- “Ben and Suzanne, A Reunion in 4 Parts”
- Directed, written and co-produced by Sri Lankan American filmmaker Shaun Seneviratne, “Ben and Suzanne, A Reunion in 4 Parts” is his first feature. The story follows Ben Santhanaraj (Sathya Sridharan) as he travels to Sri Lanka with the intention of rekindling his relationship with American NGO worker Suzanne Hopper (Anastasia Olowin). As Suzanne’s job gets more and more demanding, Ben attempts to revive their romance before he has to depart once more.
- “We’re All Gonna Die”
- A futuristic story catalyzed by the emergence of a sudden alien “Spike,” the film stars Jordan Rodrigues and Ashley Burch, and is written and directed by Freddie Wong and Matthew Arnold. Burch plays a beekeeper and Rodrigues an EMT, with both teaming up in an effort to get back their things after Spike teleports them halfway across America.
- “A Nice Indian Boy”
- Based on its namesake play written by Madhuri Shekar, “A Nice Indian Boy” comedically depicts the relationship between Naveen Gavaskar (Karan Soni) and Jay Kurundkar (Jonathan Groff) – who is a white adoptee with Indian parents – as Naveen prepares to tell his family about his new boyfriend. The film is directed by Roshan Sethi and also stars Sunita Mani, Zarna Garg, Harish Patel, and Peter S. Kim.
- “Doin’ It”
- Lilly Singh returns to her comedy roots with a coming-of-age feature that sees her as 30-year-old virgin Maya, who returns to the US from India to become a substitute high school sex-ed teacher so that she can research the teenage demographic for an app she’s developing. Throughout, Maya tries to reclaim the American high school experience she missed when she moved to India years ago. Singh co-writes the feature with Sara Zandieh and Neel Patel. Zandieh is also the director, and the film stars Utkarsh Ambudkar, Sabrina Jalees, Trevor Salter, and Sonia Dhillon Tully.
- “We Can Be Heroes”
- In the Documentary Feature Competition is “We Can Be Heroes,” which is co-directed and co-produced by Carina Mia Wong. The Emmy-winning filmmaker’s feature documentary follows a LARP (Live Action Role Play) summer camp as its teenage participants construct imaginary worlds to help them confront their real-world lives, traumas and struggles.
