I, Poppy — Texas Premiere

Directed by Vivek Chaudhary Hindi and Rajasthani with English subtitles | 82 min | India/France There is a cruel irony at the heart of I, Poppy : something so beautiful grows inside a system built on exploitation.

Across the white poppy fields of rural Rajasthan, filmmaker Vivek Chaudhary follows a Dalit farming family whose livelihood depends on government permission—and on officials who use that power to demand bribes and punish resistance.

At the center of the film are Vardibai, an elderly poppy farmer, and her son Mangilal, a teacher and activist.

Vardibai has survived by working hard, navigating the system and making the compromises necessary to keep her family afloat. Mangilal believes survival is not enough.

He organizes farmers and speaks out against the Narcotics Bureau officials who control their licenses, prices and futures.

What makes the film so compelling is that it never treats their disagreement as a simple battle between courage and fear.

Vardibai’s pragmatism is rooted in experience; she understands exactly what powerful institutions can take from a family like hers.

Mangilal’s resistance is principled and necessary, but when the authorities retaliate, the consequences are borne by everyone.

Filmed over several years, I, Poppy has the patience to let this conflict unfold without forcing it into a neat resolution.

Chaudhary observes the family closely—the arguments, silences, affection and frustration that exist alongside their larger political struggle.

The corruption may be systemic, but its effects are painfully intimate.

Mustaqeem Khan’s cinematography finds extraordinary beauty in the poppy fields without romanticizing the labor or hardship behind them.

The delicate white flowers stand in sharp contrast to the bureaucracy surrounding their cultivation.

Vardibai’s physical relationship with the land and Mangilal’s phone-driven activism become two very different ways of confronting the same oppressive system.

Winner of the Best International Feature Documentary Award at Hot Docs 2025 , I, Poppy is a layered and deeply human film about caste, family, resistance and the price of refusing to remain silent.

It asks a difficult question without offering an easy answer: What do you do when both compliance and resistance carry unbearable costs? I, Poppy makes its Texas premiere, presented by Indie Meme at AFS Cinema in Austin on September 13, 2026, at 2:30 p.m.

Tickets are available at www.indiememe.org .

Film details and award information were verified through Hot Docs , DOCVILLE and DOK.fest München .