CASTING SHORT FILM STRANGERS
Written and directed by Karishma Dev Dube, the film is set to shoot in New York City in July 2026. The film is the recipient of the 2025 Through Her Lens Program, produced with the support of Tribeca Enterprises and CHANEL. Selected from over 600 invited and recommended filmmakers, Strangers was one of five projects pitched to the jury and will receive full financing and production support from Tribeca Studios. Strangers marks Karishma’s follow-up to BITTU, which was shortlisted for the 93rd Academy Awards and received a Student Academy Award and the DGA Student Film Award, among other honors. The short serves as an elevated proof of concept for her debut feature of the same title, which participated in the 2025 Sundance Labs and received the 2025 SFFILM Screenwriting Grant.
Project Details
Film Title: STRANGERS
Writer/Director/Producer: Karishma Dev Dube
Producers: Anne Alexander, Ivan Laffayette, MG Evangelista; Produced with support from Tribeca Studios and Chanel
Cinematographer: Shreya Dev Dube
Composer: Arooj Aftab
Casting Directors: Geraldine Baron, Romil Modi
Dates: August 7-10 2026
Location: New York City
Logline: A subway altercation jolts an arranged newlywed couple into unexpected intimacy.
DIRECTOR BIO
Karishma Dev Dube is an Indian filmmaker based in New York. Born and raised in New Delhi, she moved to the United States to attend the Graduate Film Program at NYU as a recipient of the Dean’s Fellowship.
Her short film BITTU premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and was shortlisted for the 93rd Academy Awards. The film received both the DGA Student Film Award and the Student Academy Award in 2020.
Her previous short, DEVI, screened at international festivals including the BFI London Film Festival, Frameline, and Outfest, where it won the Grand Jury Prize.
Karishma is a 2025 Sundance Institute Screenwriting Intensive Fellow and a recipient of the 2024 SFFILM Rainin Screenwriting Grant for her debut feature, STRANGERS, which she will write and direct. She is also a recipient of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Gold Fellowship for Women and was named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film.
SELECTED PRESS FOR PROJECT + DIRECTOR
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/lifestyle-news/through-her-lens-tribeca-chanel-womens-filmmaker-10-years-1236376827/
https://variety.com/2025/film/lifestyle/sarah-paulson-tribeca-chanel-through-her-lens-program-1236524423/
https://coveteur.com/chanel-and-tribeca-through-her-lens
https://deadline.com/2025/01/sundance-screenwriters-lab-2025-fellows-1236257911/
https://krfoundation.org/news/arts/2024-filmmaking-grantees-announced/
https://filmmakermagazine.com/people/karishma-dube/
CONTACT
If you have any questions please feel free to contact us at gb@castingdouble.com
Thanks!
CHARACTER BREAKDOWN
[TARA] Woman, 25-35, Indian. A grad student at NYU, she has a striking presence and effortless style. Her confident, polished, cultured exterior is shaped by her family’s public-facing life back home. She's queer and dating Maya. Language requirements: Fluent in Hindi/English. NYC based, non union. SUPPORTING ROLE.
[MAYA] Woman, 25-40, White, American. A successful queer artist in NYC. Composed, quietly intense: Maya is someone who observes more than she speaks, maintaining a calm, steady presence. She's dating Tara NYC based, non union. SUPPORTING ROLE.
[JACKSON] Man, 20-30, Indian American (first-gen, New Yorker). Fast-talking, decisive, with a strong New York edge. Jackson is used to being in charge. He’s much younger than Ronny, but also his boss and relative, and he leans into that power. Can be dismissive, his humor often lands as a put-down, a quality that can feel casually cruel. Underneath, he’s juggling multiple responsibilities, carrying pressure he doesn’t show. Talent must be based in NYC or work NYC local. Non-Union. SUPPORTING ROLE.