The unsaid speaks volumes in this Sundance Grand Jury Prize–winning, Marathi-language queer romance set in rural India.

After the death of his father, 30-year-old Mumbai call centre worker Anand joins his mother in returning to their family’s Maharashtra village for the requisite 10-day period of mourning. While there, amid the pressures not just to adhere to tradition but also to hide his sexuality, he reconnects with childhood friend Balya, now a farmhand. As both men find solace in each other, their conversations evolve into caresses and more – a blossoming relationship that offers freedom from stifling cultural expectations.

The first ever film in Marathi to premiere at Sundance, Rohan Parashuram Kanawade’s wistful debut feature took home the top prize in this year’s World Cinema Dramatic section. Melancholic yet moving, this semi-autobiographical work is a masterclass in subtlety: patient editing and warm-hued cinematography lend the pair’s encounters a heady intimacy, while leads Bhushaan Manoj and Suraaj Suman deftly embody Anand’s caution and Balya’s confidence. But this is no run-of-the-mill love story; Cactus Pears also paints the tensions between urban and rural, self-actualisation and sacrifice, and the stories we tell the world to safeguard our cores within.

“Sensual and tender … Its rolling rhythms offer a delightfully sweet love story rendered with the heat of the heart.” – RogerEbert.com

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Co-producer Jim Sarbh is a guest of the festival and will be in attendance at the Sunday 17 August session of the film.