UK Asian Film Festival 2026: Line-up spans new voices, restored classics and global stories

Highlights

• 28th edition of the UK Asian Film Festival runs 1–10 May across the UK
• Opens with Ghost School at BFI Southbank on 1 May
• Closes with Shadowbox on 10 May featuring Seemab Gul and Tillotama Shome
• European premiere of restored Umrao Jaan at BFI IMAX
• Films span features, documentaries, shorts and curated strands
• Theme “Stories That Bind Us” explores identity, memory and connection

A wide programme built around shared stories

The 28th edition of the UK Asian Film Festival runs from 1–10 May across London, Leicester, Coventry and Cumbernauld, bringing together films from South Asia and its global diaspora.

The programme spans new releases, restored cinema, documentaries, short films and curated thematic strands, all framed around this year’s theme, “Stories That Bind Us”.

Opening and closing films frame the festival

The festival opens on 1 May at BFI Southbank with Ghost School (Pakistan, 2025), a child’s-eye story of fear and uncertainty after a village school closure.

Ghost School (Pakistan, 2025)ukaff

It closes on 10 May with Shadowbox (India, 2025), a Bengali-language family drama about emotional strain after a murder investigation disrupts a household. Director Seemab Gul and actor Tillotama Shome will attend.

Adamya / The Unbroken (India, 2025)ukaff

New South Asian cinema across borders

Bayaar / Dust And The Wind (UK, 2025)ukaff

Calorie (Canada, 2025)ukaff

Ru Ba Ru (India, 2024)ukaff

Sililare (Sri Lanka, 2026)ukaff

This year’s selection of feature films includes stories across India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Canada and the UK.

Mera Lyari (Pakistan, 2025)

Women footballers in Karachi’s Lyari district challenge social limits through sport.

Pukam Pukai (India, 2025)

Three young lives intersect during a summer in Delhi.

100 Sunsets (Canada, 2025)

A Tibetan diaspora story set in Toronto exploring emotional entanglement and identity.

Adamya / The Unbroken (India, 2025)

A young man moves through a conflict landscape while on the run.

Sililare (Sri Lanka, 2026)

A dancer navigates tradition and self-discovery.

Ru Ba Ru (India, 2024)

A short feature on sisterhood and emotional choice.

Calorie (Canada, 2025)

An intergenerational story of identity and memory.

Bayaar / Dust And The Wind (UK, 2025)

A reflective drama exploring isolation and inner conflict.

Kanwal (India, 2024)

A portrait of writer Jaswant Singh Kanwal.

The Unexpected (UK, 2025)

Two interlinked narratives around crime, memory and consequence.

Restored cinema returns to the big screen

Umrao Jaanukaff

A major highlight is the European premiere of the 4K restoration of Umrao Jaan (1981), directed by Muzaffar Ali, screening at BFI IMAX.

The restored version brings back the story of a courtesan-poet in 19th-century Lucknow, and will be presented with the director in attendance.

Documentaries exploring identity and memory

The documentary strand covers art, music and social change across South Asia.

Edavela Stillnessukaff

Friends of Jilipibalaukaff

Mamun – In Praise of Shadows ukaff

Shunya, Being Prafulla Mohanti ukaff

W.R.A.P. ukaff

Films include:

• W.R.A.P. – We Really Are Pakistan (Karachi’s underground rap scene)
• Edavela Stillness (classical dance and emotion)
• Mamun – In Praise of Shadows (photographer Nasir Ali Mamun)
• Friends of Jilipibala (environmental story told through a child’s view)
• Shunya, Being Prafulla Mohanti (artist Prafulla Mohanti’s life and migration journey)

Long shorts and curated narratives

• My Comrade (India, 2025) – rebel and tribal refuge story
• Tasrufdaar / Djinns of Kashmir (India, 2025) – family secrets in Kashmir
• Gudgudi (India, 2023) – mother-daughter story amid unrest
• Time After Time (Pakistan, 2025) – father searching for his daughter

LGBTQ+ and mental health stories

A dedicated strand brings together films from India, Malaysia and Indonesia:

• The Pact (India, 2026)
• Heels To Heal (Malaysia, 2024)
• My Therapist Said, I Am Full of Sadness (Indonesia, 2024)

These films explore grief, identity, healing and belonging.

British Asian stories on screen

The Model ukaff

Films set in the UK reflect contemporary diaspora experiences:

• Never Had a Chance (Hounslow-based story of pressure and survival)
• The Model (journey to Morocco exploring identity and inheritance)
• Touché (fencing drama about belonging and change)

Short film showcase

• Anger
• Bhangra Baby
• The Building Blocks of a Bridge
• Hungama
• Lost Harmonies
• In Winter
• Memories and Miseries
• Poems of the Enslaved
• Relay / The Stolen Tales
• Three Folds of the Same Silk

A festival built on connection

Across its full programme, the UK Asian Film Festival brings together established filmmakers and emerging voices, mixing restored cinema with new independent work.

The 2026 edition continues its focus on stories that move across borders, languages and generations, using cinema as a shared space for reflection and connection.