Ananth Subramaniam is a Malaysian filmmaker born of Tamil descent. Ananth’s work explores the subject of his ancestral identity and family within the context of a multi-layered genre. He was selected to participate in the Locarno Open Doors program and Southeast Asian Film Lab Initiative. He is working on his debut feature film, The Passport, with the support from Talents Tokyo 2022. His recent filmmaking credits include The House of Brick and Stone, which premiered in Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal in 2022, Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival in 2022 and London Short Film Festival in 2023, and Liar Land, which won a Special Mention Prize at the Locarno Film Festival in 2020. Ananth is the co-founder of Idio Sync Inc, an initiative to help promote South-Asian projects from Malaysia.

The Passport — A young Indian rock-musician, who is on the brink of stardom and is set to embark on her first international tour, is stopped at Heathrow Airport and forced to undergo a “virginity check” to prove her eligibility for a United Kingdom visa. Haunted by the experience, she is forced to return home to confront the impact of cultural expectations and the personal demons that come with it.