Insides and Outsides
In an increasingly hostile environment of escalating violence, discrimination and disenfranchisement, Arbab explores what it is like being a Muslim in India. The film ebbs and flows between looking outside in his surroundings, where a constant stream of hate erupts and engulfs all sides, and inside, where Arbab's parents back home renegotiate their sense of identity with a changing political reality.
Film
Images
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Reading & links
- Film Companion's Best Documentaries of 2023filmcompanion.in
"Insides and Outsides" explores what it means to be Muslim in India today through a deeply personal lens.
- Documentary filmmakers on the political risks they facethenewsminute.com
"When you make a film about a community that is being targeted, you become a target yourself."
- A personal account of a political viewpointnortheastfilmjournal.com
the film ebbs and flows between looking outside in his surroundings and inside, where his parents back home renegotiate their sense of identity.
- A tender tale of bearing witnessthewire.in
Ahmad's documentary is a deeply moving portrait of a family caught in the crosshairs of history.
- View the film on Letterboxd
Festivals & screenings
Awards & nominations
- Kumar Talkies Award for Best Editing in a Long Documentary, IDSFFK, 2023
- Sarat Chandran Memorial Award for Best Indian Medium Length Documentary, Madurai, 2023
- Best Documentary nominee, Indian Film Festival of Melbourne, 2024
Selected festivals
- IDSFFK, Kerala, 2023 — world premiere
- Madurai International Documentary and Short Film Festival, 2023
- Kolkata People's Film Festival, 2024
- Indian Film Festival of Melbourne, 2024 — international premiere
- W.I.P alt.FEST, Bangalore and Delhi, 2024 — Coordinates of Resistance
- Travelling KPFF, Los Angeles and Surrey, 2025
Selected screenings
- G5A Cinema House, Mumbai
- NID Film Club, Ahmedabad
- Department of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics
- School of Arts and Aesthetics, JNU, New Delhi
- Sher-Gil Sundaram Arts Foundation, New Delhi
- Film Society of Bhubaneswar
- Vikalp@Prithvi, Mumbai
- Student-organised screening at Christ's College, University of Cambridge