'A Teacher's Gift' at Tribeca Festival Lisboa 2025

The NFDC-backed film A Teacher's Gift has been officially selected for screening at the Tribeca Festival Lisboa 2025, to be held on November 1 at The Theatre, Lisbon.

An immigrant British South Asian story has received international recognition over the past year, winning the Best British Asian Film for Bridging Cultures award at the 2025 UK Asian Film Festival. It was also nominated for Best Feature Film at the BAFTA and BIFA-qualifying Iris Prize Film Festival in Wales.

Produced by Eric Ollerenshaw OBE, directed by Artur Ribeiro, and co-written by and starring Rajdeep Choudhury, A Teacher's Gift follows the story of Rohan, a Hindi language teacher in London who develops an unexpected friendship with an Englishman. The film explores themes of identity, belonging and cultural understanding.

The cast includes Anthony Calf, Paula Lobo Antunes, Anjali Patil, Dhruv Sehgal, Virgilio Castelo and Varun Buddhadev.

Speaking about the selection, producer Eric Ollerenshaw OBE, who is also a former Member of the UK Parliament, said in a statement, "For an independent British film that started its journey in the UK with a predominantly South Asian crew, then received support from NFDC WAVES Film Bazaar, and is now selected for Tribeca, this has been an incredible journey."

At the Iris Prize Festival in Wales, noted television producer, writer, and director Jackie Lawrence described the film as "beautifully atmospheric and a much-needed story from and for the South Asian diaspora."

The Tribeca Festival Lisboa, co-founded by actor and director Robert De Niro, brings the New York-based festival experience to Europe. The 2025 edition will also feature appearances by Kim Cattrall, Giancarlo Esposito and Meg Ryan, along with the Portuguese premiere of Honeyjoon, winner of the 2024 Tribeca Festival AT&T Untold Stories Award.

The film's selection adds to the growing global presence of Indian and South Asian stories in international cinema circuits.