News

Akash Menon and Mir Tawseef as Karun and Faheem

When I met Onir the week before last, the celebrated Indian filmmaker was looking forward to his second visit to London’s BFI Flare, having screened Pine Cone there last year. This year’s offering, Kashmiri love story We Are Faheem & Karun is one of the best films at the festival so I was delighted to have the opportunity to discuss it, but he’s modest about his work.

“I was overwhelmed,” he says of his 2024 experience. “Within the first two days, the tickets were sold out, and they requested for a third show. And they asked me ‘Why do you think your film is so popular?’ I said that all the South Asians must be coming. And then, before the show started, when I was taken in to the cinema, I realised that 80% of the audience was not South Asians.

Renowned filmmaker Onir, a champion of queer narratives and indie cinema, is thrilled to announce that his latest film, We Are Faheem & Karun, will be screened at the 39th edition of the prestigious BFI Flare on March 20 and 22, 2025.

Onir shared his excitement, stating, “This will be the international premiere of our film and the first time a Kashmiri language film, shot entirely in the border regions of Gurez, Kashmir, is showing at the festival. The film would also be the first queer narrative from the Valley. A love story set in Gurez, Kashmir between a security guard at a construction site, Karun, from Kerala, and a local Kashmiri college student, Faheem.”

The film’s inclusion at BFI Flare marks a significant moment for Kashmiri representation in global cinema. Onir emphasized the importance of this milestone, adding, “I am proud that my Kashmiri cast members too will be present at the screening in London.

A film which has been on the Directors Notes radar since we caught it at the London Film Festival last October, Sarah speaks to Sandhya Suri, writer/director of the BAFTA nominated/British Independent Film Awards winning crime thriller Santosh, about feeling compelled to step out of her documentary background for this gripping feature exploring the complexities between women in positions of power and dissecting the all too common violence inflicted on women.

[Read the full interview]

Links

The 9 Short Films Deserving of Top Billing on Your BFI Flare 2025 Watchlist

Onir’s ‘We Are Faheem & Karun’ Tells Kashmir’s First Queer Love Story

Head to Directors Notes for more filmmaker interviews and to watch our daily selection of new films. If you’d like your film featured on Dn, submit it here.

Find us at:

Instagram

YouTube

Letterboxd

Bluesky

Sign up for the weekly Dn newsletter...

Places of political turmoil are often defined by just that – conflict, trauma and the big geopolitical issues. It’s very easy to forget about the humanity that resides within the everyday lives of people wanting to live their lives and finding hope in the most unexpected of places. Acclaimed Indian writer/director/producer Onir tackles this head on with We Are Faheem & Karun, his beautifully sensitive portrayal of life in Gurez, a remote village on the Kashmiri border. A security man from India, Karun, is posted there and unexpectedly, through a series of interactions at the checkpoint he falls for Faheem, a young Kashmiri local and against all odds, their relationship blossoms. Inspired by a true story of a gay army man, the Ministry of Defence in India initially refused to give Onir the permission to shoot, stating the film was derogatory to the army…three years later it’s...