Fridae

Rahul Roye’s Aman and Luís Hindman’s Magid / Zafar won short-film honours at two British festivals on 18 October, bringing recognition to stories about trans identity and British Pakistani life.

Aman took the Short Film Award at the 70th BFI London Film Festival. The festival lists it as an India–UK–USA–France production, written by Roye and Elle León Nostas.

According to the BFI’s synopsis, the film follows a trans man who discovers he is pregnant on the eve of gender-affirming surgery. The jury praised its nuanced characters and assured storytelling.

In Cardiff, Iris Prize organisers announced Hindman as the winner of their £40,000 award at BBC Cymru Wales. The money supports the making of a new LGBTQ+ short film in Wales.

Magid / Zafar unfolds inside a busy British Pakistani takeaway. Hindman and Sufiyaan Salam wrote the film, which was backed through Future Takes, the BFI and Film4 short-film initiative. Iris describes Hindman as being of South Asian and Northern Irish descent.

Fridae’s earlier Iris preview introduced Hills Don’t Dance Alone, an Indian school-set short on this year’s programme. The festival’s main prize now goes to Hindman, its third winner from the UK, according to the organisers.

For readers collecting short-film recommendations, the official Aman and Magid / Zafar programme entries offer a starting point.