Writer | Film Critic for @smthcurated | Tutor @Cisl_cambridge
London
Joined March 2009
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Thrilled to share my first piece for @Eater on how immigrant women chefs from South Asia are embracing the intimate supper club format to broaden the narrative around under-documented regional food cultures. Photography by @MingTangEvans
bit.ly/2ygK43K
Rida Bilgrami retweeted
Amitav Ghosh argued that we must make climate change “thinkable” in art—make art about the catastrophe. Iñárritu goes one step further. He makes a film about the futility of making art that renders climate change thinkable.
On Digger, satire & hope.
frontline.thehindu.com/colum…
Rida Bilgrami retweeted
Small thing, but appreciate when distributors value critics enough to include their names alongside the outlets they write for — it’s only getting harder to have a career in criticism, and quoting an outlet but not a critic anonymizes and diminishes their voice while elevating it
Rida Bilgrami retweeted
There are so many people who are genuinely committed to a political ideal that insists on the safety and dignity of us all and the planet we share. You can see it in how they treat the people around them, they’re saving the world every day.
Rida Bilgrami retweeted
A propos of nothing, a major throughline in the work of political theorist Mahmood Mamdani is that the modern imperial state is distinct from earlier empires in its desire not to eradicate difference, but to shape and define it, and then govern through those hierarchies.
Greatly enjoyed this conversation with @Arifa_Akbar on the psychic and intellectual terrain of her new book Wolf Moon and her relationship with fear, darkness and cities.
somethingcurated.com/2025/07…
Rida Bilgrami retweeted
For @nplusonemag, on 17 Oscar-nominated movies and David Lynch — nplusonemag.com/online-only/…
Rida Bilgrami retweeted
One can love and cherish a homeland and/or language *without* believing that your culture/language is better than others. Love isn’t supremacist. The romance of ethnonationalism is for bot-hearts, not humans. No human is purely anything. We are all fictions and layers of fable.
Rida Bilgrami retweeted
We can’t let yet another London cultural landmark become yet another slab of corporate filler. We’re losing this city. Sign here.
#SaveThePCC
Some of you may have read about the situation regarding our new landlord wishing to add a new redevelopment break clause, with only 6 months notice to our lease.
For now, we're simply asking you all to share & sign the petition below; you.38degrees.org.uk/p/princ…
Rida Bilgrami retweeted
As tribute, I offer a pathway into Shyam Benegal’s filmography, one that was never cynical even when it was critical.
hollywoodreporterindia.com/f…
A set of mini essays for @smthcurated on films across decades that are a cultural and political inquiry into the intimate lives of women in various parts of Asia.
somethingcurated.com/2024/12…
Rida Bilgrami retweeted
“What keeps us going, ultimately, is our love for each other, and our refusal to bow our heads, to accept the verdict, however all-powerful it seems. It’s what ordinary people have to do. You have to love each other. You have to defend each other. You have to fight.” —Mike Davis
Rida Bilgrami retweeted
Excited to collaborate with the @project_polis on their culture vertical! For my first essay, I wrote about the pioneering work and enduring influence of the Yugantar Film Collective anchored around the new documentary No City for Women
thepolisproject.com/read/no-…
All We Imagine as Light has the rare ability to excel at both a subconscious level as well as a narrative one.
I wrote a longish form essay on its rendering of beauty and its gift of a new imagining of kinship, of time, of dreams, of love for @smthcurated
somethingcurated.com/2024/10…
Wrote about the stunning 'Girls Will Be Girls' ahead of its UK release for @smthcurated. The film is a brilliant roadmap for storytelling on South Asian girlhood and sexual autonomy that doesn't essentialise identity.
somethingcurated.com/2024/09……
@ReclaimTheFrame
Rida Bilgrami retweeted
Today's essay by @neemayharaf is a cultural history of the dastarkhwan: the food that is eaten on it, its link to Urdu poetry, and its role in facilitating commensality among South Asian Muslims.
vittlesmagazine.com/p/folds-…
Levan Akin’s Crossing observes its characters without judgement, letting them inhabit the world in the complicated way people do. A beautiful story of muted intimacies, and forgiveness. It was a pleasure to write about this film for @smthcurated
somethingcurated.com/2024/07…