Director Sami Khan and Actor Rupak Ginn in Person!!
(Sami Khan, India/Canada, 2015, 82mins) A nuanced and introspective thriller, Sami Khan’s outstanding feature Khoya is a deeply affecting film about the universal quest to find one’s roots, home, and belonging. When Rog Moreau’s mother dies, the adoptive ties to his Canadian identity begin to feel tenuous, setting him off on a journey to India in search of his birth parents. But India is a foreign land, and Rog cannot even speak the local tongue.

Seeking to unravel the dark mystery surrounding his adoption, Rog follows the spectres that lead him through the back alleys of the Mumbai slums to arrive in the expansive and dusty plains of Madhya Pradesh to confront a startling revelation. The film weaves between Rog’s dislocation in a strange new land and his internal conflicts, as he struggles to achieve an emotional epiphany.

Featuring stunning cinematography and an equally haunting score, Khoya showcases an excellent performance by Rupak Ginn who brings a local connection to the film with his San Francisco origins.