Cinema is a magical place. It appeals to all our senses, plugs into other people’s experiences and offers an alternate perspective. Watching a film at the cinema is a shared experience where you go on a collective journey with the rest of the audience. The tears, the laughter, the joy, the suspense and seeing through a window to another world, all is a shared moment. What is more amazing than that?

Tongues on Fire is a not-for-profit organisation and our goal is to provide a platform for independent film with a link to South Asia. We celebrate south asian culture, its vibrancy and its many dimensions through story telling and film. Films entertain, inform, educate and affect change in mood, emotion or thought, and this we champion every year in a film festival, which has now been going for a strong fourteen years. Our festival intertwines political and social messages with entertainment. Our other goal is to provide a platform for emerging talent – to showcase their work, in the short film competition, to offer networking occasions with industry leaders and to provide inspiration and learning opportunities by showing films, talks and workshops.

The London Asian Film Festival is an eclectic mix of films, stimulating interviews, outstanding lectures series, workshops, master classes and the annual short film competition. The Festival pushes boundaries and overlaps with other cultures through films with a broad crossover appeal.

With every successful year, the festival strives to grow despite the challenging current financial climate, where arts funding is being cut and private sponsors are tightening their belts. Our passion for cinema remains as strong and we’re proud to hold the annual London Asian Film Festival awards ceremony that rewards the great films, film makers and artists.