South Asian film festival in Surrey to screen 77 international films starting Sept. 23

The 16th International South Asian Film Festival (iSAFF) returns to Landmark Cinemas Guildford in Surrey from Sept. 23 to 27 with 77 films under the theme “Dreamscapes.” The program includes eight feature films and 69 shorts from 15 countries in 19 languages. Festival programmers say the selections champion stories of resilience and imagined futures.

Festival producer Mannu Sandhu said the event has grown over 16 years into a meeting point for local B.C. talent and stories, alongside voices from South Asia and the diaspora worldwide. Sarmad Sultan Khoosat’s dark comedy Lali will open the festival, while Shubhangi Shekhar’s award-winning basketball documentary Hoop Like This will close it. The Gymnasts of Fisherman Colony, executive-produced by Malala Yousafzai and Law & Order actor Mariska Hargitay, will receive a gala presentation.

Programming co-directors Pallavi Sastry and Keertana Sastry said the selected films address traditional social structures, intergenerational relationships, sport as a path to freedom, faith and spirituality, and people seeking to live as their truest selves. More than half of the films will screen in Canada for the first time, including Ian Bawa’s Strong Son (2026), about a committed bodybuilder who returns home to care for his aging father.

A full-festival pass costs $199 and includes screenings, industry panels, red-carpet events and afterparties at Civic Hotel, Skye Avenue Kitchen & Lounge and King George Hub in Surrey. Single-film tickets and other passes are also available. This year’s event also includes a filmmaker retreat day and InFocus industry sessions on film-related subjects. The film guide is available at isaff.ca.

Artistic director Pulkit Datta said “Dreamscapes” invites audiences to imagine beyond inherited limits and to tell stories that both reflect the world and help shape what it could become. He said the festival aims to honour storytellers whose visions of the future are rooted in justice, joy, care and possibility.