NYIFF 2026 - I, Poppy + Ruptured Lines (short)

I, Poppy

Director: Vivek Chaudhary
Run time: 1 hour 22 minutes
Language: Hindi, Rajasthani

Synopsis:
The divergent paths of poppy farmer Vardibai and her activist son Mangilal intertwine in this documentary about a Dalit family’s resistance against systemic oppression. As Vardibai nurtures her poppy cultivation with her grandsons, Mangilal fearlessly confronts corrupt officials, his actions contributing to the successful jailing of high-ranking members of the Narcotics Bureau. His campaign brings temporary triumph, then devastating consequences when authorities revoke his mother’s farming licence, plunging the family into deeper hardship. The film’s cinematography creates a striking visual contrast—Vardibai’s intimate relationship with her crops is juxtaposed with Mangilal’s technology-driven activism. Their moral dilemma crystallizes around a painful choice: continue bribing officials so they can survive, or fight for systemic change at tremendous personal cost. As tensions escalate within the lower-caste household, we witness this profound truth: neither traditional farming nor modern protest alone can address their complex challenges. This multi-layered narrative transcends its Indian context to explore universal themes of justice, family and the human cost of standing up against institutional power.

Vivek Chaudhary is an award-winning director, producer and writer whose films have been supported by top film forums and shown at prestigious festivals around the world. These include Hot Docs, IDFA Bertha Fund, The French National Centre for Cinema (CNC), Lisbon Docs, DOK Leipzig, Hong Kong Asian Festival and DMZ Docs.

His debut documentary, a mid-length film titled Goonga Pehelwan (The Mute Wrestler), won the Indian National Film Award in the year 2015 and was screened at 2 dozen film festivals all over the globe, picking up many awards. The film was also instrumental in changing sporting policies for deaf sportspersons in India.

His debut-feature I, Poppy won the Best International Feature Award at Hot Docs, 2025. The film has garnered positive reviews from National and International Critics and will be traveling to festivals over the next two years.

Vivek has forayed into screenwriting, with his fiction feature getting selected to the prestigious NFDC Screenwriters Lab, 2021 and is currently in pre-production.

He has also worked on commissioned projects for reputed brands like TATA, Indian Olympic Association and Sony Network.

Ruptured Lines

Director: Harshil Bhanushali
Starring: Deeplaxmi Moghe, Achyut Hukkeri
Run time: 19 minutes
Language: English

Synopsis:
Ruptured Lines explores Painter Francis Newton Souza’s raw interrogations of faith, flesh, and form. At its core lies his tumultuous relationship with the sacred and the sensual: the maternal figure as both god and ghost, nudity as revelation and rebellion, and nature as both cradle and chaos. Drawing from his vivid essays as well as his formative years spent in Goa, the film examines Souza’s bold exploration of vulnerability, primal energy, and internal conflict.

Harshil Bhanushali (b. 1990, Mumbai, India) is an independent filmmaker and video artist whose work explores landscapes, migration, and identities in transition. Trained in journalism and film direction, he engages with hybrid forms of cinema at the intersection of fiction and documentary, using films on artists and their practices as a space for formal experimentation, alongside fiction works rooted in lived experience. His film Picturing Life won Best Sound Design at the 16th International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK), and Leaving Home received 2nd Prize at Wild Viewing Video Art festival, later screening at the Ljubljana Biennale (2024).

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Host or Publisher Indo-American Arts Council