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Najrin Islam

@notnajjrin

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Film programmer and writer for hire with words on Sight and Sound, Time Out, ArtReview Asia, ASAP Connect, Momus, and more. Email/DM me for work ⬇️

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~ PROGRAMME ALERT ~

Curating a programme of experimental shorts at the Barbican Cinema as part of its regular Experiments in Film strand.

The idea has been brewing for a long time in my head and I'm so glad that the programme has finally taken shape! Thanks to all the participating artists and @mrmabarrington for your support.

When: Nov 26, 2026, 6:30 pm
Where: Cinema 3, Barbican

I will be doing a short introduction ahead of the programme. Come join me!

Booking link in bio. taken in Barbican Cinema by @notnajjrin

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21 hours ago

Presenting a looping programme of short films at @whitechapelgallery on Saturday/ 08 Aug with DAYTIMERS at the Backyard Biennial 2026. The films focus on how labour informs belonging in Bangladesh and its diaspora in the UK.

Join me for the programme at 7:30 pm on Saturday after a whole day of concerts, workshops, talks, and great food - all in celebration of the diverse communities across East London 🐝

Thanks to artists @naeem_mohaiemen and @bigloud.city for being part of the programme, and to Nileema Yesmin for giving me permission to screen Ruhul Amin's moving document of the Bengali working class in 'Purbo London' (1982). And thank you @vivekgudi for inviting me to conceptualise this programme :)

Home Is Elsewhere: Three Films on Labour and Belonging
When: Saturday / 08 Aug, 7:30 - 9 pm
Where: Zilkha Auditorium, Whitechapel Gallery

Entry free! Drop in anytime.
See you ☘️🌼 taken in Whitechapel Gallery by @notnajjrin

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2 months ago

New text! “Impassable Gates” by Najrin Islam (@notnajjrin) on Laura Vandewynckel’s 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘦.

“It is an interesting choice for the filmmaker to have colour-coded the humans in this animation, while also rendering them in the mould of Javanese shadow puppets. Called Wayang, these puppets are traditionally made of sticks derived from buffalo skin; here, they are a three-dimensional textile iteration. The effect is both funny and unsettling: the white man is literally rendered white while the coloured people are painted yellow—in a rather blunt indication of their racial distinction.” — Najrin Islam

Read the full text via yanco.be.

[▶︎] 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘦 is available to stream globally via yanco! Subscribe for €30 and get one-year access to the 75+ films in our streaming library.
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#paradise #migration #bordercontrol @lauravandewynckel by @notnajjrin

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3 months ago

Najrin Islam’s curated film programme Tender Guerrillas: Self-Filming and Queer Becomings—held at the University College London East Community Cinema on 02 May 2026—foregrounds self-filming as a radical mode of queer image-making in South Asia.

In this essay, Pramodha Weerasekera reflects on films by Srishti Sharma, Tejal Shah, Maya.nk, Nishit Saran and Riyad Vinci Wadia, tracing self-documentation as an act of tenderness, resistance and self-determination. Revisiting works made across different historical moments, the essay considers how queer filmmakers reclaim the authority to narrate their own lives through intimacy, memory and desire.

Read the full essay on the ASAP | art app and website. Link in bio!

The editorial work at ASAP | art is supported by The Alkazi Foundation for the Arts.

Image Credits: Still from Maya.nk’s Boudinet’s Curtain (2024); Still from Tejal Shah’s There is a Spider Living Between Us (2009).

Keywords: Analogue, Moving Images / Film, Archive / Collection, Gender, Personal Narratives, Resistance by @notnajjrin

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3 months ago

🗺️ NEW on yanco: Laura Vandewynckel’s 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘦 [𝘏𝘦𝘵 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘫𝘴] + Oksana Luyssen & Ysé Auguste-Dormeuil’s 3723 𝘒𝘔 𝘈𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘍𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴—a double-bill of short films that questions the colonial legacies that drive modern migration. Curated by Najrin Islam.

In Vandewynckel’s award-winning 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘦 (2014), digital renditions of Javanese shadow puppets illustrate how mobility privilege works. While Luyssen & Auguste-Dormeuil’s work zooms into biometric facial recognition—the Greek government’s essential requisite for migrants trying to obtain residence permits.

Despite being released ten years apart, both Belgian productions share a restlessness in the face of injustice and, from different vantage points, offer an image of distinct bureaucratic apparatuses as bodies traverse them.

An essay (NL+EN) by Najrin Islam on 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘦 is also published in yanco’s magazine.

[▶︎] This double-bill #32 is available to stream worldwide via yanco.be. Subscribe for €30 and get one-year access to the 70+ films in our streaming library.
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#shortfilm #shortfilms #migration #bordercontrol @lauravandewynckel @xiouchaa @notnajjrin @insasbe @ritcs.school.of.arts @cinemadedemain by @notnajjrin

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4 months ago

Spent the weekend with/among peers at the brilliant Eye International Conference, organised by @eye_film in collaboration with @uva_amsterdam and @utrechtuniversity .

Presented my paper 'Decolonial Playlists: Re-centring South Asian Cinema' - on decolonial programming models for South Asian films in the UK - as part of the panel 'Decolonial Approaches' within the conference theme 'The Future of Film Programming'.

Between insightful conversations, long hours of concentrated listening, and delicious meals, I'm most amazed that my conference jokes landed. Will hold this achievement close to my heart for a while 🥲

Already looking forward to next year! taken in Eye Filmmuseum by @notnajjrin

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4 months ago

#NowStreaming 🇵🇸 UNDR by Kamal Aljafari.

“This essay film employs a range of archival perspectives to look at Palestinian land and its peoples through history. As helicopter footage reveals an austere gaze on natural land and people engaged in their daily occupations, one is reminded of the unrelenting state of aerial surveillance that Palestinians continue to live under. As children play hide-and-seek, the footage records the erosion of the land caused by frequent detonations. The film is as much a sombre meditation as a witness to the irreversible changes brought on by imperial acts of control.”

— Najrin Islam & Cindy Chehab

This short film is part of “Mapping Absentia”, curated by Najrin Islam and Cindy Chehab, included in “Siesmic Shifts” — a cohort of three programs developed within the European Workshop for New Curators #2. This collection was curated by the participants Alexandra Sirotenko, Cindy Chehab, Mai Nguyen, Najrin Islam, Raouf Moussa, and Tania Hernández González, under the mentorshop of Daniella Shreir, during the 2025 editions of Lago Film Fest and Bucharest International Experimental Film Festival (BIEFF).

The European Workshop for New Curators #2 is a project by the European Network for Film Discourse (The END) and Talking Shorts, funded by the Creative Europe MEDIA Programme.

Now streaming at thisisshort.com. by @notnajjrin

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6 months ago

🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈 Come to @queereast to see Tender Guerrillas: Self-Filming and Queer Becomings for a screening of a selection queer Indian films made from 1996-2024.

Then stay and join Sharan Dhaliwal for a conversation about queer film making 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

Curated by the amazing @notnajjrin 🙏🏽 who made sure the films were all queer-created.

1. BOMgAY | English, 1996
Dir. Riyad Vinci Wadia
Often cited as India’s first openly queer film, BOMgAY uses an anthology format to uncover queer life embedded within the dense textures of Bombay.

2. Boudinet’s Curtain | English, Hindi (with Eng subs), 2024
Dir. Mayank Agarwal
Using Roland Barthe’s reflections on the indexical value of a photograph, the filmmaker conducts interviews with queer individuals whose testimonies are juxtaposed with their respective childhood photographs.

3. Chhoti Baatein / Little Things | Hindi (with Eng subs), 2024
Dir. Srishti Sharma
The documentary follows the filmmaker as they travel to their Indian parents in a conservative city, and musters the courage to explain to them how gendered expectations have weighed on them since childhood.

4. There Is A Spider Living Between Us | English, 2008
Dir. Tejal Shah
The artist employs a range of modes - photography, animation, and collage - to explore female sexuality and desire, creating a fantastical string of images.

5. Summer In My Veins | English, 1999
Dir. Nishit Saran
A gay Indian filmmaker travels across America with his family who is visiting from India. He was tested for HIV before he left for the trip and will not receive his results until they return. taken in London, United Kingdom by @notnajjrin

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6 months ago

Two weeks ago, I spent a remarkable weekend at @goshort Film Festival in Nijmegen. Met friends and colleagues I had only ever worked with virtually, made new friends, lived in the woods, watched brilliant shorts, presented my film programme on speculative fiction, and sold a wonderful zine made in collaboration with my dear friend and designer @shambhavigairola 👑

Thank you, Shambhavi, for your hard work on the zine! I'm so proud of what we created together 🔥

This was one of many film programmes I developed for this year. Very happy to have executed the film programme on this platform and hoping to tour it in the UK soon. Thank you Julia, Stefani and Max for all your support! And thanks to all the artists for trusting me with their work 💌

More to come. Meanwhile, I have 3 copies of the zine left. Limited edition of 20, selling at £5 each. DM for a copy 💗 taken in Nijmegen, Netherlands by @notnajjrin

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6 months ago

What happens when one turns the camera inward, only to find others already there?

𝙏𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙂𝙪𝙚𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙨 comprises a set of fiercely intimate and formally restless films from India that linger on the contradictions of queer image-making through self-filming. Made between 1996 and 2024 using modest means and improvised methods, these works hold space for difficult conversations with parents, perusing queer childhoods in photo albums and unveiling the quiet pressures of kinship and expectation.

This screening will be followed by a conversation with Sharan Dhaliwal @sharandhaliwal_, author and Founder of Burnt Roti.

Guest curated by Najrin Islam @notnajjrin

Sat 2 May 18:30 at UCL East Community Cinema, with our friends at @spectra.queernonfiction

🍳 𝘽𝙊𝙈𝙜𝘼𝙔 | dir. Riyad Vinci Wadia | 1996 | 11 min

🖼️ 𝘽𝙤𝙪𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙩’𝙨 𝘾𝙪𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣 | dir. Maya.nk @queerchildhoods | 2024 | 27 min

🎞️ 𝙇𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 | dir. Srishti Sharma @ssrishti98 | 2024 | 19 min

🕷️ 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙎𝙥𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙇𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘽𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙐𝙨 | dir. Tejal Shah | 2009 | 7 min

📹 𝙎𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙣 𝙈𝙮 𝙑𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙨 | dir. Nish Saran | 1999 | 40 min by @notnajjrin

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6 months ago

🕳️ Now showing on This Is Short: “Mapping Absentia”

Curated by Najrin Islam & Cindy Chehab, “Mapping Absentia” explores the materiality of disappearance across land, water, and air. Tracing processes of erasure and accumulation, the films reflect on memory as layered, contested, and inscribed within landscapes—where histories are rewritten, obscured, and persist through their traces.

This programme is part of the cohort of three programmes “Seismic Shifts”, curated by Alexandra Sirotenko, Cindy Chehab, Mai Nguyen, Najrin Islam, Raouf Moussa, and Tania Hernández González, the participants of the European Workshop for New Curators #2, which took place at the 2025 editions of Lago Film Fest and Bucharest International Experimental Film Festival (BIEFF). The group was mentored by Daniella Shreir.

The European Workshop for New Curators #2 is a project by the European Network for Film Discourse (The END) and Talking Shorts, funded by the Creative Europe MEDIA Programme.

Streaming on @this.is.short for the next three months.
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@lagofilmfest @bieff @cindychehab @notnajjrin @kamalaljafarifilm @enocarka @salamundra @danielasadifaezi @mzxzdz @creative.eu @_raoufmoussa_ @taniahg___ @daniellas #shortfilm #shortfilms #nowshowing by @notnajjrin

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6 months ago

~SAVE THE DATE~

02 May, 6:30 pm
Venue: UCL East Community Cinema
1 Pool Street, Stratford, London E20 2AE

I'm honoured to have guest-curated this programme of Indian queer shorts for @queereast film festival. It will include rare archival screenings of late filmmakers Riyad Vinci Wadia's BOMgAY (1996) and Nishit Saran's Summer In My Veins (1999), among other incredible works.

Tender Guerrillas comprises a set of fiercely intimate and formally restless films that linger on the contradictions of queer image-making through self-filming. Made between 1996 and 2024 using modest means and improvised methods, these works embody a distinct DIY spirit and hold space for difficult conversations with parents, perusing queer childhoods in photo albums, and the quiet pressures of kinship and expectation.

At once tool, crutch, and mirror, self-filming dissolves absolute authorship. Hovering between the self and its image, this programme proposes identity as something that is not owned but negotiated in public, forged in the charged space of being seen in relation with others.

What happens when one turns the camera inward, only to find others already there?

This screening will be followed by a conversation with the amazing @sharandhaliwal_ , author and founder of South Asian magazine @burntrotimag .

Free entry but book your seat using the link in bio!

Thank you @studioyiwang , @emilyjisoob , Isabelle and the entire Queer East team for helping put this together! 🌷Thanks to @mandeepraikhy and Parth Pant for enabling access to Summer In My Veins 💌 by @notnajjrin

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7 months ago