Montreal-based filmmaker Arshad Khan will bring his personal documentary ABU to select theatres in Toronto, the GTA and Montreal on April 13.

In ABU (meaning father in Urdu), Khan narrates his experience immigrating to Canada and navigating his complicated relationship with his close-knit Pakistani Muslim family as well as of coming out as a gay man.

ABU is a journey to the center of a fragmented family while they grapple with religion, sexuality, colonialism and migration. Through a tapestry of narratives composed of family footage, observation and classic Bollywood films, gay-identifying Pakistani-Muslim filmmaker Arshad Khan takes viewers through the tense relationships between family and fate, conservatism and liberalism and modernity and familiarity.

The film begins as quest to explore Arshad’s relationship with his father and develops into a journey of self-discovery, brought to life through home video footage, animation and clips of classic Bollywood movies. Made over the course of five years, the film sheds light on subjects that are often ignored.

The film has already won many awards:

Best Documentary – Reelout Queer Film + Video Festival 2018
Audience Award – River to River Indian Film Festival 2017
Audience Award – IMAGE+NATION 2017​
Jury Prize, Best Feature Film – Visaff 2017
Best Documentary​ – TWIST: Seattle Queer Film Festival 2017​
​Jury Prize​ Best Documentary​ – aGLIFF 2017
​Winner LGBTQI crusader award – HotStar Anokhi Magazine 2017​

The film will be shown at the following locations:

Cineplex Cinemas Yonge-Dundas (Toronto) – English only
Albion Cinemas (Etobicoke) – Urdu/Hindi with English subtitles
Woodside Cinemas (Scarborough) – Urdu/Hindi with English subtitles
York Cinemas (Richmond Hill) – Urdu/Hindi with English subtitles
Cineplex Odeon Forum Cinemas (Montreal) – English with French subtitles