Films

Grand Jury Prize, World Cinema – Dramatic, Sundance Film Festival 

Grief blossoms into unexpected love and a reckoning with identity in this tender and touching tale. Cactus Pears follows Anand, a 30-year-old urbanite who’s returned to the countryside to embark on the 10-day mourning period for his late father. Along with the sorrow of loss and the stress of rigid funeral rites, he must also endure the weight of hiding his sexuality from his family. This becomes more complicated when he reconnects with a childhood friend, Balya, and long-harbored romantic feelings are rekindled.

Tradition and desire collide in this intimate portrait of love and longing, building from them a compassionate story rooted in family, memory, and the quiet courage to live one’s truth.

Introduction by Samhita Sunya (VAFF)

 

“A magnificent film about longing and belonging”
-Rahul Desai, The Hollywood Reporter