Two theatres in Surrey will host the five-day , which kicks off Wednesday (April 9) with a festival "pre-launch" screening of We Will Be Brave at VIFF Centre in Vancouver.
After that, all festival events move to SFU Surrey Campus (on Thursday, for opening-night networking and screenings of Have I Swallowed Your Dreams and Paper Flowers) and Landmark Cinemas in Guildford (Friday to Sunday, for films, panel discussions and more).
More than four dozen films are showcased in the second annual Sundar Prize Film Festival, which has moved from June to April this year with a theme of "Life in Motion: Journeys of Growth and Discovery."
Fest highlights include a Vaisakhi Celebration on Friday featuring , the 2023 Baljit Sangra documentary about local South Asian hockey players shooting for pro leagues.
Also Friday is Christopher Auchter's new NFB documentary , a feature documentary about a 1985 logging protest on Haida Gwaii that led to a historic agreement, signed in February, between the federal government and the Haida Nation. The film "reveals a hidden true story of Indigenous resistance 40 years in the making," the NFB says.
Sunday's closing night features Firma Aqui (Sign Here), a film "set In a near-future world where romantic relationships are determined by an algorithm and limited to four years," followed by the festival's awards ceremony.
With a 鈥淐elebrating Human Resilience鈥� theme, championed diversity in film. The tradition continues in 2025 with 70 per cent Canadian content and most films originating in B.C. Many of the titles are directed by women and BIPOC filmmakers.
Themed film groupings include Courage Unscripted ("moments of fearless authenticity"), Redefining Her Story, Rewriting Queer Representation, Unseen Palestine, Harvesting Hope ("food as healing and activism") and The Human Mosaic ("dreams, loss and new beginnings").
The festival, which gives out close to $35,000 in cash prizes and in-kind sponsorships, is a project of Sher Vancouver, a Metro Vancouver charity for queer South Asians and allies.
Festival co-founder Alex Sangha says Sundar Prize "is transforming Surrey into a global hub for social impact storytelling. We鈥檙e creating a platform where filmmakers from diverse backgrounds, especially those often pushed to the margins, can be celebrated and heard. The festival uplifts our local communities while connecting us to global struggles for justice, equality and compassion.鈥�
Best Feature Film nominees are Designed By Preeti (Gayatri Bajpai, director), Firma Aqui (Enrique V谩zquez) and Paper Flowers (Mahesh Pailoor). Best Short Film award finalists are Flight 182 (Rippin Sindher), Mirage (Jhanvi Motla) and The Poem We Sang (Annie Sakab).
Other award categories are Rogers Group of Funds Best Canadian Documentary, Knowledge Network Best International Documentary, Best Animation, Best Environmental Film, Best 2SLGBTQ+ Film, Best Youth Film, Best Student Film, Best British Columbia Feature Film, Best British Columbia Short Film and KDocsFF Best Emerging Filmmaker Residency Award.
The festival's detailed movie guide is found on .
