In 2025, Matwaala celebrates a milestone—its tenth anniversary—marking a decade of amplifying South Asian diaspora voices and building community through poetry. To honor this journey, we are proud to launch the first-ever South Asian Poetry Film Fest, a curated exhibit of poetry films, on October 4, 2025, at the South Asia Institute in Chicago.

This groundbreaking event is one of the many events under the aegis of Matwaala Mehfilm, celebrating this milestone. This festival will showcase the intersection of poetry and film, where lyrical language meets visual storytelling. Featuring diverse South Asian poets and filmmakers from across the diaspora, the festival will explore themes of identity, migration, memory, and resilience. By bringing these works together under one roof, Matwaala Mehfilm offers audiences a rare opportunity to witness how poetry expands beyond the page into cinematic expression.

The Poetry Film Fest will be both a celebration of artistry and a bridge connecting communities through the universal language of poetry.

https://www.matwaala.com/2025.html

Participating poets include Usha Akella, Yahya Ashour, Ignatius V. Aloysius, Lopa Banerjee, Ibtisam Barakat, Ravi Chandra, Meena Chopra, Keisha-Gaye Anderson, Shadab Zeest Hashmi, Kavita Jindal, Kirun Kapur, Meenakshi Mohan, Faisal Mohyuddin, Anita Nahal, Sophia Naz, Yogesh Patel, Sangeeta Sharma, Sunil Sharma, Yuyutsu Sharma, Kashiana Singh, Pramila Venkateswaran.

The event will feature readings from poets and book signings.