The South Asian Film Festival is heading back to Maitland for its 32nd year, bringing five programs of romance, crime drama, documentary and horror to Enzian Theater from October 3 through October 5, 2026. The lineup includes a documentary tracking an 83-year-old scientist’s decades-long pursuit of reversible male birth control and a short film about a Mumbai rideshare driver whose final fare turns out to be a witch.
According to Orlando Weekly, the festival returns to Enzian Theater at 1300 S. Orlando Ave. in Maitland for programs running Saturday through Monday at various times. This marks the 32nd annual edition of the festival, which has continued to build a run of consecutive years in the Orlando area — Enzian lists the 2024 edition as its 30th annual festival and the 2025 edition as its 31st. The festival is presented in partnership with the Asian Cultural Association, per the same account.
Five Programs, One Wide Sweep of Genres
This year’s five programs span romance, crime drama, documentary and horror, according to Orlando Weekly. Among the titles is The Cycle of Love, which follows a Delhi street artist who bicycled 6,000 miles from India to Sweden in 1977 to reunite with the woman he loved, per details reported by Selig Film News.
Give It a Shot, meanwhile, follows an 83-year-old scientist’s decades-long pursuit of a reversible male contraceptive that the film suggests could transform family planning and women’s lives worldwide, according to Selig Film News. Also on the schedule is Hanging by a Wire, which is set 900 feet above a Pakistani ravine, and The Last Ride, which centers on a Mumbai rideshare driver’s final fare — a passenger who turns out to be a witch, per Orlando Weekly.
Shorts, Coming-of-Age Tales And a Returning Showcase
Chhota Cinema, described by Orlando Weekly as a returning shorts showcase, is back again this year alongside the festival’s longer-form programs. Another entry, Kuchar (The Itch), depicts a coming-of-age awakening that starts with a washing machine spin cycle, according to the same report.
Ticket details carry a wrinkle worth noting for anyone planning to attend. Orlando Weekly lists the festival’s ticket price at $65, while Enzian describes that $65 figure as the cost of a Series Pass offering priority seating and discounted admission to all five SAFF programs — language that suggests the pass may be one option among several rather than a flat single-ticket price.
How Maitland's Lineup Stacks Up
The Enzian festival isn’t the only South Asian film showcase drawing attention this fall. Austin’s 2026 Indie Meme Film Festival announced a lineup of 27 films representing 14 countries, including six narrative features, four documentaries and 17 short films, according to Selig Film News. Maitland’s five-program slate is more compact by comparison, but it has kept a steady annual presence at Enzian for more than three decades running.
