It was such an honour to screen at @hotdocs_ alongside these brilliant filmmakers. I’m in awe of doc as a form and the worldwide doc community. Thanks to the amazing programming team for curating such in sync films and creating friendships among us.
When you find likeminded people, there are so many things you don’t have to say. There’s a mutual understanding that we’re here for a special 11 days, and it’ll never happen again the way it did.
I’m so excited to announce that “i see myself in you” has been officially selected to play at Hot Docs 2026 on May 2nd at TIFF Lightbox at 2:15pm as a part of the Lessons in Liberation shorts program — truly a dream. Thank you so much to the amazing @hotdocs_ team!!
The film is a love letter to Brampton that simultaneously attempts to bridge the gap between the second gen and newcomer communities. I hope you see pieces of home in it.
It’s a super DIY, 16mm piece, that I directed, shot, edited, and hand processed. But it would be nothing without these three amazing, lovely people it’s featuring @simrankaur8111@prabhmeet.sabharwal and @woahmanpreet — who I’m so thankful to now know.
I was graciously assisted by @amanjit.takk@bigheadgeorge123 and my mom — who all made it so much easier to approach people.
The film was scanned by Mark Loeser — he makes everything great.
Made with the support of @_liftfilm@workmanartsto — essential and generous Toronto artist hubs.
I couldn’t have done it without all of @robinriad ‘s help, who got me acquainted with the darkroom and is an all around amazing filmmaking mentor I look up to.
Huge thanks also to @thesteban Scott Miller Berry @adriatchewan@harjeetsanghera@p0olsideconvooo , my dad, uncle, and nana ji.
See you there 🫶🏽💫
Behind the scenes on shoot day 2 “The Piston” for Bimaadizi/Along In Space and Time.
The craziest and busiest shoot day. These photos are a reminder of all the beautiful moments that were shared between every single person involved on this day.
Starring :
@bert_whitecrow as Niibin
@isaiah_kakepetum as Kinew
Supporting actor
@c.rnd
Production design
@em.wsn
Musicians on stage
@frankistwogirls
Thanks to:
@imaginenative@_liftfilm
Our photographer
Stefani Alexander 📸
I’d come see you a thousand times in any city. We’d share candies and order in. Taking city hikes, we’d remind each other to look at pretty things. Paintings and lookout points. Just months away again. This was 2024.
Vienna is so cinematic, I was thinking about the opera house from Rogue Nation, the Prater and city squares from The Third Man, and ofc ofc ofc the meanderings of Before Sunrise. It was such a joy to capture the city in black and white.
My true loves, friends and cinema 🫶🏽
this year, i’m glad there was winnipeg in april. the geese still came back after the winter. last week, in flocks, in their ordered fashion, we saw the last of them fly out again. at the end of this year, all i can think is at least we’re alive, all existing together at the same time. and if we’re fortunate, we have 12 more months coming. i can only believe that they’ll be better.
One of the most special times in this really tough year. Being able to be most yourself around your people, holding nothing back. Brampton meets New York. Thanks to my beautiful friend for the journey this film has taken us on. Thanks to my parents for loving me more than I ever felt I deserved. I can ask you any question as you iron my shirt. Always centring what matters most in this life, somehow finding a way to support my every whim 💫
Thanks to NewFest for such a beautiful experience. Y’all are the most iconic. This work is essential and so full of love. So thankful for everyone I met. Highly recommend submitting to and attending 💛
@newfest photos by @mettieostrowski 🌟
The rest is Ilford Delta 3200 🤗
That’s a wrap on @reelasian !! Film festivals are my great love, I’m so happy to be apart of this one. It was such an honour to champion other filmmakers this year.
I’m especially proud of the beautiful, magical, wholesome Unsung Voices Cohort who’ve worked so hard this year and created groundbreaking films. You can still catch them online until the 23rd alongside other RA programming. Thankful to know you all and excited to see you flourish🥹🦋💫
Photos by @yu.jie.wang and Hao Nguyen 🫶🏽
nyc in december last year
Here’s to believing in the people — a socialist New York is coming, whether the politicians are here for it or not.
I don’t usually talk about what film I’m shooting in my posts but this was my first time using hand rolled motion picture film (excluding the b&w which is just the regular stuff) — the colours make it look like summer, despite these being taken in early December. Winter days are short so this doesn’t encompass my fave parts of the trip but the story highlight’s got it lmao.
lil Bolty, my bestfriends bestfriend, my roomie of the past 3 years, the best part of coming home, hearing the pitter patter of his feet, a constant presence. I was so excited to live with him because I never got to grow up with a dog. Katia showed me how special that relationship is. Bolt was by her side for so much of her life, a trusty companion, a bundle of love, energy, joy. At our house, even in his senior years, he was our protector, feisty and caring, making the city feel like home in a way it hadn’t before. Today, I think of how he’d look at me curiously when I cried, keeping me company amidst tears. If he was here he’d be doing that for the whole house. I read that grief is all the love we want to give but can’t — it’s love with nowhere to go. I imagine you trotting along into the sunset. I wonder if I can mail it there. Mail it to the stars, to the milky way, this world that made it so that you would exist in ours. All the love that will scatter and fall back onto us. I’ll never forget you sweet love, we’ll miss you for the rest of our lives 💓 Katia + Bolt, a duo written in the stars 💫
As many Brampton kids, I grew up not knowing much about the rest of Canada, memorizing a song to remember the order of the provinces and territories, really only knowing capital cities, places my friends would move to, or where my parents could take us in Ontario. I wanted to cross international borders to travel, see other big cities like Toronto because what else could compare. The past few years I’ve begun to realize what it really means to be a guest on Turtle Island, how much there is to learn and fight for. Indigenous resistance persists and leads the way as we continue to witness ongoing settler violence here and across the world. The imperialist attempts to erase the original peoples and cultures will always fall short. So when I think of Saskatoon, located on Treaty 6 Territory, I think of how the wind sweeps through wheat as a welcome. I think of being with those who share my will for liberation. I think of the Buffalo of Wanuskewin ᐋᐧᓇᐢᑫᐃᐧᐣ, of Indigenous sovereignty, matriarchal leadership, the sustenance of original languages and dialects like Plains Cree. I think of the heartening possibility of curiosity, bowing to the land that holds us, I think of how much has been lost and everyone that is doing the work to save us.
@p0olsideconvooo ’s new short ‘a kin sin’ is premiering at Rendezvous with Madness, 5:30pm this Friday at the Tranzac as a part of the “If You Ask Me” shorts programme. It’s an experimental autofiction shot on 16mm and self developed by Gulzar + team!!! 🧙🏽🧪
I usually crew so being in this is a plot twist. It was also a battle with comfort and a place to play — thanks to Gulzar for always making me feel safe and creating the best set, obsessed with y’all 🫶🏽
Photos captured by the iconic @tse.maye 💫
Lagos meant lots of “it’s like the beach from Old” & “i actually don’t endorse the robby p batman, it’s just a bit ask @nav_kullar ” & “when me and @bodkinemily were here in 2019 somethingsomething Brockhampton somethingsomething Nepalese restaurant”
I went to Seville afterwards solo (not pictured) during the Al-Aqsa Flood and couldn’t get off socials. Then I went to Barcelona and found a protest. The unwavering strength and journey to freedom displayed by Palestinians spoke to the core of my being and all I could do was feel. I sat in parks and outside of cathedrals — interchangeably reposting, writing, and reading.
