Omar Ahmed 🍉
@bressonian.bsky.social
Freelance Film Scholar l Writer & International Curator of South Asian Cinema I Currently writing BFI Film Classics monograph on Mani Kaul's Uski Roti (Bloomsbury)
https://moviemahal.net/publications/
https://www.bfi.org.uk/profile/omar-ahmed
https://moviemahal.net/publications/
https://www.bfi.org.uk/profile/omar-ahmed
The BFI monograph on Mani's USKI ROTI (1969) is nearing completion; had the aim of getting a first draft done by end of the year...
November 10, 2025 at 10:14 PM
The BFI monograph on Mani's USKI ROTI (1969) is nearing completion; had the aim of getting a first draft done by end of the year...
Just a reminder that my new book on Indian Parallel Cinema was published earlier this year. If anyone is interested in reviewing for any film publication outlets, etc. then please do get in touch; I can share/email a copy for review.
November 10, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Just a reminder that my new book on Indian Parallel Cinema was published earlier this year. If anyone is interested in reviewing for any film publication outlets, etc. then please do get in touch; I can share/email a copy for review.
Very excited to heading to the @leedsfilmfest.bsky.social in November where I will be part of the film jury.
October 17, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Very excited to heading to the @leedsfilmfest.bsky.social in November where I will be part of the film jury.
Never thought I would ever see a Shyam Benegal film make it to Blu-ray home video in a boutique release. So honoured to have been able to write the essay. Another much anticipated release from @secondrun.bsky.social & landmark restoration from Film Heritage Foundation in India. #ParallelCinema
October 4, 2025 at 11:27 AM
Never thought I would ever see a Shyam Benegal film make it to Blu-ray home video in a boutique release. So honoured to have been able to write the essay. Another much anticipated release from @secondrun.bsky.social & landmark restoration from Film Heritage Foundation in India. #ParallelCinema
The splendidly programmed final double bill from @ranjitsruprai.bsky.social in the new series of Bombay Mix. Unfortunately unable to attend in person now but have recorded an intro for Kundan Shah's JBDY, and which will be a very rare UK screening. Unmissable!
📷 Counterculture On Camera 📸
Join @ranjitsruprai.bsky.social, @bressonian.bsky.social (recorded intro) + film historian @britfilmmelanie.bsky.social for a double bill of JAANE BHI DO YAARO & BLOW-UP at Close-Up Cinema on SAT 27 SEP 2025
tinyurl.com/yc4m69ys
Cool art by @bturnerinfo.bsky.social
Join @ranjitsruprai.bsky.social, @bressonian.bsky.social (recorded intro) + film historian @britfilmmelanie.bsky.social for a double bill of JAANE BHI DO YAARO & BLOW-UP at Close-Up Cinema on SAT 27 SEP 2025
tinyurl.com/yc4m69ys
Cool art by @bturnerinfo.bsky.social
September 23, 2025 at 7:53 AM
The splendidly programmed final double bill from @ranjitsruprai.bsky.social in the new series of Bombay Mix. Unfortunately unable to attend in person now but have recorded an intro for Kundan Shah's JBDY, and which will be a very rare UK screening. Unmissable!
Reposted by Omar Ahmed 🍉
📷 Counterculture On Camera 📸
Join @ranjitsruprai.bsky.social, @bressonian.bsky.social (recorded intro) + film historian @britfilmmelanie.bsky.social for a double bill of JAANE BHI DO YAARO & BLOW-UP at Close-Up Cinema on SAT 27 SEP 2025
tinyurl.com/yc4m69ys
Cool art by @bturnerinfo.bsky.social
Join @ranjitsruprai.bsky.social, @bressonian.bsky.social (recorded intro) + film historian @britfilmmelanie.bsky.social for a double bill of JAANE BHI DO YAARO & BLOW-UP at Close-Up Cinema on SAT 27 SEP 2025
tinyurl.com/yc4m69ys
Cool art by @bturnerinfo.bsky.social
September 22, 2025 at 5:53 PM
📷 Counterculture On Camera 📸
Join @ranjitsruprai.bsky.social, @bressonian.bsky.social (recorded intro) + film historian @britfilmmelanie.bsky.social for a double bill of JAANE BHI DO YAARO & BLOW-UP at Close-Up Cinema on SAT 27 SEP 2025
tinyurl.com/yc4m69ys
Cool art by @bturnerinfo.bsky.social
Join @ranjitsruprai.bsky.social, @bressonian.bsky.social (recorded intro) + film historian @britfilmmelanie.bsky.social for a double bill of JAANE BHI DO YAARO & BLOW-UP at Close-Up Cinema on SAT 27 SEP 2025
tinyurl.com/yc4m69ys
Cool art by @bturnerinfo.bsky.social
Reposted by Omar Ahmed 🍉
Bombay Mix is back! A new season of double bills at Close-Up Film Centre on 13, 20 & 27 Sep 2025 with Dr. Kulraj Phullar, @phuonghhle.com & @bressonian.bsky.social
🇮🇳 MOTHER INDIA + 🇨🇺 I AM CUBA
🏠 BABUL + 🏡 OUR MOTHER’S HOUSE
📷 JAANE BHI DO YAARO + 📸 BLOW-UP
Info: supakino.com/events
🇮🇳 MOTHER INDIA + 🇨🇺 I AM CUBA
🏠 BABUL + 🏡 OUR MOTHER’S HOUSE
📷 JAANE BHI DO YAARO + 📸 BLOW-UP
Info: supakino.com/events
September 1, 2025 at 12:13 PM
Bombay Mix is back! A new season of double bills at Close-Up Film Centre on 13, 20 & 27 Sep 2025 with Dr. Kulraj Phullar, @phuonghhle.com & @bressonian.bsky.social
🇮🇳 MOTHER INDIA + 🇨🇺 I AM CUBA
🏠 BABUL + 🏡 OUR MOTHER’S HOUSE
📷 JAANE BHI DO YAARO + 📸 BLOW-UP
Info: supakino.com/events
🇮🇳 MOTHER INDIA + 🇨🇺 I AM CUBA
🏠 BABUL + 🏡 OUR MOTHER’S HOUSE
📷 JAANE BHI DO YAARO + 📸 BLOW-UP
Info: supakino.com/events
The recent Film Heritage Foundation 4K restoration of Shyam Benegal's MANTHAN (India, 1976) is coming to Blu-ray via @secondrun.bsky.social in October 2025. A classic of Indian Parallel Cinema.
More details here on the special features which includes a new essay on the film by me:
t.co/5O6252yT2M
More details here on the special features which includes a new essay on the film by me:
t.co/5O6252yT2M
August 28, 2025 at 7:22 AM
The recent Film Heritage Foundation 4K restoration of Shyam Benegal's MANTHAN (India, 1976) is coming to Blu-ray via @secondrun.bsky.social in October 2025. A classic of Indian Parallel Cinema.
More details here on the special features which includes a new essay on the film by me:
t.co/5O6252yT2M
More details here on the special features which includes a new essay on the film by me:
t.co/5O6252yT2M
Happening today. 🎞️ 👇📽️
Excited to be back at HOME cinemas in Manchester on Thursday 28 August at 6.30pm.
I will be introducing director Prem Kapoor's BADNAM BASTI (India, 1971), India's first queer film, and which is part of @cineredis.bsky.social on tour.
More info & tickets:
homemcr.org/whats-on/bad...
I will be introducing director Prem Kapoor's BADNAM BASTI (India, 1971), India's first queer film, and which is part of @cineredis.bsky.social on tour.
More info & tickets:
homemcr.org/whats-on/bad...
Badnam Basti (CTBA) + intro — Once lost and now rediscovered: India’s pioneering first queer film.
Once lost and now rediscovered: India’s pioneering first queer film.
homemcr.org
August 28, 2025 at 7:10 AM
Happening today. 🎞️ 👇📽️
Reposted by Omar Ahmed 🍉
Excited to be back at HOME cinemas in Manchester on Thursday 28 August at 6.30pm.
I will be introducing director Prem Kapoor's BADNAM BASTI (India, 1971), India's first queer film, and which is part of @cineredis.bsky.social on tour.
More info & tickets:
homemcr.org/whats-on/bad...
I will be introducing director Prem Kapoor's BADNAM BASTI (India, 1971), India's first queer film, and which is part of @cineredis.bsky.social on tour.
More info & tickets:
homemcr.org/whats-on/bad...
Badnam Basti (CTBA) + intro — Once lost and now rediscovered: India’s pioneering first queer film.
Once lost and now rediscovered: India’s pioneering first queer film.
homemcr.org
August 13, 2025 at 9:12 AM
Excited to be back at HOME cinemas in Manchester on Thursday 28 August at 6.30pm.
I will be introducing director Prem Kapoor's BADNAM BASTI (India, 1971), India's first queer film, and which is part of @cineredis.bsky.social on tour.
More info & tickets:
homemcr.org/whats-on/bad...
I will be introducing director Prem Kapoor's BADNAM BASTI (India, 1971), India's first queer film, and which is part of @cineredis.bsky.social on tour.
More info & tickets:
homemcr.org/whats-on/bad...
Reposted by Omar Ahmed 🍉
Deeply grateful for a truly thoughtful appreciation of my new book on Indian Parallel Cinema; a work that took years of research, immersion, and no small measure of obsession to bring to life. The paperback edition will be released early next year. ❤️
mubi.com/en/notebook/...
mubi.com/en/notebook/...
Never to Meet: Indian Parallel Cinema
A movement of filmmakers overturned the industrial hegemony of Bombay, rejecting the orthodoxies of patriarchy, religion, and caste.
mubi.com
July 3, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Deeply grateful for a truly thoughtful appreciation of my new book on Indian Parallel Cinema; a work that took years of research, immersion, and no small measure of obsession to bring to life. The paperback edition will be released early next year. ❤️
mubi.com/en/notebook/...
mubi.com/en/notebook/...
Excited to be back at HOME cinemas in Manchester on Thursday 28 August at 6.30pm.
I will be introducing director Prem Kapoor's BADNAM BASTI (India, 1971), India's first queer film, and which is part of @cineredis.bsky.social on tour.
More info & tickets:
homemcr.org/whats-on/bad...
I will be introducing director Prem Kapoor's BADNAM BASTI (India, 1971), India's first queer film, and which is part of @cineredis.bsky.social on tour.
More info & tickets:
homemcr.org/whats-on/bad...
Badnam Basti (CTBA) + intro — Once lost and now rediscovered: India’s pioneering first queer film.
Once lost and now rediscovered: India’s pioneering first queer film.
homemcr.org
August 13, 2025 at 9:12 AM
Excited to be back at HOME cinemas in Manchester on Thursday 28 August at 6.30pm.
I will be introducing director Prem Kapoor's BADNAM BASTI (India, 1971), India's first queer film, and which is part of @cineredis.bsky.social on tour.
More info & tickets:
homemcr.org/whats-on/bad...
I will be introducing director Prem Kapoor's BADNAM BASTI (India, 1971), India's first queer film, and which is part of @cineredis.bsky.social on tour.
More info & tickets:
homemcr.org/whats-on/bad...
In my intro to Badnam Basti at @cineredis.bsky.social I noted when I was researching the film, I stumbled upon an interview with Prem Kapoor in The Times of India in which he talks about a two part documentary he had finished making for the BBC on Indian cemeteries & Empire.
July 27, 2025 at 9:56 AM
In my intro to Badnam Basti at @cineredis.bsky.social I noted when I was researching the film, I stumbled upon an interview with Prem Kapoor in The Times of India in which he talks about a two part documentary he had finished making for the BBC on Indian cemeteries & Empire.
Reposted by Omar Ahmed 🍉
Excited to be in Bristol next week for @cineredis.bsky.social 2025 film festival where I will be introducing two screenings of Prem Kapoor's groundbreaking BADNAM BASTI.
Thursday's screening (24 July) is sold out but still tickets available for Fri 25 July: 👇 🎞️
www.watershed.co.uk/whatson/1331...
Thursday's screening (24 July) is sold out but still tickets available for Fri 25 July: 👇 🎞️
www.watershed.co.uk/whatson/1331...
Badnam Basti (Neighbourhood of Ill Repute)
This daring and progressive account of a complex love triangle broke all manner of taboos to emerge as India’s first queer film and an icon of Parallel Cinema.
www.watershed.co.uk
July 15, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Excited to be in Bristol next week for @cineredis.bsky.social 2025 film festival where I will be introducing two screenings of Prem Kapoor's groundbreaking BADNAM BASTI.
Thursday's screening (24 July) is sold out but still tickets available for Fri 25 July: 👇 🎞️
www.watershed.co.uk/whatson/1331...
Thursday's screening (24 July) is sold out but still tickets available for Fri 25 July: 👇 🎞️
www.watershed.co.uk/whatson/1331...
Reposted by Omar Ahmed 🍉
'What happens to radical cinema in reactionary times?' by Arjun Sengupta. 🎞️ A quite splendid review of my new book on Parallel Cinema from Frontline India.👇
frontline.thehindu.com/books/indian...
frontline.thehindu.com/books/indian...
What Killed Indian Parallel Cinema?
Omar Ahmed locates the rise and fall of India’s parallel cinema within a shifting postcolonial state—caught between resistance and repression. His book suggests that parallel cinema declined after 199...
frontline.thehindu.com
July 22, 2025 at 7:34 PM
'What happens to radical cinema in reactionary times?' by Arjun Sengupta. 🎞️ A quite splendid review of my new book on Parallel Cinema from Frontline India.👇
frontline.thehindu.com/books/indian...
frontline.thehindu.com/books/indian...
'What happens to radical cinema in reactionary times?' by Arjun Sengupta. 🎞️ A quite splendid review of my new book on Parallel Cinema from Frontline India.👇
frontline.thehindu.com/books/indian...
frontline.thehindu.com/books/indian...
What Killed Indian Parallel Cinema?
Omar Ahmed locates the rise and fall of India’s parallel cinema within a shifting postcolonial state—caught between resistance and repression. His book suggests that parallel cinema declined after 199...
frontline.thehindu.com
July 22, 2025 at 7:34 PM
'What happens to radical cinema in reactionary times?' by Arjun Sengupta. 🎞️ A quite splendid review of my new book on Parallel Cinema from Frontline India.👇
frontline.thehindu.com/books/indian...
frontline.thehindu.com/books/indian...
Reposted by Omar Ahmed 🍉
Thank you so much for believing in us!
These are our next steps...
Watch this space!
@ranjitsruprai.bsky.social & @bressonian.bsky.social
Founders of The Cloud Door
These are our next steps...
Watch this space!
@ranjitsruprai.bsky.social & @bressonian.bsky.social
Founders of The Cloud Door
July 20, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Thank you so much for believing in us!
These are our next steps...
Watch this space!
@ranjitsruprai.bsky.social & @bressonian.bsky.social
Founders of The Cloud Door
These are our next steps...
Watch this space!
@ranjitsruprai.bsky.social & @bressonian.bsky.social
Founders of The Cloud Door
Reposted by Omar Ahmed 🍉
If you want to see classics of South Asian cinema issued in beautiful new editions - which you obviously do - then make sure you are backing this brilliant project!
We hit 20% of our kickstarter goal!
Another milestone reached & all thanks to you! ❤️
Please keep spreading the word as we need all the support we can get to make this a reality. 🙏
You can pledge an amount or pre-order the Blu-ray:
www.kickstarter.com/projects/tcd...
Another milestone reached & all thanks to you! ❤️
Please keep spreading the word as we need all the support we can get to make this a reality. 🙏
You can pledge an amount or pre-order the Blu-ray:
www.kickstarter.com/projects/tcd...
July 15, 2025 at 6:37 PM
If you want to see classics of South Asian cinema issued in beautiful new editions - which you obviously do - then make sure you are backing this brilliant project!
Reposted by Omar Ahmed 🍉
I supported this and you should too!
Latest newsletter just landed in your inbox… please keep spreading the word about our new label and this first amazing film release… and keep making those pledges! 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽 www.kickstarter.com/projects/tcd...
July 15, 2025 at 1:18 PM
I supported this and you should too!
Excited to be in Bristol next week for @cineredis.bsky.social 2025 film festival where I will be introducing two screenings of Prem Kapoor's groundbreaking BADNAM BASTI.
Thursday's screening (24 July) is sold out but still tickets available for Fri 25 July: 👇 🎞️
www.watershed.co.uk/whatson/1331...
Thursday's screening (24 July) is sold out but still tickets available for Fri 25 July: 👇 🎞️
www.watershed.co.uk/whatson/1331...
Badnam Basti (Neighbourhood of Ill Repute)
This daring and progressive account of a complex love triangle broke all manner of taboos to emerge as India’s first queer film and an icon of Parallel Cinema.
www.watershed.co.uk
July 15, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Excited to be in Bristol next week for @cineredis.bsky.social 2025 film festival where I will be introducing two screenings of Prem Kapoor's groundbreaking BADNAM BASTI.
Thursday's screening (24 July) is sold out but still tickets available for Fri 25 July: 👇 🎞️
www.watershed.co.uk/whatson/1331...
Thursday's screening (24 July) is sold out but still tickets available for Fri 25 July: 👇 🎞️
www.watershed.co.uk/whatson/1331...
Reposted by Omar Ahmed 🍉
Latest newsletter just landed in your inbox… please keep spreading the word about our new label and this first amazing film release… and keep making those pledges! 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽 www.kickstarter.com/projects/tcd...
July 15, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Latest newsletter just landed in your inbox… please keep spreading the word about our new label and this first amazing film release… and keep making those pledges! 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽 www.kickstarter.com/projects/tcd...
Reposted by Omar Ahmed 🍉
Lovely to see this plan! Again, check out their feed and their current Kickstarter to get things up and running for them. It's a striking looking first film to start with, and having this kind of open range for the future is a delight.
Thanks Ned for your support! Once we release this first title we will be up & running. We already have a plan to release more Indian film titles and we want to be all regions, all genres, all cinemas so in no way restricted to arthouse/indie films.
July 14, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Lovely to see this plan! Again, check out their feed and their current Kickstarter to get things up and running for them. It's a striking looking first film to start with, and having this kind of open range for the future is a delight.
Reposted by Omar Ahmed 🍉
I have just learned about this excellent new boutique Bluray house with a focus on South Asian cinema -- their initial Kickstarter for their first release will run for another two weeks and a half, but they're only at 20%. Spread the word! This really looks like the start of a beautiful effort here.
☁️🚪The day has arrived! We are live with the Kickstarter and so are pre-orders for Om Dar-B-Dar. We are very excited to share with you details of the first release! ☁️🚪
www.kickstarter.com/projects/tcd...
www.kickstarter.com/projects/tcd...
OM DAR-B-DAR (1988) - Limited Edition Blu-ray & Extras
THE CLOUD DOOR, a new boutique label, presents one of Indian cinema's most influential cult films on Blu-ray.
www.kickstarter.com
July 14, 2025 at 3:38 AM
I have just learned about this excellent new boutique Bluray house with a focus on South Asian cinema -- their initial Kickstarter for their first release will run for another two weeks and a half, but they're only at 20%. Spread the word! This really looks like the start of a beautiful effort here.
Reposted by Omar Ahmed 🍉
Parallel Days/Bollywood Nights opens @newyork.asiasociety.org on Friday, @bressonian.bsky.social and @ranjitsruprai.bsky.social are launching @the-cloud-door.bsky.social, and Guru Dutt turned 100 this week!
www.criterion.com/current/post...
www.criterion.com/current/post...
July 10, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Parallel Days/Bollywood Nights opens @newyork.asiasociety.org on Friday, @bressonian.bsky.social and @ranjitsruprai.bsky.social are launching @the-cloud-door.bsky.social, and Guru Dutt turned 100 this week!
www.criterion.com/current/post...
www.criterion.com/current/post...