"it is a necessary excavation of a buried trauma"
Short film Simran Kaur 1970, which is inspired by the Heathrow virginity testing scandal, will have its US premiere at the Tasveer Film Festival.
Simran Kaur 1970, which is by Dutch writer, actor and director Keshavi Jaharia, will screen at the Tasveer International Film Festival in Seattle, which runs from October 13 to 18, 2026.
The upcoming screening comes after the film recently had its world premiere at the Bengaluru International Short Film Festival, where it was selected as a finalist for the Women’s Collective Award.
Produced by Sohail Anjum, Avanish Sharma and Swati Agarwal, Simran Kaur 1970 is inspired by true events.
The film follows Simran, an Indian bride-to-be who arrives at Heathrow Airport to marry her fiancé.
After landing, she is separated from the airport crowd and subjected to a bureaucratic procedure that determines whether she can enter the UK.
The film explores a dark chapter in British immigration history involving the discriminatory and invasive practice of virginity testing.
Speaking about the film, Keshavi said: “Simran Kaur 1970 is not just a historical account; it is a necessary excavation of a buried trauma that continues to resonate in conversations about borders, bodies, and belonging.
“These examinations were not hidden acts of violence; they were carried out politely, procedurally, and with official language.
“I wanted to observe how harm can exist inside a system that believes themselves to be reasonable.
“We are thankful to the Tasveer Film Festival to have provided Simran Kaur 1970 a platform to bring this story to an American audience.”
In the late 1970s, British immigration authorities at Heathrow subjected more than 80 South Asian women, primarily from India and Pakistan arriving on fiancée visas, to intimate gynaecological examinations.
Officials claimed the examinations were intended to verify “marital status”, reflecting racist and sexist assumptions that South Asian women were submissive and virgins before marriage.
The practice came to public attention and was banned in February 1979 following a public scandal.
Decades later, the UK government criminalised virginity testing nationwide in November 2021 under the Health and Care Act.
Simran Kaur 1970 now brings this history to a US audience through its selection for the Tasveer International Film Festival, following its premiere in India.
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