Streaming now: Kashmiri film ‘Saffron Kingdom’ offers a rare insider perspective

A still from Saffron Kingdom (Daffodil Studios) Saffron Kingdom is a rare and special film about Kashmir, created by a Kashmiri filmmaker Arfat Sheikh.

Although the film was released in 2024 (Daffodil Studios), there was only one Canadian screening, in October 2025 , meaning it was a hard film to see.

That’s changed with its recent release on the streaming service Watermelon Plus, making the drama available to a larger audience.

The film offers a rare glimpse into how everyday life in Kashmir is impacted under militarization and surveillance.

The Indian state prefers to tell a different version of the story.

The film is centred on Masrat, a woman from Indian-administered Kashmir who, after her husband’s enforced disappearance in 2014, escapes the valley with her son.

The movie follows her family’s displacement over three generations from their life in Kashmir to their current life in Atlanta, Ga.

The film uses memory and family stories to guide viewers through Kashmir’s political history.

It emphasizes silence, rituals and inherited grief.

It portrays displacement not as a clear timeline of dates and policies but as a complex loss transmitted across generations, often explained imperfectly.

Read more: Borders and orders: How settler-government occupations violate Kashmiri sovereignty The filmmaker’s father, well-known Kashmiri singer Ghulam Nabi Sheikh , disappeared in 2003 while travelling by train.

His family describe it as an enforced disappearance by the Indian army.

Though the film is not autobiographical, it’s inspired by true events as it deals with the collective issue of disappearance, including extrajudicial killings, and political repression in Kashmir .

Sheikh says the film grew out of his years spent travelling throughout Kashmir and hearing stories of loss and violence.