Khichdi traces the interwoven histories of four First-Generation Indian women who live in Britain and have been working for the NHS since the early 2000s. Set around a dinner table, the film foregrounds the stories of the director’s mother and aunties who reunite over a shared meal to reminisce upon their decades-long friendship and careers. Through intimate hand-held shots, this film reveals their close bonds, forged from a love of nursing and caregiving at the Frances Newton Mission Hospital in Ferozepur, Punjab, where the women trained in the 1980s, and their shared experiences of nursing from training together in India to settling in Britain. Insertions of animations, paintings, khichdi making and family-archive footage thread together in this experimental documentary as the women reflect upon sisterhood, service and migration through their deep ties to the NHS and its impression upon their lives.

The short film was commissioned by the British Film Institute (BFI) and funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council in collaboration with the NHS to commemorate the NHS’ 75th Anniversary. The film premiered for a press screening at the BFI Southbank in November 2023.

Part of Shorts Package

1. My Father Is Afraid of Water (28mins)
2. A Night, After All (15 mins)
3. Kumar Kumar (7mins)
4. A Clay Horse (19mins)
5. Aftershock (20mins)
6. Khichdi (15mins)

Venue: JA DeSève Cinema – Concordia University, 1400, BOULEVARD DE MAISONNEUVE WEST, MONTREAL, QC H2L 2X4

Date: 4 May, 2025 Time: 15:00
Suggested donation $5-10 at the door.

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