DIFF on the Road is a year-round initiative by Dharamshala International Film Festival that brings bold, independent films to communities beyond Dharamshala — creating space for diverse voices and meaningful stories, while fostering solidarity within the independent cinema landscape.
The 2025 Beskop Tshechu programme includes a selection of films presented at DIFF, chosen together with the festival’s partner.
Fantasy in a Concrete Jungle
by Mehedi Mostafa, Bangladesh 2023, 15 min
An immersive exploration of the sights and sounds of Dhaka. Moving between the total chaos of the city to the deep calm of a remote village, it captures the Bengalis’ illusory dreams of a different way of living.
Director’s Bio
Born in Bangladesh, Mehedi Mostafa studied architecture in Dhaka before joining the Mumbai-based film school Whistling Woods International. In 2017, he finished his diploma in filmmaking with a directing specialization. He is currently working on a feature documentary project titled Making Places and developing a fiction feature film. He has attended Docedge Kolkata, Uniondocs Summer Documentary Lab, and the Locarno South Asia Industry Academy. His latest short documentary, Fantasy in a Concrete Jungle (2022), has been selected at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, where it has received the Lab Student Prize.
Main Credits
Producer and Director: Mehedi Mostafa
Cinematographer : Mehedi Mostafa
Editor: Emil Joseph
Sound: Shreyank Nanjappa
Music: Nicholas Murray
In Flanders Fields
by Sachin, India, Belgium 2024, 15 min
While visiting Ypres, Sachin learns that 1.4 million Indians were conscripted by the British to fight on the Flanders fields during the First World War. Using audio recordings, letters, songs and archives, he brings his anonymous ancestors back to life, like ghosts inlaid in an immovable winter landscape.
Director’s Bio
Sachin is a Rajasthan-based filmmaker who employs lens-based art to comprehend the world around him and express his ideas with an experimental approach. Sachin is a co-founder of Docustan, which is dedicated to nurturing the practice of documentary filmmaking in South Asia. He has worked on Towards a Fragmented Anatomy (2019), Remnants of the Past (2021), and The Ballads of the Forest (2022).
Main Credits
Direction, edit, cinematography: Sachin
Voice over: Iqran Rasheed
Sound mix: Aurelien Lebourg
Last Days of Summer
by Stenzin Tankong, France 2023, 15 min
A recurring mysterious sound from the Himalayan mountains is only heard by two curious young shepherds. Unable to convince the villagers of the eerie nature of this sound, they embark on a journey into the unknown to unravel the mystery.
Director’s Bio
Filmmaker and screenwriter Stenzin TANKONG (1990, India) studied Film and Television at the Symbiosis Centre of Media and Communication. He was born in Ladakh. Through his films, he aims to bring the stories of his people and culture to the world stage. His short film Sekool (2019) told the story of a child from a remote tribe in Ladakh, and was shot entirely in Ladakh with a local cast and crew. It screened at festivals including New York Indian Film Festival and Clermont Ferrand International Short Film Festival. Last Days of Summer (2023) was selected for IFFR and DIFF 2023.
Main Credits
Stenzin Tankong (Director), Stenzin Tankong, Jigmet Wangchuk (Screenplay), Jigmet Wangchuk (Cinematographer), Stenzin Tankong (Editor), Bigyna Dahal, Gilles Bénardeau (Sound), Andrea Boccadoro (Music), Flore Cavigneaux, Jérôme Blesson, Urgain Phuntsog, Stenzin Tankong (Production), La Belle Affaire Productions, The Ladakh Story (Production Company), Tsewang Chodak, Stanzin Thupstan Manla, Padma Angmo (Cast).
Side A: A Summer Day
by Wan Kin Fai, Taiwan 2024, 22 min
If Fei finishes his summer homework on time, his mother promises he’ll get the toy he’s been dreaming of. Today is the last day of summer, but Fei’s mother doesn’t seem to be keeping her promise. Things don’t go as Fei had planned. On the last day of Fei’s summer, he decides to spend the day in a different way.
Director’s Bio
WAN Kin Fai, a Taiwanese of Indian and Cantonese descent, is a photographer, director, and screenwriter who has been actively involved in film production since joining Chang Tso Chi Film Studio in 2013. There, he worked as a photographer for C-CAM in Thanatos, Drunk (2015), and as a sound recordist in Synapses (2019).
Main Credits
Producer: Vicky Kuo, Hsinwei Chiu
Co-Producer: Ying Rong Zhu, James Tseng
Screenwriter: Wan Kin Fai, Yo Sheng Chen
Director of Photography: Chih Chun Hsu
Editor: Wan Kin Fai
Music: Thomas Foguenne
Art Director: Axelle Wang
Cast: Mom / Mei Chang Ning, Son / Fei Cheng Huang Tsai, Teacher / Patricia Lin
Production: Company LVJ Films, Vicky Kuo, Hsinwei Chiu
International Contact: studiobodo, Hsieh I-Hsuan
The Girl Who Lived in the Loo
by Subarna Dash, India 2024, 12 min
A 10-year-old girl has an obsession with loos. Her life, from one loo to another, is calm and safe, but somewhat lonely. As she grows up, she tries to make sense of this obsession while navigating her way through life.
Director’s Bio
Subarna Dash is an animation filmmaker based in India. She’s an alumna of the Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute, Kolkata. Her films have been screened and awarded at prestigious festivals such as Berlinale, Toronto (TIFF), SXSW, Annecy and others.
Main Credits
direction/animation: Subarna Dash
screenplay: Subarna Dash, Kartikey Singh Kavia
sound: Dibakar Saha
cast: Sneha Das, Pratyusha Mitra
