Short comedy film Nani is coming to IPF 2026.
Screening on Sunday at 2:00 PM, Nani by Mainak Dhar @moinky brings a sharp and engaging cinematic voice to the festival, adding another dimension to IPF’s program through film, storytelling, and visual culture. Join us for this special screening as part of the Inglewood Photo Festival 2026.#IPF2026 #InglewoodPhotoFestival #MainakDhar #Nani #ShortFilm ComedyShort FilmScreening IndependentFilm VisualCulture InglewoodArts
Saturday, February 28th, OIFF 2026 will add some levity to the screen with the comedic shorts program, IN ALL SERIOUSNESS. Tickets on sale now at osidefilm.org & our Link in Bio. You can catch this lineup of shorts at @thestartheatre at 4:45pm:
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- LEAF CUTTER
Anita, a lowly ant soldier, has to test her might against a giant wasp dragon, The Ruined Sapphire, to save the ant colony. (Directors: Kai Asakawa & Kendall Blair, 4 Min, Animation, Bonita, CA)
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- BACK TO ONE
When a couple is faced with an important decision upon witnessing a shocking turn of events, it becomes apparent that not everything is as they would appear. (Director: Carly Miller, 6 Min, United States)
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- V’S SECRET
When Adam drops his wife’s G-string onto his neighbor Bassem’s balcony, he becomes convinced Bassem eventually steals it. Adam decides to retaliate by taking the matter into his own hands. (Director: Bassma Farah Nancy, 13 Min, Egypt)
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- NANI
As Ramadan draws to a close, a young woman returns home, stirring up buried tensions and unspoken truths that refuse to stay in the past. (Director: Mainak Dhar, 10 Min, Los Angeles, CA)
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- LOS ANGELES CRIME DRAMA
Be careful what you wish for… (Director: Daniel Maggio, 15 Min, Pasadena, CA)
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- RIGHT ON!
An aspiring writer uses increasingly desperate and unconventional methods to overcome a crippling ailment – writer’s block. (Director: Dave Rosas, 15 Min, San Bernardino, CA)
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#OIFF2026 #OsideFilm #oceansideinternationalfilmfestival #shortfilm #oceansideevents #osidelocal #northcountysd #thestartheatre #writersblock #crimedrama #beach #victoriassecret #picnicday #animeedits #supportindiefilm #supportmovietheaters #filmfestivals
Ending the year on a high — NANI won Best Comedy Short at the Canadian International Film Festival! 🇨🇦🏆
Grateful to CIFF and our incredible cast & crew for closing out the year with a laugh and a win. 🎬❤️
#nanithebitch #nanishortfilm #stealingnani #shortfilm #bestcomedyshort canadianinternationalfilmfestival
Nani offers a short but is a replete glimpse into the dynamics of a South Asian immigrant family. There’s the gruffness of the father revealing how often migrant dads cling to values learned in one country while trying to manage a family growing up in another.
Credits: Sunita Suni Mukhi (@sunimartist )
Mainak Dhar (@moinky )
Bushra Khan (@b.khanfident )
Nani Short Film (@nanishortfilm )
<homegrown, short film, nani, south asian, migrant, family>
❄️🎬 NANI is going to Alaska! 🎬❄️
Yep, you heard that right — Anchorage International Film Festival. The one Moviemaker Magazine called one of the 25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World! (literally and figuratively 🧊). NANI is officially a “Film Worth Freezing For”.
From Dec 5–14, while most of us are complaining about “winter” in L.A. at 65°F, filmmakers in Anchorage will be watching films between glacier hikes and Northern Lights bonfires. That’s not a film fest, that’s a quest for enlightenment.
We’re so excited to be part of this year’s lineup. Huge thanks to the festival team for including us in what looks like an unforgettable mix of cinema, snow, and surreal adventure. 🥶🎬✨
⏰ 12:00 PM
📅 December 9, Tuesday
🎬 International Shorts Block 2
📍 E Street Theater
#nanithebitch #nanishortfilm #stealingnani #shortfilm #AnchorageFilmFestival #CoolestFestivalInTheWorld #aiff2025
Feeling grateful for Tasveer and everyone behind it — especially @ritameher , who somehow keeps taking Tasveer to new heights every year while staying the chillest person in the room. The new space, the energy, the volunteers, the friends made — it all felt like family. ❤️
This festival was extra special for our NANI cast — @roomeen8 and @nirv4321 are Seattle natives — and our own Nani @sunimartist , met a cousin she didn’t even know existed for the first time! They’d discovered each other through one of those DNA sites, and their embrace at the festival was something none of us will forget.(Last Slide)
Tasveer reminded me why we make films — to find our people. Rita’s calm leadership, Jumana’s thoughtful programming, Farah’s amazing music, and the volunteers keeping everything running smoothly (always with a smile) made the whole space buzz with stories. It felt like a true community.
Another thing we loved about Tasveer being one of the last South Asian film festivals of the year — you actually get time to reconnect. The filmmakers you’ve met briefly elsewhere? Here, you end up hanging out for hours and building real friendships. This wasn’t some AMC with folks in weekend shorts rushing to a Marvel movie — it was our space, for our stories.
I’m so glad I came for all five days and got to attend the film market. What Tasveer has built from Seattle is something festivals in bigger film cities haven’t even tried — real support and opportunities for North American Desi filmmakers. What they’re doing with the Short Film Pitches is wild. Huge congrats to our friends @gayatrieveritt & @kajriakhtar — their project Wellness was everyone’s favorite pitch and one of the winners!
It ended up being everyone’s favorite festival experience — because the space invited us to linger, connect, and belong. Having our 4 bedroom “NANI House” 3 blocks from the Tasveer Theater certainly was the cherry on top of the cake. Thank you @homeexchangecom for another amazing festival experience.❤️
#nanithebitch #nanishortfilm #stealingnani #shortfilm #TasveerFilmFestival #tasveer2025
New Poster Drop - PART 1
New NANI posters just dropped — and honestly, we’re obsessed. 😍
Big shoutout to @gapush who clearly understands our film better than we do.
Now the real challenge: pretending we don’t have a favorite poster when we definitely do. 👀
#NANI #nanithebitch #nanishortfilm #stealingnani #PosterDrop
As NANI screens this weekend at Tasveer Film Festival in Seattle, we wanted to take a moment for the people behind the camera — the ones who actually made this film happen.
Producers Shardul, Humaira, and Grace kept the ship afloat through chaos, deadlines, and too many versions of the budget. Sam, our cinematographer, made the film look so damn good. He’s easily one of the most talented DPs in LA right now. He turned our apartment into something cinematic. Rohini, our production designer, poured in time and heart like few others would. She literally came over every day the week before the shoot, turning our apartment into Maisha’s parents’ home — piece by piece, photo by photo, memory by memory. And Rianjali, our composer, created music that lands at the perfect moment — subtle, emotional, and elevating every beat. She even shared one of her dad’s songs to end the film with — a gift that made the film’s final moments deeply personal.
Films don’t just happen — they’re built, moment by moment, by people like these.
⏰ 11:00 AM
📅 October 12, Sunday
🎬 Shorts Block | Under the Skin
📍 Tasveer Film Center, Screen 1
For our friends in US, NANI will also be available to watch virtually throughout the festival on Tasveer.tv
🎟️ Tickets & passes: /schedule
#nanithebitch #nanishortfilm #stealingnani #shortfilm #TasveerFilmFestival #tasveer2025
Earlier this year, I had the privilege of editing Anokhi, a powerful short film written & directed by Rohini Jadhav. Rohini and I first connected when she designed the world of NANI as our production designer — and I feel very lucky that our paths crossed again on her directorial debut.
With Anokhi—her debut as a writer-director—she crafts a quiet yet powerful story about an immigrant mother caught in the cycle of domestic abuse, and the moment of courage that could break it.
For me, this collaboration couldn’t have come at a better time—as I’ve been transitioning from documentary into more narrative editing, Rohini was the kind of generous, thoughtful collaborator any editor dreams of working with.
I’m so proud of what she’s created, and grateful to have been part of bringing Anokhi to life.
#shortfilm #southasianstories #dvawareness #socialimpactstorytelling
