New York filmmaker Razid Season’s critically acclaimed film ‘Elijah’ will be screened at the Queer Film Festival Kathmandu from 3 to 6 December 2025.

The film has received the ‘Tasveer Emerald Award’ for ‘Best LGBTQIA+ Film’ at the Tasveer Film Festival in Seattle recently. Tasveer is also the world’s only Oscar-qualifying South Asian film festival.

The film follows a Bengali Muslim taxi driver, Haider, whose American Dream crumbles due to the plummeting value of yellow taxi cab medallions in New York City. His relationship with his transgender son challenges his past views on LGBTQ issues, compelling him to confront prejudice in his community to protect the child he loves.

Bengali actor Ajaz Alam played the leading role of Haider, while Debjani Banerjee from Kolkata portrayed the role of Elijah’s mother, Neelima, and Mithila Gazi, of Bangladeshi origin, played the title character, Shoshi / Elijah.

The film has been critically acclaimed receiving multiple awards since its release in January 2025, including the Audience Choice Award at the Phoenix Film Festival and the Palm Springs LGBTQ Film Festival.

Season, the New York based director and writer said, “I am honored to receive this recognition and extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone involved. I dedicate this award to the New York City taxi drivers who led a 15 day protest hunger strike until November 3, 2021 to secure debt relief. I also honor the transgender community who experience and courageously overcome prejudice and discrimination.”

Patricia Colmenero, a film critic based in New York, said, “In South Asian and Himalayan cinema, stories centering on trans women are far more visible than those centering on trans men. Razid set out to widen that frame, centering a Bengali family and their trans son, and telling the story in Bengali so it speaks from within the culture rather than about it.”

The film continues screening internationally in the upcoming 27th Reelout Queer Film Festival in Canada, which is a Canadian Screen Award qualifying film festival.

Uladzimir Taukachou is the Cinematographer. Harvey Brownstone is the executive producer.

The film was shot in Bengali and English language. Music is by Upasak Mukherjee and Orazio Saracino.

Elijah, is presented by Image Maker Films, a nonprofit film production based in New York.

The date of this screening has been corrected: Editor.