Four years ago, directors Kabir Khan, Imtiaz Ali, Onir, and Rima Das were brought on board for My Melbourne, an anthology of four short films. This year, the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) will open on August 15 with the anthology’s première. Each short film is inspired by true incidents and explores themes of race, gender, sexuality, and disability, thus reflecting the festival’s core values of diversity and inclusivity.

National Award-winning director Das says making her short, Emma, was an “uplifting experience”. Das, who co-directed it with her mentee Samira Cox, states, “The theme of our film is disability, and we wanted to keep it authentic. We worked with a mix of senior actors and relatively new actors, including members of the deaf community. I hope the film initiates a dialogue about how we can be more inclusive in all walks of life, including art.”

For Khan, helming Setara was a no-brainer as it talks about the triumph of the human spirit. When he heard the true story in 2021, he was immediately drawn in. “Setara’s unique escape from Afghanistan to Melbourne and finding a sense of belonging through cricket made this a story I had to tell. Working with local creative teams and the girls’ cricket teams of Melbourne made this an even more authentic experience,” he shares.

While Ali’s project Jules revolves around gender issues, Onir has trained his lens on the subject of sexuality through Nandini. Ali sheds light as he states, “I was moved by the story of two different yet displaced women in Melbourne.”

For Onir, the joy of working with a local Australian crew was memorable and enriching. “[My] film captures the essence of [inclusivity] through various migrant experiences. As a filmmaker too, it was about the sharing of cinematic language and culture as I worked with an Australian [team].”