A Teacher's Gift Selected for Tribeca Festival Lisboa 2025
A Teacher's Gift to Shine at Tribeca Festival Lisboa
The film A Teacher's Gift, supported by the NFDC, has been officially chosen for screening at the Tribeca Festival Lisboa 2025, scheduled for November 1 at The Theatre in Lisbon.
This immigrant British South Asian narrative has garnered international acclaim over the past year, clinching the Best British Asian Film award at the 2025 UK Asian Film Festival. Additionally, it received a nomination for Best Feature Film at the BAFTA and BIFA-qualifying Iris Prize Film Festival in Wales.
Produced by Eric Ollerenshaw OBE and directed by Artur Ribeiro, the film is co-written by and features Rajdeep Choudhury. It tells the story of Rohan, a Hindi teacher in London, who forms an unexpected bond with an Englishman, delving into themes of identity, belonging, and cultural understanding.
The cast includes notable actors such as Anthony Calf, Paula Lobo Antunes, Anjali Patil, Dhruv Sehgal, Virgilio Castelo, and Varun Buddhadev.
Commenting on the film's selection, producer Eric Ollerenshaw OBE, a former UK Parliament member, expressed, “For an independent British film that began its journey in the UK with a largely South Asian crew, received backing from NFDC WAVES Film Bazaar, and is now set for Tribeca, this has been an extraordinary journey.”
At the Iris Prize Festival in Wales, acclaimed television producer, writer, and director Jackie Lawrence praised the film as “beautifully atmospheric and a much-needed story from and for the South Asian diaspora.”
The Tribeca Festival Lisboa, co-founded by actor and director Robert De Niro, aims to replicate the New York festival experience in Europe. The 2025 edition will also feature appearances from Kim Cattrall, Giancarlo Esposito, and Meg Ryan, alongside the Portuguese premiere of Honeyjoon, the winner of the 2024 Tribeca Festival AT&T Untold Stories Award.
The film's selection underscores the increasing global visibility of Indian and South Asian narratives within international cinema.