Cactus Pears
Director : ROHAN PARASHURAM KANAWADE
Cast : BHUSHAAN MANOJ, SURAAJ SUMAN, JAYSHRI JAGTAP
India, United Kingdom, Canada | 2025 | 112 mins
In Marathi with English subtitles
Gay, Drama, Family
# Post-screening sharing
* World Cinema Grand Jury Prize, Sundance Film Festival
* Best Feature Film, SXSW London
* Hong Kong Premiere
Schedules
13/9/2025 (Sat) 5:25pm – PREMIERE ELEMENTS
21/9/2025 (Sun) 5:15pm – Broadway CINEMATHEQUE#
Synopsis
Between tradition and modernity, two queer souls exist like cactus pears – sweet fruit beneath protective thorns. Anand returns to rural Western India for his father’s ten-day mourning ritual, rekindling a childhood connection with a local farmer. As grief rituals conclude, must he retreat to urban safety or embrace forbidden desire? Sundance Jury Prize winner Cactus Pears captures India’s breathtaking landscapes through an intimate queer lens, where ancient traditions clash. Director Kanawade’s previous work, U for Usha, was honoured with the inaugural Jury Award for Short Film at the 2019 HKLGFF, with a rescreening scheduled for this year.
Post Screening Q&A Sharing
21/9/2025 (Sun) 5:15pm – Broadway CINEMATHEQUE
Moderator : Ray Yeung
Featured Guest : Film Critic, Derek Lam
Stay with us after the screening of Cactus Pears for an engaging dialogue led by Dr. Derek Lam. He will explore the film and its director, Rohan Kanawade, the recipient of the inaugural Jury Award for Short Film at HKLGFF in 2019. Don’t miss this opportunity to gain deeper insights into the creative journey behind the film!
Dr. Derek Lam is a film critic and lecturer at the University of Hong Kong. He regularly writes, curates, and gives talks for the Hong Kong Film Critics Society and the Hong Kong International Film Festival.