Festival Dates and Venue

The date and venue for the NJISACF 2008 have been announced. The final dates are September 19th to 21st, 2008. On 19th, we will have the gala opening event, while the film screenings will be held on September 20th and 21st at the Rutgers Busch Campus Center, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey.

NJISACF 2007 Traveling Film Festival Schedule

NJISACF 2007 is now a traveling film festival, and public libraries in various counties in New Jersey are hosting mini fests with selected films from NJISACF 2007. Do not miss this opportunity to watch a few of the most brilliant, rarely-seen and award-winning films from and about South Asia and by South Asian filmmakers.

The Franklin Township Public Library, Edison Public Library and the Bridgewater Public Library have already hosted the mini-fest in the months of March, April and May.
Next scheduled Public library screenings are as follow:
· June 1: South Brunswick Public Library, 2 PM - 4:30 PM
· June 2 and June 9: Middletown Public Library, 6:30 Pm - 8:30 PM
· June 14: Washington Township Public Library (Robbinsville, Mercer County), 1 PM - 4 PM
· June 28: East Brunswick Public Library, 1 PM - 6 PM

Call the libraries for a list of films, directions and more information.

Some of the 15 films to be screened are: The Little Terrorist (Oscar-nominated), Whose Children Are These, Toba Tek Singh, Dancing Kathmandu, and 1001 Auditions.

Call for Submission, NJISACF 2008

May 30 was the last date for film submission for NJISACF 2008. We have received an overwhelming number of film submissions from all around the world. Watch out for the film showcase of NJSACF 2008 at www.njisacf.org or in our next newsletter, and Bioscope (www.njisacf.wordpress.com)..

Invitation for Volunteers

NJISACF is run solely by volunteers. No matter what your experience or background is, you can be a part of our team and contribute to the success of this event. If you are interested in volunteering, please send us an email to volunteers@njisacf.org or call 732-310-0236.

We pay our deepest condolences to the noted playwright Vijay Tendulkar who passed away on 19 May 2008, after prolonged illness. In his lifetime, he was one of the most radical voices of Indian theatre. His popular work includes the plays Ghashiram Kotwal and Sakharam Binder. The highly celebrated Padma Bhushan awardee also wrote some of the best screenplays in Hindi cinema such as Ardh Satya, Nishant, Akrosh and Shyam Benegal’s Manthan.

We also pay our heartfelt homage to the Hollywood legend, director, producer and actor Sydney Pollack, who passed away on 26 May 2008 at his home in Los Angeles. He was 73. “The Way We Were,” “Tootsie” and “Out of Africa” are some of his most renowned films.

Inspired by a real-life incident, Ramchand Pakistani, a film by Brooklyn based filmmaker Mehreen Jabbar, is one of the most talked about films screened in the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival. The film, made in Urdu and Hindi, tells the story of how an accidental crossing of the Pakistan-India border by a poor Pakistani Dalit boy and his father, at a time of war-like tension in 2002, dramatically affects their lives. The two Hindus find themselves imprisoned in India as unwelcome trespassers, while the mother faces consequences back home. The story mirrors the emotional trauma of families living near the Pakistan-India border, especially in times of high tension between the two nations. It also highlights the treatment that many innocent prisoners get in jails after being suspected of espionage, and reveals how little the lives of common citizens of the two countries differ. Javed Jabbar, the writer and producer of the film said that through Ramchand Pakistani, he hopes to bring Pakistan and India closer. An India-Pakistan joint venture, the film stars Nandita Das playing the character of Champa, the mother of seven-year-old Ramchand, along with Pakistani actors Rashid Farooqui playing the father, and Syed Fazal Hussain and Navaid Jabbar playing the child and grownup Ramchand respectively. Praised as a “poignant film” by The New York Times, Ramchand Pakistani will be showcased in film festivals and is scheduled for theatrical release in Pakistan later this year. Watch the trailer of Ramchand Pakistani here:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1WYj2nfByA&feature=related]

The very talented Mehreen Jabbar is a 14-year veteran of the industry, with a prolific career as a Director/Producer of gritty, hard-hitting films. She has earned a reputation of professionalism and excellence, and is quoted widely as an expert in her field. Mehreen graduated from UCLA with a degree in Film, Television and Video, and returned to Pakistan to direct and produce made-for-TV movies and drama series/serials under the banner of TasVeer Productions, almost all of which were critically acclaimed by the Pakistani press. In addition to these, she directed a number of short films, and her work has appeared in many film festivals around the world including the Hong Kong International Film Festival, the San Francisco Asian-American Film Festival, and the Leeds Film Festival in U. K. to name a few. Her award-winning films include ‘Daughters of the Late Colonel’, and a four-part television show: ‘ Sanam Gazida, Afsoon Khawab, Deeda-e-Purkhoon, and Lal Baig.‘ Ramchand Pakistani is her first feature length film. Mehreen has been a member of the National Board of Film Censors in Karachi, a founding member of WAR (War Against Rape), the Kara Film Festival in Karachi, and has also served as a juror at the Leeds International Film Festival in 2002.

The 61^st Annual Cannes Film festival 2008 was held May 14 through May 25, 2008. Like every year, the most prestigious and influential film festival showcased some of the biggest and most talked about films from all over the world. Since being a part of this grand affair provides filmmakers with the much sought after worldwide media attention, Cannes has become one of the most popular venues for filmmakers, film producers and distributors participating from all over the globe.

This year, along with a couple of the high-budget, glossy Bollywood films from India, a number of offbeat low-budget independent film production houses like iDreams Independent Pictures and Handmade Films participated, to market their classy and “non-mainstream” films extensively.

Among the films shopped by iDreams were Santosh Sivan’s Tahaan, Buddhadeb Dasgupta’s The Voyeurs, Rajnesh Domalpalli’s Vanaja, Shivaji Chandrabhushan’s Frozen and US-based Sarab Singh Neelam’s Ocean of Pearls. These films, the filmmakers believe, have immense potential for traveling all across the globe and impressing a global audience. Some of them have already received recognition from all over the world. For example, Vanaja, a film about feudalism and the class struggle in rural Andhra Pradesh seen through the prism of a classical dance form, is set for commercial release in South Africa and has recently been sold in the Netherlands.

Handmade Films, which produced popular offbeat films like Mixed Doubles and Bheja Fry, brought a new bunch of unconventional films to Cannes, including Beware Dogs, a 45-minute documentary on the contemporary music group Indian Ocean. Their list of feature-length fiction films include Jaideep Varma’s comedy drama Hulla, Maneej Premnath’s thriller, The Waiting Room, Rupali Guha’s Aamras, and Bela Negi’s Driving Lessons. All these films have been directed by debut directors.

Apart from these, another Indian film which created some buzz is Ketan Mehta’s Rang Rasiya, based on the life of the legendary 19th-century Indian painter Raja Ravi Verma.

Meanwhile, India’s Reliance Big Entertainment, owned by Anil Dhirubhai Ambani and the media arm of the $100 billion conglomerate Reliance ADA Group, was launched at Cannes this year. The media group is all set to develop and co-produce films in Hollywood and has signed separate deals with George Clooney’s Smokehouse Productions, Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment, Nicholas Cage’s Saturn Productions, Tom Hanks’ Playtone Productions, Jim Carrey’s JC 23 Entertainment, as well as filmmakers Chris Columbus’ 1492 Pictures and Jay Roach’s Everyman Pictures to co-produce movies.

Bangladeshi independent filmmakers Tareque Masud and Catherine Masud had been invited to the 61st Cannes Film Festival 2008 to take part in the 40th anniversary celebrations of the “Directors’ Fortnight” section of the festival. The Directors’ Fortnight was born out of the new French director’s union in 1968, by independent filmmakers like Francois Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Roman Polanski and Louis Malle, in protest of the Cannes Film Festival’s ‘narrow star-studded focus’ which, they felt, ignored creative independent filmmakers.

Tareque Masud’s first full-length feature film Matir Moina premiered at Cannes in 2002 as the opening film of the Fortnight, and was awarded with the International Critics’ Prize as ‘Best Film’ in the section. The film is also the first Bangladeshi feature film to have a general release in the USA. Matir Moina toured the international circuit and was received with critical praise for its realistic depiction of life without the melodrama that is prevalent in many South Asian films

A debut Indian film, Mahek, by filmmaker K Kanade has been selected by Otterbein College in Ohio, US to be a part of its curriculum in Integrative Studies Program and Teaching of Modern India. According to the university, Mahek is an introspective Hindi film that sensitively portrays the world of children and their rights. The film, produced by the Children’s Film Society, India, had its world premiere at the prestigious 51st London Film Festival 2007 and has won several awards overseas, including the Best Feature Film (Family) Platinum Remi Award at the prestigious 41^st Houston International Film Festival 2008 and the best feature film award at the 10th Arpa International Film Festival in Hollywood. The film had been nominated in Houston for as many as six categories including the best feature film, best director, screenplay, first feature, best foreign film and best family film. It has been screened at several international film festivals including the 32nd Cleveland Film Festival, the Golden Elephant Children Film Festival in Hyderabad, and at festivals in St Louis, Chicago, Frankfurt and Sydney.

Mahek is a young girl’s journey towards self-realization. The film deals with the understanding of children’s talents, their imaginative skills and also their rights in context of present-day India. Eleven-year old Mahek wants to be the best in everything, as she struggles to figure out what she is best at. To complicate things, she encounters a charmless old fairy, who brings her face to face with reality.

Here’s a trailer of the film:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64jom5jTQWk]

More than 90,000 women accompany their spouses each year in search of the American dream, on an H-4 visa. Out of these almost 40 – 50 percent are Indian women. Once these thousands of educated women who are also doctors, lawyers, architects, business professionals, artists, etc. step into the land of the free, they realize that as an H-4 visa holder, they will not be allowed to work. They are forced to stay at home for an indefinite period of time – life becomes standstill as they find themselves losing their confidence, their self-esteem and identity. This is also what director Meghna Damani, the 32 year old media professional from Mumbai went through when she came to USA post-marriage, in 2002. She realized that she was not complete in this country despite being here for 5 yrs, because of her ‘dependent spouse’ visa status. Her urge to make the voices of H-4 visa holders to be heard was strong, and she decided to make a documentary about other women who shared her situation.

Meghna enrolled in the Documentary Media Studies Program at New school in New York, and interviewed several other women – all of this eventually turned into a 24 hour documentary called “Hearts Suspended”, the untold story of legal US immigrant spouses who are denied the basic human right to work, revealed through the filmmaker’s personal struggles. The film also happens to be the first film about H-4 women – South Asian lobbyists do not have this issue anywhere on their radar. H-4 visa holders are usually middle class with legal status; their plight is not seen as pressing. “These are people who are being brought in only in the most base function of women – housewives, babymakers and sex-partners”, says the film.

The 24-minute documentary was first screened at Brandeis University in Waltham during a conference on immigration and gender. The film was also an official selection for Mahindra IAAC Film Festival in New York, and the selection for the opening night for Ainaa Film Festival at Seattle.

Check out this heartrending clip from Hearts Suspended:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRrUYn8stfs]

For more information about the film, check out www.heartssuspended.com.

Festival Updates

Festival Dates and Venue

The date and venue for the NJISACF 2008 have been finalized. The final dates are September 19th to 21st, 2008. On 19th, we will have the gala opening event, while the film screenings will be held on September 20^th and 21st at the Rutgers Busch Campus Center.

NJISACF 2007 Traveling Film Festival

NJISACF 2007 now being a traveling film festival, and public libraries in various counties in New Jersey will host mini fests with selected films from NJISACF 2007. Do not miss this opportunity to watch some of the brilliant, rarely-seen and award-winning films from and about South Asia and by South Asian filmmakers.

The Franklin Township Public Library, Edison Public Library and the Bridgewater Public Library have already hosted the mini-fest in the months of March and April.

Next scheduled Public library screenings are as follow:

• April 30: Edison Public Library (North Edison Branch), 7 PM - 8:45 PM
• May 18, May 25 and June 1: South Brunswick Public Library, 2 PM - 4:30 PM
• June 2 and June 9: Middletown Public Library, 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM
• June 7^h: Washington Township Public Library (Robbinsville, Mercer County), 1 PM - 4 PM
• East Brunswick Public Library: Dates to be announced soon

Call the libraries for a list of films, directions and more information.

Some of the 15 films to be screened are: The Little Terrorist (Oscar-nominated), Whose Children Are These, Toba Tek Singh, Dancing Kathmandu, and 1001 Auditions.

Call for Submission, NJISACF 2008

We have already announced our call for submission for NJISACF 2008. Check out www.njisacf.org for the submission guidelines and the entry form.

Invitation for Volunteers

NJISACF is run solely by volunteers. No matter what your experience or background is, you can be a part of our team and contribute to the success of this event. If you are interested in volunteering, please send us an email at volunteers@njisacf.org or call 732-310-0236.

Nikhil Kamkolkar, the director of Indian Cowboy, began his career as a First Assistant Cameraperson on the wildly successful South Asian Independent film American Desi starring Kal Penn His debut feature film as a writer/director, Indian Cowboy, is a romantic comedy starring Sheetal Sheth and a bevy of South Asian actors, which was released in North America on February 23, 2007. Indian Cowboy is a fun, irreverant romp through the conventions of hollywood and bollywood romantic comedies, and a tongue-in-cheek exploration of true-love, lending itself a style most unique. Here follows an interview with the filmmaker.

You have a degree in computer science. What motivated you to begin a career in the film industry?

I must say I stumbled into “film as a career” as an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. I had to take a number of electives to graduate and having always had an interest in storytelling/comic books/film, I picked a number of Performance, classic Literature and Film courses. One of the films I was introduced to then was Steven Soderberg’s “Sex, Lies and Videotape” and that was the film that opened my eyes to the
concept of Independent film. Coming from a non-filmi background, it was this film that made me aware of the possibilities of life as a filmmaker.

Tell us about a few films that have inspired you.

I don’t have a fixed set - but if I really had to pick, I’d say the films that formed my awareness of film as a craft and an artform. Bergman, Fellini, Kurosawa and Sergio Leone’s films easily come to the mind, and in contemporary terms, I have a strong interest in films that combine genre and philosophy such as the Matrix and Hero.

What subjects do you like to work on? Do you have a dream project?

Like I said before, I have a great interest in films that combine genre and philosophy, and films with an underdog seem to get my vote and my interest. I don’t know exactly what it is yet, but my dream project would resonate strongly with Indian Mythology.

As a South Asian filmmaker in USA, what are the challenges you have to face, if any? What are the advantages of being a South Asian filmmaker in USA?

Honestly, its not the fact that I am a South Asian filmmaker, but the fact that I actually grew up in India that makes a bigger difference. Its more about “sensibilities” - I can take in the melodrama of Bollywood, the subtlety of Claude Chabrol’s “Un Coeur en Hiver” or the ultra-cool attitude of a hip Hollywood action blockbuster such as “Die Hard”. So my

challenge is really internal, its creative, its about balancing the fact that I need to maintain the right kind of tonality for my film and its target audience. The advantage is exactly the same as the disadvantage! I have a broad pallette I can take in, and work with. Its just a matter of maturing as a filmmaker and a storyteller to be able to channel this advantage into my work.

There are many interesting and alternative/ experimental films being made in Bollywood these days, which are doing pretty well. What are your thoughts on the changing scenario of Bollywood films? Do you think the mindset of the audience has changed as well?

I am excited as an audience member to see all the indie films coming out of India outside of the Bollywood machine. What wonderful opportunities for actors! And watching Saif Ali Khan’s performance in “Omkara” is such a validation of my belief that our good old Bollywood actors are a helluva lot more versatile than the opportunities they are afforded.

Do you think in recent years, Bollywood’s very visual style is affecting and infiltrating Hollywood as well?

There’s always give and take between artists. I’m not certain there’s enough to really expand that to the two industries. Not yet to my mind anyway.

You have been working in the studios of Hollywood. In your opinion, how differently does Hollywood function from Bollywood?

I believe Bollywood is moving closer to Hollywood in terms of the functioning of the film set. And also in terms of the fact that film-making is now a certified industry in India. But the business models are entirely different. Bollywood still caters to a South Asian Diaspora, where Hollywood easily appeals to a global audience. I’d like to believe
that Bollywood will soon bring in Filmmakers like myself to create product that transcends boundaries of sensibilities.

What will be your next projects?

Well, Indian Cowboy: A Love-Love Story, my first movie is now on Netflix after a small theatrical release. I’d like to ask all your readers to check it out!

Its imperative for us filmmakers to take our enhanced skill sets given the experience of making our first film to deliver our second. I currently also work at MTV as a Senior Project Manager which keeps me very close to youth and pop culture. I’m very involved with digital technology and my next project will most certainly be born out of all this. Stay tuned!

Here is the trailer of Indian Cowboy:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifwreSHVuiQ]

Sydney-based filmmaker Anita Barar’s interesting documentary film Crossing the Lines explores the stories of those people, now settled in Australia, who have seen the bloodshed of 1947’s India-Pakistan divide, and had crossed over the India-Pakistan border against their wishes during the partition - empty-handed and heavy hearted, with horrible memories of killings and bloodshed.

Based on the interviews of senior citizens of Indian and Pakistani origin, the film narrates the first hand experiences of these people as they relive their past and talk about the emotions they go through when they meet their counterparts – i.e., when Indians meet Pakistanis or vice versa. The film also tells some unforgettable stories of how some individuals risked their own lives to protect those members of the other community, in spite of the general widespread violence.

The 75-minute long documentary in Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi has been launched in July in Sydney, followed by a launch in India.

Writer, filmmaker, casual broadcaster and theatre personality Anita Barar’s own family moved from Pakistan to India at the time of partition. While making this film, Anita discovered that among the people she interviewed who had experienced the horrors of the partition, there is no animosity at all – life for them has moved on.

Anita Barar works on SBS Radio in Australia, as casual broadcaster and is also known for her good knowledge of the Indian film industry. Some of her films include The First of April, a situational comedy, and In God’s Hand, about an elderly man. She also made a short film on domestic violence, A New Dawn.