FAMILY FILM
Queer Special
SUNDAY, 27. JULY 2025
PUKAM PUKAI –
TO FETCH A PAIL OF WATER
FEATURE FILM
India 2026
108 min /
Hindi with English ST
Live German spoken by Juliane Bacher
Twelve-year-old Santoo dreams of building his own sparkling-blue swimming pool to escape the New Delhi heat. There’s just one problem: in the slum where he lives – home to sanitation workers – even running water is a distant luxury.
Across the by-lanes, Vivaan, the overachieving son of Ivy League-educated parents, is chasing a coveted U.S. internship in hopes of securing his future – and their approval.
Meanwhile, Fiza, a hijabi Muslim girl, aspires to break the glass ceiling of her conservative neighbourhood to become a national cricket player.
When fate brings these three unlikely allies together, their summer transforms into an unforgettable journey of mischief, friendship, and the power of chasing dreams against all odds.
Altersempfehlung ab 6 Jahren
Sunday, 26 July 2026
3 PM
Translated into German
and spoken in dubbing by Juliane Bacher
Director
Abhay Punjabi
Abhay Punjabi is a Delhi-based filmmaker and editor, with over ten years of experience in films. He hails from an education background of Zoology with experience in Ornithology. Abhay Punjabi has studied film editing from FTII, Pune. His first feature film Pukam Pukai, following his stint as a Creative Producer on the Gandhi web series based on Ramachandra Guha’s books. He has served as an Associate Director & DOP on various platform films. His short ‘Achla’ won a National Award, while ‘Bijli Bittoo’ was Best Film at Filmapalooza Atlanta. Abhay Punjabi has also directed over 30 crowdfunding films for NGOs and ads for major brands.
Actress and dubbing artist
Juliane Bacher
The Stuttgart actress Juliane Bacher will record the dialogue of the family film live in German in the cinema. Juliane Bacher therefore provides the German translation without drowning out the original language. ‘I just make myself available without intervening creatively,’ she explains. In 2010, the native South Tyrolean dubbed a family film live for the first time for the Indian Film Festival Stuttgart with “Thanks Maa” by Irfan Kamal. What began as an experiment has since gained a loyal audience. Since then, an entertaining feature film for the whole family has been one of the constant highlights of every festival programme. Juliane Bacher studied acting at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Stuttgart. She is very familiar with India through her yoga classes.
