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An Opening of Courage
Last night the 5th ISAFF opened with a bang! An energetic buzz rang in the lobby of the Broadway Performance Hall and the hall itself filled to 70% of its capacity. Archana Kumar, Kathak dancer and choreographer returned to Seattle to present a riveting piece specially crafted for ISAFF, dancing to the fusion music of Seattle-based Indian/Afro-Cuban band Anjuman.
The opening night screening consisted of two shorts – 24 Frames per Day and Milind Soman Made Me Gay, and the Seattle premier of the feature – The World Unseen. Filmmakers of both shorts, Sonali Gulati and Harjant Gill respectively, made it all the way across the country. Lead actress of the feature Sheetal Sheth also graced the occasion, introducing the film to the audience.
Seeing the three films together made for an impactful experience. When issues of sexuality are overlaid with race, ethnicity, cultural biases, economics, politics of immigration … a powerful matrix is formed, heightening the experience and understanding of the issues. I was so violently struck by the line in the feature film that suggested, that it is unnatural for blacks and whites to be mixed in marriages, that I choked up. This happened only 50 years ago, and apartheid only ended in the 90s. Can you believe that?
It was also great to witness that Tasveer has successfully cultivated an evolving relationship with filmmakers and their work. Sonali has a historic association with ISAFF – every year a film of hers has been screened, and Tasveer’s first ever film screening back in 2002 was of her film Sum Total. Sheetal’s previous film Indian Cowboy was the closing night film for the first ISAFF, to which audience response was huge. As Sonali told the audience, “I have showed my films in hundreds of festivals across the world, but coming to ISAFF feels like coming home.”
The post-film discussion was rich. People asked Harjant, Sonali and Sheetal many good questions. One audience member asked, “What educative lesson would each of you like people to take away from your film, and inspired to learn more about?” Another person spoke up, identifying herself as coming from a very conservative Sikh family, and said that in the end all the films were about courage. “This gives me courage and inspiration to deal with the ongoing issues in my life.”
Indeed, ISAFF (re)presents courage. Do make it to another bold line-up tonight, including My Daughter the Terrorist and other films.
Kids Play Room
Babies in arms welcome in the movie theater. Kids Play Room is available for children over 1yr to be dropped off at suggested minimum donation of $5 per child per program. Note: we have trained babysitters and volunteers, however, this is not a licensed childcare room. Try to let us know ahead of time if you will be dropping off your child, but no problem if you decide at the last minute. Email farah@tasveer.org or just drop in.
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Thursday September 25th, 2008 7:00 PM
My Daughter the Terrorist (Beate Amestad, Norway/Sri Lanka, 2007, 52 min): Why do two young girls choose to become suicide bombers?
This fascinating documentary is an exceedingly rare, inside look at an organization that most of the world has blacklisted as a terrorist group. Made by the first foreign film crew to be given access to the Tamil Tigers (LTTE) of Sri Lanka, the film offers important insights into the recently re-ignited conflict in Sri Lanka.
Twenty-four-year-olds Dharsika and Puhalchudar have been living and fighting side-by-side for seven years as part of LTTE’s elite force, the Black Tigers. Their story is told through cinema verité footage, newsreel footage, and interviews with the women and Dharsika’s mother. The women describe heartbreaking traumas they both experienced at the hands of the Sri Lankan army, which led them to join the guerrilla forces. As they discuss their readiness to become suicide bombers and their abiding loyalty to the unnamed “Leader” — who they are sure would never harm civilians — grisly images of past LTTE suicide bombings provide somber counterpoints. Their curiously flat affects raise the possibility that they have been brainwashed. This even-handed documentary sheds light on the reasons that the Tamil Tigers continue their bloody struggle for independence while questioning their tactics.
Eviction (Grady Walker, Nepal/Bhutan/USA, 2006, 10 minutes): The Kingdom of Bhutan evicted 1/6 of its population in the early 1990s. EVICTION offers a glimpse into this undocumented tragedy and focuses on the 106,000 refugees still languishing in camps in eastern Nepal.
Thursday September 25th, 2008 9:00 PM
Mobile of Exceptional Stories: International short films package followed by q/a with directors Sonali Gulati and Harjant Gill.
10th Avatar (Charuvi Agarval, India, 2007, 3 minutes): Television’s influence is so great that it has left us completely mesmerized and has become our new form of worship. Our faith in the divine power has been challenged several times, through the ages. According to Hindu mythology an avatar appeared who relieved man’s distress and re-established the belief in God and the avatar. Nine incarnations of God or avatars have appeared thus far and the 10th avatar appeared with the fusion of mass media and formal worship. This is the story about the challenge divine worship faced as cable TV encroached our “idle” time.
Pakistan's Dame Edna (Pakistan/UK, 2006, 14 minutes): One of the last things you would expect to see on TV in Pakistan is a transvestite host tackling issues Muslim society would prefer to ignore. But Ali Saleem, Pakistan’s Dame Edna, is in her element.
“I am going to be the biggest Diva this country has ever produced!” Ali Saleem proclaims. In the guise of a snobby middle age dame, Saleem hosts one of Pakistan’s most cutting edge TV shows.
Nosh-e-Jan (Gazelle Samizay, Afghanistan, 2008): In Nosh-e Jan (Bon Appetit) the viewer is invited to witness the ritual of passing and consuming secrets within an Afghan-American family. The ritual serves as an outlet of expression for the women that bear the secrets, without violating the strict code of keeping face. The secrets are shared in three different languages (Pashto, Dari, and English), each of which signifies a different generation in the family. While the women are the main transmitters of the secrets, the impact on men must not be forgotten.
Flying On One Engine (Joshua Z Weinstein, USA/India, 2008, 52 minutes): Wheelchair bound, without a larynx, and diagnosed with a life-threatening aortic aneurysm, Dr. Sharadkumar Dicksheet now lives only (and barely) so he can travel to India to perform free operations in marathon-like surgery sessions where up to 700 children receive treatment for their cleft lips and other deformities. Although Dicksheet survives off of social security while living in his Brooklyn apartment, his life is drastically different in India where the eight-time Nobel Prize nominee is treated like a living god. FLYING ON ONE ENGINE shows how this quirky, funny, and sometimes difficult character overcomes his own ailments by curing others.
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Thank you to all our dedicated volunteers without whose help the festival would not be possible -- Rita, Farah, Neelu, Andrew, Anil, Uma, Angie, Prashant, Shahana, Gita, Nitika, Sahar R, Sahar Z, Afrose, Sabina, Rupesh, Sandeep, Kruti, Prachi, Ankur, Sukhi, Syed, Ann, Ali, Abhishek, Shemon, Semonti, Anusha, Anusuya, Amina, Sophia, Trisha, Sedra, Asha, Mary-Jayne, Mala, Vega, Brandon, Himanshu, Ullas. Our sincere apologies in case we missed anyone, please write to info@tasveer.org and we will include you in the next one!
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