Our Bureau
Washington, DC
DCSAFF is Washington DC’s leading cultural diversity platform, showcasing films from South Asian countries as well as the global South Asian diaspora. DCSAFF provides an open platform to bring to the forefront important conversations around social issues, reduce discrimination, and engage in social change.
“We have screened movies about women’s issues, LGBTQ acceptance, political corruption, religious extremity, atrocity of the caste system, exploitation of labor laws, human trafficking, and many more important social issues impacting South Asians around the world,” said a statement from the organization.
“Given the present atmosphere of hate, divide, terrorism, and conservative fanaticism impacting America, DCSAFF’S theme encourages people to focus on the big picture, which is unity and attainment of joy. We promote our audience and community at large to engage in various social causes through artistic campaigns to save the environment, be kind to each other, accept differing beliefs, be happy, participate in the arts, all because life is short,” said the statement.
Following are the awards that will be given out to encourage emerging filmmaker participation: Best Feature — Film Raahgir; Best Male — Actor Adil Hussain for Raahgir; Best Female Actor Tillotama Shome for Raahgir; Best Director — Goutam Ghose for Raahgir; Best Story – Bittersweet; Best Short Film — Tikkun Olam; Best Child Actor — Shahida Neera; Best Supporting Actor — Rudhraksh Jaiswal for The Tenant; Best Rising Star Director — Sushrut Jain for The Tenant; and Special Mention by Jury; and Best Actor in Short Film — Shishir Sharma in Dvaita.
