his despair, life converges with a recurring dream in which Joshi pursues a shadowy figure who leads him to 'Paradise', a night-club where teenage girls dance to a leering crowd. He is convinced he will find Aruna there and vows to bring her back to Leela, his broken wife. Written by Independent Movies Ltd
This is a one-night story - it's New Year eve and two strangers living in two different cities [New York/Chicago] are tossed into each other's company by the hand of fate in a comedy of errors that's as funny as it is enchanting. And just as the world is celebrating New Years, the two stranger's realize their own romances are falling apart... Making a desperate bid to sustain their own relationships they inadvertently fall in love over one magical New Year's eve... Written by I Love New Year
A fearless woman fights social injustice; creating a sanctuary for abused women and battling a crooked politician.
A fourteen year old Dalit (lower caste) boy in rural India is killed for writing a love letter.
A rookie cop joins the crime branch of the Mumbai police department, and on his first assignment is faced with the dilemma of whether he should shoot a murder suspect who is attempting to escape or not.