International South Asian Film Festival opens Wednesday with 77 titles across 19 languages
The 16th iSAFF runs September 23–27 in downtown Surrey with 8 features and 69 shorts from 15 countries. More than half the titles are screening for the first time anywhere.
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The International South Asian Film Festival opens Wednesday, September 23, and runs through Sunday, September 27, in downtown Surrey. The 16th edition of iSAFF—the only South Asian film festival in Western Canada and a Canadian Screen Award–qualifying event—expects roughly 3,000 filmgoers across five days.
This year's 77-film programme, themed Dreamscapes, includes 8 features and 69 shorts from 15 countries across 19 languages. More than half the titles are screening for the first time in Canada or receiving their world premiere, making the festival a launchpad for emerging South Asian voices.
The opening-night feature, Lali, screens Thursday, September 24, at 6 p.m. at Landmark Cinemas Guildford Theatre. Director Sarmad Sultan Khoosat's dark comedy follows protagonists Zeba and Sajawal living among ghosts as they navigate desire, superstition, and fear. The B.C. premiere promises spooky comedy with intimate storytelling.
Friday, September 25, at 8 p.m., three-time Emmy Award–winning filmmaker Habiba Nosheen presents The Gymnasts of Fisherman Colony, an intimate coming-of-age documentary following three female teenage gymnasts in Pakistan. The film captures their confrontation with societal expectations of what women can and cannot do—a deeply moving story from a corner of the world rarely seen on screen.
Sunday's lineup features two standouts. Love Chaos Kin screens at 2 p.m., directed by Chithra Jeyaram. The film follows Lakshmi, a mother of two white adopted twins, Anjali and Meghan, raised in an American-Indian family. When the twins seek their birth mother, Brandy, Lakshmi faces her emotions while experiencing her own pregnancy, confronting identity, human struggle, and connection. The closing-night feature, Crowned Athletes, directed by Prabhjit Singh Sabharwal, screens at 6 p.m. This world-premiere short documentary follows four Canadian athletes who proudly wear their turbans despite challenges, exploring their desire to succeed in their respective sports while remaining true to themselves and their faith.
Saturday, September 26, at 6 p.m., Namaslay (directors Rish and Kanish) offers genre-smashing horror satire at Landmark Cinemas Guildford Theatre 11. The film reimagines masala cinema through a wickedly dark lens, examining how the West has appropriated yoga and exploring how culture is the blood that keeps the dead alive.
Tickets are available through the festival website.
At a glance
When and where is the International South Asian Film Festival?
The 16th International South Asian Film Festival runs September 23–27, 2026, in downtown Surrey.
How many films are screening and where are they from?
The festival screens 77 films—8 features and 69 shorts—from 15 countries across 19 languages. More than half are premiering in Canada or receiving their world premiere.
What is the opening-night film?
Lali, directed by Sarmad Sultan Khoosat, screens Thursday, September 24, at 6 p.m. at Landmark Cinemas Guildford Theatre. This dark comedy about two protagonists living among ghosts marks the festival's opening night.
What films close the festival on Sunday?
Love Chaos Kin screens at 2 p.m. and Crowned Athletes, a world-premiere short documentary about four Canadian athletes who wear turbans in their sports, screens at 6 p.m. on September 27, 2026.
