Film about queer love and South Asian culture picked up by major distributor
An independent feature film created by a Wolverhampton-based company, exploring queer love and South Asian culture, has been picked up by a major distributor. A Teacher’s Gift, co-produced by New Lion Films, based in Wolverhampton city, will be given a limited cinema release later this year by Peccadillo Pictures; a UK-based distributor of art house, gay and lesbian, independent and world cinema.
The production was shot in London and India, with a largely Midlands-based crew. Brothers Arun Kapur and Gurjant Singh, who run the Wolverhampton Film Festival and own New Lion Films were eager to support local film makers.
"It means a lot to know that there's a connection with Wolverhampton and the West Midlands on a feature film basis... it doesn't happen very often," explains Arun Kapur.
“We want to encourage more that can be done here," he added.
"We're trying to support local filmmakers, we're trying to support an audience that can feel they can relate with a queer love story, either universal or British South Asian or South Asian, trying to support also the teacher community as well."
A Teacher’s Gift tells the story of “An ambitious Hindi language teacher in London, Rohan is under pressure for an arranged marriage with a smart Indian woman. But when a sophisticated Englishman enrols in his class, he develops a bond with him through shared interests in literature and cricket despite their age and cultural differences. A series of events leads him back to India where everyone must confront their past and decide the future.”
Kapur continues: "It's a queer love story, it deals with difficult subjects while being warm, romantic.
"It very much covers the areas of arranged marriage, family expectations, friendship, love, as well as touching on the importance of a teacher within communities as well.
"For us, it's important, because these are the kind of stories that need to be told - we're in 2026 and these are conversations that we should still be able to have... we shouldn't be able to consider these things as a taboo."
The film has so far been shown at film festivals around the world, winning Best British Again film at the UK Asain Film Festival 2025. A Teacher’s Gift has also been shown at Iris Prize, the Indian Film Festival, Tribeca Lisboa, the IFFI Goa, Guadalajara in Mexico, and the Midlands-based Forward Film Festival. The production is directed by Artur Ribeiro, and written by Artur Ribeiro with Rajdeep Choudhury and Will D. Parry.
Comments