Yellow Bus

Fiction, director: Wendy Bednarz, United Arab Emirates/India/Jordan/USA, 2023, 112 min., Hindi/En./Arab./Urdu/Tagalog with En. ST

*Introduction by Music Composer Cynthia Zaven.

The dream of a better life for themselves and their children prompted Ananda (Tannishtha Chatterjee) and Gagan (Amit Sial) to leave India and move to a sandy town in the sweltering heat of the Arabian Gulf. On a morning full of bright prospects, Ananda wakes up, prepares breakfast, takes her children to the school bus, and sees them off by blowing kisses – only to discover a few hours later that her youngest daughter has been forgotten on the bus and has suffocated from the heat. Armed with the ashes of her dead child, which she carries with her wherever she goes from now on, Ananda rises up against the “invisible” caste of society, demands accountability and refuses the customary “blood money” that is supposed to put a price on her daughter’s death. Yellow Bus, Wendy Bednarz feature debut film, premiered at the 2023 edition of the Toronto International Film Festival. It was selected afterwards to screen in many prestigious film festivals around the world, among them the Cairo International Film Festival.