2014 Sikh International Film Festival

Sikh International Film Festival 2014

Celebrate the rich Heritage, Traditions & Culture of Sikhs and the immigrant experience through a diverse mix of Documentaries, Shorts & Feature Films.

FRIDAY, MAY 2 - SATURDAY, MAY 3

McGRAW-HILL CONFERENCE CENTER
(1221 6th Avenue, 2nd Fl., NYC)
&
NYU SKIRBALL CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
(566 LaGuardia Place, NYC)

Event Schedule

Premiere Night (Friday, May 2; 6:30pm)

  • Red Carpet Welcome
  • Lecture: "The Spectacular Court of Lahore"
    Presented by 2014 Honoree and internationally recognized author and art historian, Fakir Syed Aijazuddin
  • Feature Presentation: Dalip Singh Saund: His Life, His Legacy
  • After Party

Short Films Session (May 3, 1-2:45pm)

  • Rab da Vaasta
  • Message from Satwant Kaur
  • Kush
  • Kirpa
  • Baggage
  • One Day
  • Onkar

Short Documentaries Session (May 3, 4-6:15pm)

  • Kaur
  • A Sacred Journey
  • Niam
  • Wrinkles of Life
  • Raw Conversations
  • The Last Killing

Feature (May 3, 7:15-8:45pm)

  • Empty Inside

Scheduled Films

 

Dalip Singh Saund: His Life, His Legacy

Dalip Singh Saund: His Life, His Legacy

Directed by: E. Samantha Cheng

Dalip Singh Saund was the first Asian, the first Indian, and the first Sikh elected as a U.S. Congress Representative – but few know of his contributions and life story. He continuously strove for quality in the lives of his family and community, integrating his civic, personal, and professional commitments from the time he came to this country in 1920.

Rab Da Vaasta

Rab Da Vaasta

Directed By Charravarty Devulapalli

On Sunday morning, a non-typical customer walks into a small-time barber shop in East Dehli, demanding a shave. Having faced the ordeal of 1984 anti-Sikh reprisal, Manjeet Singh Sandhu, a devout Sikh-turned-barber mulls over and faces an epiphany of sorts upon coming face-to-face with his bête noire. Contextualized in the socio-religious political events of 1984-87 India (in the aftermath of Operation Bluestar and Prime Minister Indira Ghandi's assassination, Rab da Vaasta ("For God's Sake - Every Drop Matters"), is a screen adaptation of Hernando Tellez's well-known story, "Espuma y nada más" ("Just Lather, That's All").

Message from Satwant Kaur

Message from Satwant Kaur

Directed by Eshvinder Singh

A gripping story of a young vigilante avenging the massacre of 1984.

Kush

Kush

Directed by Shubhashish Bhutiani

Kush is inspired by a true story. In 1984, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her two Sikh bodyguards, causing anti-Sikh riots to erupt throughout the country. A teacher traveling back from a field trip with her class of 10-year-old students struggles to protect Kush, the only Sikh student in the class, from the growing violence around him.

 

Kirpa

Kirpa

Directed by Kiran Rai

Kirpa is a short film about a 23-year-old art student struggling to fulfill the wishes of her parents while pursuing her dreams of becoming an artist. A lack of communication between her and her father makes home life difficult. They both love and want the best for each other, but don't know how to communicate this without creating further misunderstandings. A healthy relationship is all Kirpa wishes to have with her father, and that is everything he dreamed of since immigrating to Canada and driving a taxi to support the family. But where did it all go wrong? How can she repair one of the most important relationships a young woman has in her life?

 

Baggage

Baggage

Directed by Harminder Phull

Long-haul truck driver Kuldeep, a recent Sikh immigrant from Punjab, struggles with a tough decision that may help his family back home but could ruin his entire life.

 

One Day

One Day

Directed by Navdeep (Bobby) Jhajj

One Day is the story of a South Asian elderly man living in a senior facility. He has lost anticipation to ever return home to live with his children. But one day his family visits him. This short film speaks to the intergenerational gaps due to the socio-cultural and economic effects of immigration, especially leaving senior citizens in a pathetic plight.

 

Onkar

Onkar

Directed by Reghu Shanker

Onkar "MC Encore" Singh prays before every show his rap group, The Katalysts, performs in. He doesn't pray because of superstition and he doesn't pray in hopes that the show will go well. He prays to thank God for blessing him with the freedom and ability to do what he loves: make great hip hop music.

 

Kaur

Kaur

Directed by Rasna Kaur and Harnek Singh

Kaur is a film that shows us how diverse, unique, and inspiring each Sikh woman can be. It is a film that not only represents a wide spectrum of Sikh women, but also touches on important aspects of a Kaur's everyday life. Everyone who watches this film will enjoy hearing this group of women share their experiences.

 

A Sacred Journey

A Sacred Journey

Directed by Ashish Varma

A Sacred Journey tells the story of a miniature Guru Granth Sahib Ji (1 inch cubed), created in the early 1900s at the request of the British High Commission, as it finds its way to Canada. The story is told through the eyes of the individuals who possess this holy artifact, and how history shaped their lives.

 

Niam

Niam

Directed by Austin Cherry

Niam is a film about moral values; values that anyone from any religion should claim and uphold. This film is about practicing what you preach. Bhajan Singh is an educator who dedicated his life to the preservation of the Sikh community in Singapore by reaching out to the Sikh youth. He used the Punjabi language to reconnect them with their heritage. As a result of his hard work and steadfast dedication, Sikh children have a place to learn the Punjabi language, a modernized curriculum to teach them values and the Sikh way of life, and the opportunity to take government recognized college entry tests in their native tongue. Bhajan Singh is a man who truly exemplifies the Sikh spirit. 

 

Wrinkles of Life

Wrinkles of Life

Directed by Jarnail Singh

Wrinkles of Life presents the sorrow and helplessness of old people. It shows the depleted moral values of children who have become self-centred and leave no choice for the elderly but to leave their own homes. The film depicts the pain in the eyes of those parents who are left abandoned even after with withstanding all the miseries and suffering in bringing up their children. Their stories in old age homes, and the consequences behind their grief, are shown. However, they are still so magnanimous that they never vilify the culprits.

 

Raw Conversations

Raw Conversations

Directed by Anureet Caur

Raw Conversations is a chapter from upcoming documentary film Farmicide, based on the effects of liberalization policies on small farmers. There is unrest in the countryside and farmers are ready to leave agriculture, but they have no other options. While working on Farmicide, we encountered various farmers looking for a space to express their difficult lives; it would be an injustice to them if they were not given such space. This documentary gives a voice to these farmers, sharing a raw conversation with three of them facing the consequences of the liberalization policies. 

 

The Last Killing

The Last Killing

Produced by Ensaaf

Satwant Singh Manak joined the Punjab Police to provide his family with a stable income. But in the late 1980s and early 1990s, in response to an insurgency, Indian security forces committed systematic and widespread torture, disappearances, and unlawful killings in Punjab. Manak silently witnessed the torture and executions of 15 unarmed individuals at the hands of his fellow police officers. The killing of Kulwant Singh, a teenager who had passed 10th grade, deeply affected Manak. No longer able to suppress his conscience and the horror of what he witnessed, he resigned from his job and filed a case against his fellow police officers. That case covers ten of the victims.

 

Empty Inside

Empty Inside

Directed by Satdeep Singh

Drug addiction is a severe problem. Many families have been destroyed because of it; many promising futures have been ruined. Empty Inside tries to uncover the root that leads a person to fall into addiction, but also searches for answers and solutions. Empty Inside tries to connect a global audience, showing events in our daily lives which lead to something terrible when they're ignored. Addiction is a broad term, and the movie begins from one root cause of all forms of addictions—the emptiness which prevails inside all of us despite having everything on our side.

 


Film list is subject to change without notice.