3rd i: Gender issues and a celebration of women are a focus of the 14th San Francisco International South Asian Film Festival: Bollywood and Beyond, a.k.a. 3rd i. It begins at 7:15 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 10, with Neeraj Ghaywan’s Cannes prize-winner “Masaan” (“Fly Away Solo”) at the Castro Theatre and ends Sunday, Nov. 13, with a short film program that includes Bay Area filmmakers at New People Cinema in Japantown.
Highlights from the Voices of Women section include the centerpiece presentation at the Castro, Leena Yadav’s crowd-pleaser “Parched” (9 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 12). Described as a Bollywood “Sex and the City,” it’s about four women who rebel against tradition to explore their sensual desires and dreams. But don’t miss “The World of Goopi and Bagha” (3:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 12, at the Castro), Shilpa Ranade’s animated remake of a Satyajit Ray children’s film.