Voices of Faith; BFI Flare; London Margazhi 2026 (Bharatanatyam) – festivals…

The weather is improving, it’s a bit warmer (in theory!) and time to get out and mingle…

Voices of Faith – Two days to explore spirituality

BROADCASTERS Mishal Husain and Sir Trevor Phillips (both pictured at the top) will be discussing faith and spirituality along with Mohit Joshi at the opening of the Voices of Faith festival tomorrow (March 13).
Billed as Opening Remarks – the trio will follow an Inaugural address by India’s High Commissioner to the UK, His Excellency, Vikram Doraiswamy, and festival organisers Sanjoy K Roy and Kamini Banga.
The festival returns to the Barbican Centre in London, after its first edition last year and is produced by the same team behind the Jaipur Literature Festival, Teamwork Arts. The festival gets underway properly on Saturday. (See listings below).
Voices of Faith focuses on the universality of faiths across the world and promotes understanding and dialogue between them.
There are a number of well-known speakers in this field, including Mandeep Rai, author and broadcast journalist; Marcus du Sautoy, Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science at the University of Oxford; Nikky Guninder Kaur Singh, internationally renowned scholar and author of Sikh studies; Rohinton Fali Nariman, former Solicitor General of India & past Justice of the Indian Supreme Court and a Parsi priest; and Haji Syed Salman Christy, from the Chisty Foundation and whose family are intimately linked to the 12th century Sufi Ajmer Sharif Dargah (shrine) in India.
Among the discussions in the for this edition are: Understanding Judaism Today; The Intersection of Faith and Modernity; The Role of Art, Music and Storytelling in Shaping the Spiritual Imagination.
First created online during the covid lockdown period, Kamini Banga, whose family trust support the festival, explained why Voices of Faith has developed beyond its humble origins.
“Most of us grew up without an informed understanding of our faith – even as we adopted its rituals and so-called beliefs.
“Today, we are bringing together scholars of faith, scientists, cultural leaders to share their perspectives on different faiths.
“This is important as beneath the diversity of religions and traditions lies a shared commitment to compassion, dignity, and goodness,” Banga believed.
It is free to attend but you must register to obtain tickets and the opening on tomorrow (March 13) is by invitation only ….See the full programme from Saturday by clicking on the link below…

Listing
Voices of Faith, from March 16-17, the Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS
https://thevoicesoffaith.com/

BFI Flare Festival – South Asian films about ‘home’

SHOWCASING the best of Queer cinema from around the world, the BFI Flare Festival starts soon and runs from March 18-29.
While there aren’t any new South Asian centred features or premiering British Asian shorts this year* , there are five shorts screening under the label, This is Home. These screen next Thursday, March 19 and on the Saturday.
In ‘Pakka’, a group of gay Indian friends in Holland spend a final night together before one of them has to return home. Director Iniyaan Elumalai presents in English, Dutch and Tamil with English subtitles (all of Flare films have where English is not spoken). ‘Body of our Own’ is in Bengali and Hindi and is directed by Rahemur Rahman and Lily Vetch and is a documentary about three Hijra women.
In ‘A Letter for Tomorrow’(pictured above), a divorced woman embraces her lesbian identity in a multi-generational matriarchal household. Dialogue is in Malayalam and Hindi and is directed by Mahesh Menon.
During a dance performance, Sachin finds a surprising ally when he is taunted for wanting to wear more feminine style clothing at a dance performance. Called ‘Hills Don’t Dance Alone’ and in Hindi and Pahari, it’s directed by Shubham Negi.
Divided into three programme strands: Hearts, Bodies, and Minds, there are 31 world premieres this year. There’s also an opportunity during the festival to see the best from last year, including the Cannes premiere British feature, ‘Pillion’.
There’s also a chance to see the Bafta nominated and British Independent Film Award (BIFA) winning short set in a British Pakistani takeaway – ‘Magid/Zafar’ in Fragments of US at Flare – see our interview with filmmakers Luis Hindman and Sufiyaan Salam below.
There are also events, talks and debates and DJ nights, and there are some tickets still available, so check it all out…

From 2025 BFL Flare interviews…

Listing
BFI Southbank, Belvedere Road, South Bank, London SE1 8 XT
https://whatson.bfi.org.uk/flare/Online/default.asp

London Margazhi Mela – focus on Bharatanatyam UK

A NEW two-day festival that platforms the best of upcoming bharatanatyam in the UK premieres in London next Saturday (March 21).
The Margazhi Festival is not just about promoting the Indian classical dance form to the public.
It aims to bridge the gap between community artists and aspiring professional bharatanatyam performers, as well as host workshops, talks – and entertain folks with food and other attractions. There are new performances on each evening.
Organised by London Adavu* – it’s an organisation that has gathered momentum after the pandemic – and putting the festival together has been a huge task, said founder Amritha Jayakrishnan, who is also a bharatanatyam performer.
A full-time management consultant previously and now a portfolio artist, the expecting Jayakrishnan is keen for young bharatanatyam dancers in the UK to make a living and carve out a career.
She told www.asianculturevulture.com: “Dancers used to go off to India to help them become professional but we want to establish a pathway for them to do that in the UK and get mentorship and support.”
The festival is already doing that – eight dancers will perform during the festival and present work – and are being mentored by Chennai-based Vidhya Subramanian –Jayakrishnan’s own tutor – and also iconic bharatanatyam British-based performer-choreographer Mavin Khoo, who works closely with celebrated Kathak dance supremo, Akram Khan.
Star British choreographer & bharatanatyam dancer Seeta Patel will be in an immersive conversation on dance and life with Subramanian – with Al-Jazeera presenter Meenakshi Ravi moderating on the Sunday.
Jayakrishnan hopes the Margazhi Mela – which takes its name and inspiration from the fine arts performing season (mid December to mid January) in Chennai, will become an annual feature and allow bharatanatyam dancers to establish themselves professionally and enable the art form to further flourish and grow in the UK.
(*Adavu is a dance sequence early practitioners are taught and means step)

Listing
London Margazhi Mela, Saturday, March 21 and Sunday March 22 – City Academy, Homerton Row, London E9 6EA from 11.30am-9pm each day.
Tickets: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/londonadavu/2027378

Finally – thanks for getting this far…our Berlinale 2026 (76)

Yes, we will be putting out our content from the 76th Berlin International Film Festival and known as Berlinale (February 12-22) shortly – these will include reviews and an interview with long-time programme and Berlinale curator Meenakshi Shedde who was saying farewell…