Chutney Popcorn - Screening and Conversation with Nisha Ganatra and Maryam Keshavarz

“Hollywood could learn a thing or two about how to be truthful and lighthearted at the same time from Nisha Ganatra...”—New York Times

When Chutney Popcorn premiered at Outfest LA in 1999 with support from members of the nascent organization TrikoneLA (now Satrang), it was one of the first queer South Asian films. Honoring this history and in conjunction with the Satrang at 25: Queer South Asian Diaspora(s) in Context exhibition at the ONE Archives at the USC Libraries and the USC Pacific Asia Museum, the crowd-pleasing, award-winning, and groundbreaking romcom by writer, director, and actor Nisha Ganatra will be screened outdoors, followed by a conversation with the filmmaker and Iranian American writer and director Maryam Keshavarz, moderated by independent curator Aziz Sohail.

Admission is free. Reservations required. RSVP Here.

Bios:
Nisha Ganatra is a Golden Globe­–winning and Emmy-nominated director and writer who has been creating emotional, authentic, and humorous stories for television and film since her debut feature, Chutney Popcorn, in 1999. Going on to direct films such as Cosmopolitan, Late Night, and The High Note; episodes of Girls, Mr. Robot, Transparent, Dear White People, and other TV series; and the acclaimed #wombstories shorts for Bodyform, Ganatra was recently ranked the #1 director globally by Cannes, an honor only one other woman has achieved.

Maryam Keshavarz is an Iranian American writer and director whose first narrative feature, Circumstance, premiered to overwhelming critical acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival in 2011. Her production company, MaraKesh Films, which focuses on amplifying women and BIPOC voices, recently produced the award-winning film, Rosa. Maryam has taught at NYU’s Graduate Film program, lead the Writing Lab for the Black List and Women in Film, been a mentor for Film Independent’s Project Involve, and conducted filmmaking workshops at universities across the U.S. 

Aziz Sohail (moderator) is an art curator, writer, and researcher. Since 2020, with The Many Headed Hydra collective, he has been co-leading kal, a language where yesterday and tomorrow are the same word and a trans*oceanic platform supporting practices enacting queer pasts/futures and decolonial ecologies. His current research is a meditation on the longue-durée intersections of sexuality and colonialism with migration, law, and identity.

Presented by USC Visions and Voices: The Arts and Humanities Initiative. Organized by Alexis Bard Johnson (ONE Archives) and Aziz Sohail.