Actor Sayani Gupta’s directorial debut Aasmani is set to begin its cinematic journey at the 59th WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival, scheduled from April 24 to May 3. Headlined by Revathy, the film will serve as the closing title in the PG Magic Shorts category.
Long regarded as a launchpad for acclaimed filmmakers, WorldFest-Houston has counted names like Ang Lee, George Lucas, David Lynch, Robert Rodriguez and Spike Lee among its early participants, with Lynch notably launching his career at the festival.
At the festival, Aasmani is also nominated for the prestigious Remy Awards. The film, written, directed and produced by Gupta, also stars Daria Bedi and Abhay Kaul.
On April 26, the film will also premieres in Austin at the 11th Indie Meme Film Festival Austin, Texas, where it is nominated for two awards.
Gupta, no stranger to the festival circuit—with her films having screened at the Toronto International Film Festival, BFI London Film Festival and Busan International Film Festival, among others—has produced Aasmani under her banner Sayani Gupta Movies (SGM), alongside Nikkhi Advani for Sumitra Gupta Foundation for Arts (SGFA), and Dia Mirza and Ananya Rane "The reason I have always wanted to produce was so I could build a community of like-minded people and, together, create an enabling, nourishing space for collaboration," said Gupta, who has built her 14-year career across several acclaimed feature films and streaming titles.under Ond India Stories (OIS).
The actor, who has built a 14-year career across acclaimed feature films and streaming titles, had earlier told THR India that she turned producer to build “a community of like-minded people” and create “an enabling, nourishing space for collaboration.”
An alumna of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune, Gupta’s body of work spans films such as Margarita with a Straw, Jolly LLB 2 and Article 15, as well as the Prime Video series Four More Shots Please, w.hich concluded last year.
She is currently producing two films through foreign co-productions.