5:30–6:30 p.m. Pre-screening gathering with organizational partners in Dino Hall that will include food, music, and advocacy organizations

(South Asian Americans for Change and Bitchitra Collective) – AANHPI Community Meetup and Group Photo

6:30–8:30 p.m. Film Program: Screening followed by Q&A

Conference of the Moths
(2024, 8 min), a short animation directed and animated by Samhita Sunya

The film is a 2-D paper cut-out stop-motion silhouette-animation film that is both a gentle parody and an homage to the 12th-century Persian epic poem THE CONFERENCE OF THE THE BIRDS. Drawing out classical Indo-Persian motifs of light and darkness, of the moth and the flame, the original epic’s Wise Hoopoe returns to once again impart lessons on love, care, and connection for our current day and age.

Nocturnes
(2024, 83 min) A documentary feature film directed by Anirban Dutta & Anupama Srinivasan

In the dark of night, two curious observers shine a light on this secret universe. Together, they are on an expedition to decode these nocturnal creatures in a remote ecological “hot spot” on the border of India and Bhutan. The result is a deeply immersive film that transports audiences to a rarely seen place and urges us all to look more closely at the hidden interconnections of the natural world.

Q&A with Samhita Sunya, director of Conference of the Moths and Academy Entomologist Greg Cowper, moderated by Arzhang Zafar, PAAFF’s Festival & Programming Director