Aubin is making a new film - THE RETURN |
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THE RETURN is an Aubin production with directors Anjali Kamat and Rehan Ansari. A groundbreaking collaboration between Indian and Pakistani co-directors, THE RETURN challenges the spread of fascism and Hindu supremacism in India.
Watch the teaser above, and read on for more background, updates, and ways to support the film. |
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What is THE RETURN about?
THE RETURN is a brave and urgently relevant film about contemporary India that explores how to confront the despair of watching your homeland adopt a fascist ideology. A personal story about the shattering impact of Hindu supremacism on Indian society, this haunting film is a unique and timely conversation between two NYC-based filmmakers from both sides of the India-Pakistan divide.
The film follows Anjali’s journey as she returns to India to face the grim reality of its transformation into a society where genocidal fantasies against Muslims have become normalized. The stakes get uncomfortably personal when she realizes she cannot ignore her own family’s role in the anti-Muslim violence. Anjali makes sense of her emotions over phone calls with her confidante in Brooklyn, Pakistan-born writer Rehan Ansari. Through stories about his encounters with supremacism in both India and Pakistan, he encourages her to face the truth about her family. Inspired by the courage of Muslim dissidents she befriends, she finds the courage to confront her family. |
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Director/ Producer / Writer: Anjali Kamat is a Peabody-winning and multiple Emmy-nominated investigative journalist and documentary filmmaker who has produced and reported over a dozen award-winning documentary films for Al Jazeera’s Fault Lines and Democracy Now! She’s also been a senior reporter at Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting and New York Public Radio / WNYC and a fellow with Type Media Center. Her work has appeared in ProPublica, Mother Jones, The Progressive, and several other publications in the US, the UK, India, and Egypt. Based in NYC for over 20 years, Anjali was born in Boston, MA, raised in Chennai in southern India, and has reported from around the world. She’s a 2024 Artist-in-Residence at the Laundromat Project and THE RETURN is her first personal documentary. |
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Co-Director / Producer / Writer: Rehan Ansari is a Brooklyn-based writer and journalist. Born in Karachi, Pakistan, he’s lived and worked in India, Pakistan, the United States, and Canada. His play Unburdened about the ongoing legacy of the 1947 Partition was staged in New York and Prague and he’s been Editor at Independent Press Association (New York) and Foreign Editor Daily News and Analysis (Mumbai). He was a regular columnist at Mid-Day Mumbai and has written for publications in India, Pakistan, Canada, the UK, and the US, about art, politics, borders, civil rights, and historical trauma. He’s a 2024 Artist-in-Residence at the Laundromat Project and THE RETURN is his first feature documentary. |
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Producer: Sanjna Selva is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, multimedia journalist, and producer at Aubin Pictures. Born and raised in Malaysia to Indian parents, her practice as a filmmaker explores narratives of migration, home, and belonging. Sanjna worked on the Sundance-supported feature documentary Silent Beauty, currently streaming on PBS’ Independent Lens. Her directorial debut, "Call Me Anytime, I'm Not Leaving the House,” filmed two days into the start of the Russian occupation of Ukraine, was acquired by PBS for national broadcast on the award-winning series POV. Her work has also been featured on PBS, CBS, EST Media, and the International Center of Photography and she served as a juror at the 2024 Cannes Corporate Media & TV Awards. |
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Fundraiser (co-sponsored by Solidaire) with DEMOCRACY NOW's Amy Goodman |
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Our fundraiser for THE RETURN was a great success! We welcomed over a hundred people into the Aubin office to hear from THE RETURN's co-directors Anjali Kamat and Rehan Ansari and DEMOCRACY NOW's Amy Goodman. Co-sponsored by Soldaire, the event also featured beautiful performances from Sonny Singh and Miwi La Lupa. The energy and support for the film were palpable, and the urgency of the film was clear. |
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How to get involved
We are making this film to generate conversations that challenge the trauma legacy of the 1947 Partition -- the idea that Hindus and Muslims cannot live together in peace -- that has been weaponized by the current Hindu supremacist government in India and continues to haunt the futures of over a billion South Asians. As 2024 Artists-in-Residence at the Laundromat Project, Anjali and Rehan are already using scenes from the film to lead workshops on oral history and storytelling with South Asian American youth in Queens. This film is an act of hope; it’s about taking personal risks for something larger than ourselves.
We've hosted smaller, curated discussions and fundraisers in recent months, and are eager to further build out our community of advocates for THE RETURN. We currently looking to raise $30,000 by the end of October. This would help us begin work to compose the original score for the film and for us to continue working with editors to finesse our cut. We are also seeking executive producers who would each contribute $100,000, and co-executive producers who would each contribute $50,000.
Interested in helping out? Contact Sanjna Selva at sanjna@aubinpictures.com to contribute, host a dinner for the film, or just get involved in expanding our community around this film.
Click here to make a donation! |
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PAINT at The Art Film Fest in Rome! |
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PAINT ME A ROAD OUT OF HERE screened at The Art Film Fest in Rome on September 11th!
Read more about the screening, and audience reactions in the full article. |
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Upcoming screenings: PAINT ME A ROAD OUT OF HERE |
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BLACK STAR GHANA Official Selection
Saturday, September 21 @ 4.30pm
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LOST WEEKEND FILM FESTIVAL Opening Night Film
Thursday, September 26 @ 7pm
Followed by a Q&A with featured artist Mary Enoch Elizabeth Baxter
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ASHLAND INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL Official Selection
Thursday, October 3 @ 1.20pm
Friday, October 4 @ 4.10pm
Monday, October 6 @ 4.20pm
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NEWFEST Official Selection
October 19 @ 6pm The Center
Follow by a Q&A - more details coming soon
Streaming Oct 10-22
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Host a screening: MEANWHILE |
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Interested in hosting a screening of MEANWHILE? Write us here to organize one! |
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Catherine, MEANWHILE at American Academy in Rome |
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MEANWHILE is going to Rome! Join us for a screening and conversation with Johanne Affricot, the Academy's Curator-at-Large, and Catherine, a 2025 resident in film at AAR. |
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Wednesday, October 9 @ 11:30am
Cornell University Palazzo Santacroce, Lecture Hall Piazza Benedetto Cairoli, 6 Rome, Italy
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A NEW MUSEUM SPOTLIGHTS ERASED HISTORIES
"Leaving out information can be just as detrimental as a lie.”
In a talk bookended by two cello performances, artist Paul Rucker shares photographs of the history we often omit — and introduces Cary Forward, his new museum aimed at spotlighting histories of exclusion and perseverance.
Check out the talk here to learn more. |
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DISCO: SOUNDTRACK OF A REVOLUTION on PBS explores the overlooked history of disco and its roots in the LGBTQ+ and Black communities.
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MAINTENANCE PHASE is a podcast that debunks the junk science behind health and wellness fads.
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