London Film Festival 2026 (wrap) – ‘Aman’ short film award – huge step for underrepresented stories…
Reaction to awards and more film reviews to follow from the 70th London Film Festival…
FILM producer Neeraj Churi is celebrating the Best Short Film Award at this year’s LFF 2026 (October 7-18).
The London-based Churi’s film ‘Aman’ appeared in the shorts strand, I See Myself, which screened on the second Friday and Saturday (October 17) at LFF.
Churi told http://www.asianculturevulture.com: “This recognition from such a prestigious festival is a wonderful affirmation of the importance of bringing diverse and bringing underrepresented stories to audiences.”
The film is about a trans man who is in the process of transitioning, when he discovers he is pregnant before undergoing gender affirming surgery. Written by Rahul Roye and Elle Leon Nostas and set in India, the film stars relative newcomer Kabir Maan as Aman.
The film enjoyed its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF – September 10-20).
Churim whose Lotus Visual Productions (UK) produced the film alongside several others (see picture below), further commented: “Having premiered at TIFF and now receiving this honour at BFI in London ‘Aman’ reinforces our belief that authentic queer and trans stories from South Asia have the power to resonate with audiences across cultures and borders.
“We hope this recognition opens the doors for many more such stories to be told.”
He added: “Rahul Roye (co-writer and director) has crafted a deeply moving and courageous film that explores identity, masculinity and parenthood with extraordinary sensitivity and humanity.”
LFF described the film as “accomplished” and its Short Film Competition Jury stated: “We were deeply impressed by Aman’s accomplished filmmaking, tackling knotty themes through authentic and nuanced characters we felt compelled to follow.
“We were struck by the film’s painterly cinematography, and expansive and assured storytelling, which guided us through the world with care.”
On the Short Film Jury this year were the President – Helen Simmons (writer & producer – ‘100 Nights of Hero’); Leo Riech, comedian; and Jack Casey, script editor.
The other winners this year at LFF were ‘Imperium’ by Sergei Loznitsa – Best Film in Competition. ‘9 Temples to Heaven’ by Sompot Chidgasornpongse won The Sutherland Award in First Feature Competition. ‘Concrete Land’ by Asmahan Bkerat won the Grierson Documentary Competition.
Sandya Suri, whose first narrative feature, ‘Santosh’ wowed Cannes in 2024, was president of the documentary competition.
More film reviews will appear on this page in due course – use the function 🔎 to see whether we saw at LFF
Reviews to follow: The Debut (Jesse Eisenberg), Fatherland (Pawel Pawlikowski), A Long Winter (Andrew Haigh) Club Kid (Jordan Firstman) and a page review ‘Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother’ and an interview with its writer-director Bassam Tariq ahead of its UK cinema release on November 20.
You can find reviews of ‘Lali’ and ‘Elephants in the Fog’, using our 🔎 More film reviews will appear on this page in due course…
Ink – Fun if a little functional
Director: Danny Boyle
1 hour and 56 minutes
FAST-PACED enough, nostalgic, almost winsome Danny Boyle’s ride back into 1960s and1970s, charting media tycoon Rupert Murdoch’s eventual commercial triumph in taking over The Sun newspaper is very watchable.
Anchored by two outstanding turns – Jack O’Connell’s as Murdoch’s first editor Larry Lamb (later Sir Larry) and a fictional a Women’s Editor character called Jules, played by Claire Foy. This is a breezy, entertaining run through some of the time’s major cultural inflection points.
It doesn’t really get under your skin in the way some of Boyle’s work can and you can’t help but feel that a possible ‘Ink 2‘ and the 1980s – under the editorship of Kelvin MacKenzie will really be the deal here.
ACV rating: *** (out of five)
