Reel Asia
Reel Asia
Friday, January 30, 5:30pm – 8:30pm
Michelson Theater, 721 Broadway, 6th Floor
Return to Sender: Women of Color in Colonial Postcards & the Politics of Representation is a short, experimental film directed and produced by Mara Ahmed. It pushes the documentary medium in unexpected ways by opening with three contemporary South Asian American women who recreate British colonial postcards from the early 20th century. Dressed in lavish traditional attire and jewelry and shot exquisitely in a darkened studio, the women emulate the awkward poses of the postcard women, only to subvert the colonial male gaze and acquire autonomy by choosing an action of their own. This symbolic ‘returning’ of the Orientalist gaze is layered with discussions about Eurocentric beauty standards, representations of South Asian women in media and culture, stereotypes, othering, identity and belonging. The film hopes to create community by facilitating conversations about erasure and the politics of representation.
A Road of Prayer (2016) is a documentary filmed between 2015 and 2016, marking my return to my hometown of Lhasa, Tibet, after a long absence. Through the camera, I attempt to touch a homeland and a community that feel at once intimate and unfamiliar. The film weaves together three narrative threads shaped by place, time, and the transformations of urban life. By observing ordinary people along the prayer road (kora), the film becomes a personal journey of reconnection—an exploration of memory, belonging, and the shifting relationship between the city and those who move within it.
This is an in-person event, open to the public. Prior registration is required. Non-NYU attendees will receive emailed instructions for building access and may be asked to present a government-issued photo ID upon arrival. NYU attendees must present their NYU ID.
About the Filmmakers
Best known for her non-linear, interdisciplinary work, Mara Ahmed produces documentaries, soundscapes, and artwork that trespass political borders and challenge colonial logics. Mara was born in Lahore and educated in Belgium, Pakistan, and the US. Her art practice reflects these displacements and multiplicities. Mara has directed and produced four films and was awarded a NYSCA grant in 2023 for her project Return to Sender: Women of Color in Colonial Postcards & the Politics of Representation. Her work has been broadcast on PBS and screened at international film festivals. Recently, she premiered The Injured Body, a feature-length film about racism in America that focuses on the voices of women of color. Her website is MaraAhmedStudio.com.
Tenzin Sedon is a Tibetan filmmaker from Tibet, China, and an MFA candidate in Film Production at NYU Tisch. Her work explores themes of displacement, memory, identity, and time through experimental visual language and hybrid narrative forms. She has received support and recognition from institutions including Hot Docs, Docs Port Incheon, and CCDF, and is a recipient of the 2025 Ang Lee Scholarship. She is also a member of New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT).