London-based filmmaker Shalini Adnani is set to bring her powerful debut feature Our Share of Sand to the 70th BFI London Film Festival this October.
The India-set coming-of-age drama will screen in competition at the festival, which runs from 7 to 18 October, following its world premiere in competition at Venice International Critics’ Week.
The UK-India-Greece co-production will compete for the Sutherland Award as part of the festival’s First Feature Competition.
Told through the eyes of a 12-year-old girl, Our Share of Sand explores family loyalty, class inequality, child labour and corruption against the backdrop of India’s illegal sand-mining industry.
At the centre of the story is Maya, who returns to rural India with her mother after years away to reconnect with her estranged father, Rohan, a wealthy businessman involved in sand mining.
As Maya is drawn into her father’s world, she develops a tentative friendship with Kiran, a young worker at his mining operation.
But when a devastating accident triggers a police investigation, Maya finds herself caught between protecting her father and confronting a growing realisation that something is deeply wrong.
With Rohan depending on his daughter to protect him, Maya begins searching for the truth.
What she discovers forces the 12-year-old to confront her father’s deception, her family’s complicity and the human and environmental cost behind the wealth surrounding her.
By keeping the story firmly within Maya’s perspective, the film explores the moment when a child begins to recognise the moral complexities and inequalities of the adult world around her.
What begins as an intimate story about a daughter and her estranged father gradually develops into a wider examination of privilege, exploitation and the forces shaping the lives of those working at the margins of society.
Adnani, who is of Indian heritage, was born in Chile and is now based in London.
Her acclaimed short film White Ant premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, was acquired by Canal+ and went on to screen at festivals internationally. She was also named a Screen International Star of Tomorrow in 2025.
Our Share of Sand stars Maya Mehta alongside acclaimed Indian actor Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub and British actress Ellora Torchia, with Krish Raj More, Ravi Ranjan and Jyoti Dogra also appearing in the film.
The film is produced by Sara Bonakdar for Fifth Mirror Pictures, Alan McAlex for Suitable Pictures, Balthazar de Ganay, Giorgos Karnavas for Heretic and Michael Graf.
Backed by the BFI and Film4, with international sales handled by Global Constellation, Our Share of Sand will now compete on Adnani’s home turf in London as one of the first features vying for the festival’s Sutherland Award.
