FRAME Film Screening — Aājoor (2024, Aaryan Chandra Prakash) & Lecture on Community Filmmaking

🙏🏽สวัสดีทุกคน

FRAME returns this Thursday with a bang!

We’re hosting the Thai premiere of Indian filmmaker Aaryan Chandra Prakash’s rural community-owned debut feature film Aājoor (2024). “Aājoor” explores the life of Saloni, a resilient girl from rural Bihar, who challenges societal norms to pursue her education while managing household responsibilities after her mother's early demise. Her journey intersects with the boys' newfound obsession with social networking sites. Supported by her father, a vocalist in a Launda Dance team, Saloni faces societal scorn but remains determined to change her destiny.

Aājoor is the very first feature film in the Bajjika language, born from a completely unconventional process. The film was made entirely outside traditional production systems with no professional actors, no studio support, and financed through crowdfunding. Every actor and assistant came from the rural community in Bihar, India, All of them experiencing cinema for the first time. More than 100 underprivileged children were engaged in the process, learning skills of acting, cinematography and production work. For them Aājoor was not just a film but a school of cinema, giving young people the courage to dream and see themselves as storytellers.

During the making of the film, they also founded Shrirampur Samvad Foundation — a grassroots initiative that now runs creative, educational, and ecological programs in the same community. Their mission has been to empower rural voices through cinema and dialogue, bridging art and real social transformation.

Aaryan Chandra Prakash not only served as the writer/ director but also as the executive producer. Born in India and raised in rural Bihar, he discovered his passion for storytelling at a young age. Inspired by Indian regional films, he travelled across the country to connect with diverse communities before returning to Bihar in 2018 to empower his community through cinema. Aājoor is a result of his two years of script development and the training of non-professional actors from his village. The film exemplifies his dedication to community filmmaking and cultural preservation.

Aaryan has gone the length to travel all the way from India to Chiang Mai, taking time out from his busy press tour to engage with the audience at FRAME. He will be there for a QnA session on Thursday after the screening and will be hosting a talk about community and rural filmmaking on Friday. Do not miss this opportunity!!

✍Register here: https://frame.fellowshipcnx.com/register

FREE ENTRY 🫶

You can support the venue by buying food and drinks 🌶☕🍰🍷🍻🍽🧊

Aaryan will be joining to interact with the audience on Thursday 🎬

📆 Thursday 4th Dec 2025

⌚ 18:30 onwards

📽 Film Duration: 2h2m

🗣 QnA with the filmmaker after

Aaryan will be holding a talk on community and low-budget filmmaking on Friday  🎞️🗣️

Calling all filmmakers — amateurs and professionals to come and learn the art of efficient storytelling with limited resources. Explore how a deeply rooted rural story travelled worldwide, and how anyone, even without resources or industry access can see themselves as a storyteller. Aaryan hopes it will encourage many young people to step into filmmaking with confidence and trust their own voice.

📆 Friday 5th Dec 2025

⌚ 18:30 onwards

📽 Talk Duration: 2h

🗣 QnA with the filmmaker after

📍Fellowship Cafe

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Also check out other Arts events in Chiang Mai, Entertainment events in Chiang Mai.