The 21st Tasveer Film Festival & Market Announces the 2026 Lineup
The 21st Tasveer Film Festival & Market Announces the 2026 Lineup:
136 Films, Six Days, One Home for South Asian Cinema
October 13-18, 2026 at Tasveer Film Center, Seattle
4816 Rainier Ave S, Seattle, WA 98118
Seattle, WA – Tasveer is proud to announce the full program for the 21st Tasveer Film Festival & Market, along with this year's Market highlights and a very special industry guest.
From October 13-18, 136 films from 16 countries in 25+ languages come to Columbia City, telling stories from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tibet, and the diaspora that carries them worldwide. This year's theme, Bring Your Story Home, is an invitation to filmmakers and audiences alike. For the second year, the festival takes place in Tasveer's own theater, the Tasveer Film Center in Seattle’s Columbia City.
Says Festival Director Rita Meher, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Tasveer: “I have been programming this festival for 21 years, and I am still not over this lineup. 136 films, 35 World & North America Premieres, filmmakers coming in from 16 countries. The sports films, the queer stories, the animation, all of it arrived with a boldness that tells me something has shifted in South Asian cinema.”
The 2026 lineup has some exciting trends: Women are telling deeply personal stories in their own voices. Animation has arrived with real force. And more filmmakers are trusting the image, choosing films that show rather than tell. Additionally, sports films came in stronger than ever. Four films in this year's lineup follow athletes, teams, and the families standing behind them, from Cricket to Gymnasts. On the surface, they are about the game. Underneath, they are about who gets to play, what it costs to stay in it, and what a win can mean for a whole community. They carry the same questions of class, gender, and belonging that Tasveer has put on screen for over two decades.
The festival also brings one of its strongest collections of LGBTQ+ stories, with 12 films from 6 countries. Love stories, family stories, coming-of-age stories, and stories of ordinary everyday life. Since 2002, Tasveer has built a stage for stories on sexuality and identity, and this year's films show just how wide and confident that storytelling has become.
Opening night film Lali
Highlighted films at this year's festival include:
Opening Night Film: Lali, directed by Sarmad Sultan Khoosat, West Coast Premiere, Pakistan, 2026, was screened at Berlinale Panorama Berlin, Germany
Centerpiece Film: Mayilaa, directed by Semmalar Annam, North American Premiere, India, 2026
Documentary Spotlight: Breaking the Code, Directed by Ben Rekhi, Washington State US, 2026
Animation Spotlight: The Chair, Triparna Maiti, Washington State premiere, India, 2026
Closing Night Film: Elephants in the Fog, Directed by Abinash Bikram Shah, North America premiere, 2026
Special guests
Aparna Purohit - CEO of Aamir Khan Productions will be the Chief Guest and Jury head of 21st Tasveer Film festival & Market
The 21st edition includes 20 world premieres, 4 North American premieres, and 4 U.S. premieres.
Stories with Washington roots
Seattle is not only where these films screen. For several of them, it is where they began.
Gaa Ghar (Home): as a visa runs out, two people sit on the trunk of a car and trace their whole relationship back to the day they met.
The Turning Point: In a near future Seattle torn by civil war, a man and his niece race to escape when targeted by a violent militia.
Three Sisters: one plate of freshly fried fish, three sisters, and a hungry middle child scheming for everyone else's share.
Eka: a video-game artist starts a studio to tell stories nobody has told yet, and learns something about himself along the way.
Riding Time: filmed over three summers in Bradford, a dual-heritage rider in Britain's Pakistani tent-pegging circuit braids manes, sharpens lances, and quietly dreams of show jumping.
Gaa Ghar (Home) directed by Vaibhavi Bansal
The Tasveer Film Market, October 13-15
Now in its third year, the Tasveer Film Market, North America's first South Asian-focused global market, brings filmmakers with projects at every stage into the room with the people who fund and distribute films. This year's Market features the Co-Production Market Selects, Tasveer Film Fund pitches, industry panels, fireside chats, and networking sessions. Four Film Fund filmmakers will each receive a $35,000 grant.
Adds Meher, “We are welcoming filmmakers, industry leaders, and audiences from all over the world, whether they're flying in from Mumbai or coming from just down Rainier Avenue. Then the Market sends four of these filmmakers home with funding to make the next one. The public is welcome to join us–come be part of it.”
Film Market and Festival Highlights
October 13th, 3:00 PM: Tasveer Film Market Opening Reception with SeaDoc
October 15th, 9:00 AM: Tasveer Film Fund Pitches
October 15th, 6:00 PM: Tasveer Film Festival Opening Night Film & Red Carpet Gala featuring Lali
Industry Panels Highlight: Sports Panel with focus on Sports Production, with current acquisition of Seahawks
October 11th: Film Festival Panel: AARP sponsored Panel, highlighting films with Senior Citizen
October 18,10:00 AM: Filmmakers Brunch
October 18th, 7:00 PM: Closing Night Awards & Reception, featuring Elephants in the Fog
Passes and Tickets
The All Access Badge ($350) opens up the full Festival and Market: single tickets open for each screening, Opening and Closing Night ($50 each), filmmaker Q&As, networking receptions, industry sessions, the Film Fund pitches, and one year of Film Market Portal access. A One Day Pass ($75) is also available. Passes and tickets are on sale now. All films with non-English dialogue screen with English subtitles.
Tasveer Film Center is at 4812 Rainier Ave S, Seattle, a five-minute walk from Columbia City light rail station or in nearby parking lots.
The 21st Tasveer Film Festival & Market is supported by 4 Culture, Conru Foundation, City of Seattle, King County, AARP, Port of Seattle, ACLU of Washington, Tampa Bay Wave and Visit Seattle. Awards are sponsored by RAGS Foundation (by Sridhar Tayur & Gunjan Kedia)