FREE FORUM 2026: Mississippi Masala

(Mira Nair, 1991, United States, 117 min, in English)

Co-presented with Orcas Microcinema! 

The vibrant cultures of India, Uganda, and the American South are blended and simmered into a rich and fragrant fusion feast in Mira Nair’s luminous look at the complexities of love in the modern melting pot. Years after her Indian family was forced to flee their home in Uganda by the dictatorship of Idi Amin, twentysomething Mina (Sarita Choudhury) finds herself helping to run a motel in the faraway land of Mississippi. It’s there that a passionate romance with the charming Black carpet cleaner Demetrius (Denzel Washington) challenges the prejudices of their conservative families and exposes the rifts between the region’s Indian and African American communities. Tackling thorny issues of racism, colorism, culture clash, and displacement with big-hearted humor and keen insight, Nair serves up a sweet, sexy, and radical celebration of love’s power to break down the barriers between us.

Synopsis courtesy of Janus Films

Hana Peoples, former NWFF Cinema Programmer, on Mississippi Masala: 

Mississippi Masala has become one of my favorite films after I programmed it for Northwest Film Forum in 2022 after the 4K restoration was released. I love how Mira Nair intricately weaves the stories and cultures of India, Uganda and African American life in the Deep South in the 1990s. It delivers juicy family drama, layered immigration histories, and one of the most sizzling and beautiful love scenes I’ve ever seen. This film is forever seared into my cinematic memory and it is such a delight to watch on the big screen!