Zinda Hai – We Are Alive

A small fortune, a trans-queer punk band, a fleeting safe house of friends and lovers, and a freedom they had only ever dreamed of. But the voices of their murdered friends echo across the house. How does the band create music affirming love, life, joy, and anger? Can they put up a show in the memory of their fallen comrades, before time and money force them back into a disapproving world?

Sarthak Jaiswal is a non-binary filmmaker and storyteller from Jamshedpur. In a world full of formulaic ‘content’ creation, they seek experiential storytelling that is influenced by and derived from our zeitgeist. Centering people and their politics, they aspire to re-discover fluidity in storytelling. They come from a background in theatre, journalism, dance and music. Zinda Hai – We Are Alive is their debut film, blending documentary and experimentation through raw phone-shot narrative.