Matwaala Mehfilm: First-Ever South Asian Poetry Film Festival
@ South Asia Institute
1925 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL
Opening Saturday, October 4th, from 2PM - 5PM
In 2025, Matwaala celebrates a milestone—its tenth anniversary—marking a decade of amplifying South Asian diaspora voices and building community through poetry. To honor this journey, we are proud to launch the first-ever South Asian Poetry Film Fest, a curated exhibit of poetry films, on October 4, 2025, at the South Asia Institute in Chicago.
This groundbreaking event is one of the many events under the aegis of Matwaala Mehfilm, celebrating this milestone. This festival will showcase the intersection of poetry and film, where lyrical language meets visual storytelling. Featuring diverse South Asian poets and filmmakers from across the diaspora, the festival will explore themes of identity, migration, memory, and resilience. By bringing these works together under one roof, Matwaala Mehfilm offers audiences a rare opportunity to witness how poetry expands beyond the page into cinematic expression.
The Poetry Film Fest will be both a celebration of artistry and a bridge connecting communities through the universal language of poetry.
https://www.matwaala.com/2025.html
Participating poets include Usha Akella, Yahya Ashour, Ignatius V. Aloysius, Lopa Banerjee, Ibtisam Barakat, Ravi Chandra, Meena Chopra, Keisha-Gaye Anderson, Shadab Zeest Hashmi, Kavita Jindal, Kirun Kapur, Meenakshi Mohan, Faisal Mohyuddin, Anita Nahal, Sophia Naz, Yogesh Patel, Sangeeta Sharma, Sunil Sharma, Yuyutsu Sharma, Kashiana Singh, Pramila Venkateswaran.
The event will feature readings from poets and book signings.
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Tags: Anita Nahal, Chicago, Faisal Mohyuddin, Ibtisam Barakat, Ignatius V. Aloysius, Kashiana Singh, Kavita Jindal, Keisha-Gaye Anderson, Kirun Kapur, Lopa Banerjee, Matwaala Mehfilm: First-Ever South Asian Poetry Film Festival, Meena Chopra, Meenakshi Mohan, Near South Side, Pramila Venkateswaran, Ravi Chandra, Sangeeta Sharma, Shadab Zeest Hashmi, Sophia Naz, South Asia Institute, South Asian Poetry Film Fest, Sunil Sharma, Usha Akella, Yahya Ashour, Yogesh Patel, Yuyutsu Sharma
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