Cactus Pears

Rohan Kanawade's first film follows Anand, in his thirties, who has to spend a ten-day mourning period for his father in a village in western India. Returning from the city, he grows close to a local farmer who is resisting being married off. The film carries grief and desire at the same time without setting one against the other. The ordinary moments between rituals form the ground on which the two men come together. The narrative explains nothing at any point; the relationship advances through glances and silence. Pressure to marry is the film's second subject. Both men's families are working to arrange marriages for them, which draws the concrete limit of queer life in rural India. The film won the Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema Dramatic section at Sundance in 2025 and was the first Marathi-language film to screen at the festival. Who it's for: those who like quiet queer love stories and films set in rural India. Who it's not for: viewers wanting an eventful narrative; the film is built almost entirely from small moments.