BY K B NAIR


ORANGE, CA – The Sikh community turned out in force at Chapman University’s  Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, Orange the new venue of the Sikh Arts & Film Festival (SAFF) for three days of  celebration of a diverse assortment of Sikh-centric films, books, art performance pieces and music. The flagship Sikh 2010 edition of the cultural festival commenced with a grand Opening on Nov.

The formal session of  SAFF 2010 commenced with Co-Chairs of  the Festival,  Ravin Kaur Kohli and Tina Kaur Anand welcoming the audience. Kohli said Sikhlens was created to provide a venue for talented film makers, writers,  musicians and entertainers to showcase their talent on  “Sikh-Centric” themes and at the same time generate increasing Sikh awareness. Anand  announced the establishment of two  SAFF Bhathal and Sandhu scholarships by the couples  Raj and Marta Bhathal , and Sandy and Harriet Sandhu. The scholarships worth $5000 each  will be available annually to two Dodge students to produce 5 to 15 minute movies. 

Professor & Dean Robert Bassett of the Dodge College which played  host for the  evening, expressed his delight with the new collaboration with Sikhlens and hoped that it would become its permanent home.  He said building the university was still a work in progress and once completed it would turn out to be the finest film school on the planet.

At this stage emcees Jolly Singh and Guninder Kaur took over to steer the festival through the rest of the evening. 

References were made to the historical ACR181 Bill passed by the California Legislature declaring November 2010 as the Sikh American Awareness and Appreciation Month. Curriculum Advisor Janice Singh provided information on the comprehensive materials which are already included in the secondary level of the public school system in Maryland and Virginia and her announcement that California had also adopted it a fortnight ago was met with thunderous applause. The Cultural Awareness Award was presented to the Founder of the Foundation, Mirin Kaur 

Illustrator and author K P Singh unveiled the 2011 Sikhpoint calendar, the theme of which is “Interfaith.” He described the concept behind the subject and said he had included drawings of holy places and quotes from faiths  from all over the world covering diverse traditions, a work in which different centuries and places come together. He was presented the Creative Focus Award by Dr A S Marwah.

Four of the 22 films to be exhibited during the course of the festival were screened on Opening Night. Guests were welcomed with the appropriate “Aao Ji” by King G Mall which translates to “Come In,”  a vibrant music video featuring 4 non- Asian artistes from 4 countries. Then followed ” The Reunion” in its world premiere  which deals with issues facing Sikhs  and  “ Nothing is Impossible” a charming story of a 99 year old long distance runner.  “ Wagha, a colorful short on the dramatic border rituals  by Supriyo Roy completed the selections for the evening.   Naindeep Singh moderated the “Gup Shup” segment following the screenings which included Angad Bhai, Ethan and Jacob Russell and Kunal Shah (the  Reunion team ) and Director Nina Duttaroy (Nothing is Impossible) 

A delectable dessert reception followed  and  at the lobby of  the theater K P Singh distributed signed copies of  the Sikhpoint Calendar. Authors Surinder Singh Kahlon and Bobby Singh Bansal had on sale their books “Threads of Karma” and ‘The Lion’s Firanghis’ respectively. 

Revelers danced late into the night to the beat of Needle Free Pugs Entertainment and crooner Harleen Singh.

Movies were continuously screened through the weekend with the clusters on focusing on Youth and  short films  from 5 to 17 minutes. The last day featured movies on Sikhs across the world and an afternoon group of screenings on social issues.

 The highlight events on Nov.20 included the popular “Creative Sikhs” segment dedicated to showcasing Sikhs in the visual, audio, fashion and entertainment industries. The panel discussed their craft and responded in a Q & A to matters relating to their struggles, challenges and success. Participants included Agam Darshi( Actress), Guru Singh ( Actor), Balinder Johal (Actress), K P Singh ( Illustrator), Neelamjit Dhillon ( musician), Satnam “Scotty” Narang (poet and MC), Sarbjit Rai (author), Manmeet Singh (Special Effects Editor) and Harleen Singh(Singer).

For the first time Sikhlens featured an interesting interactive segment “ Introduction to Filmmaking” to demystify the film making process. This workshop was conducted by  Hollywood Director Martin Donovan in which he showcased the entire process and then invited questions from the attending film enthusiasts. The evening concluded with  the screening of the feature film “Partition” a gripping tale of the trauma of a young Sikh boy and a Muslim girl during the terrifying time of partition. 

Its Director Vic Sarin was on hand to take  a bow and to respond to questions from the audience.

 Founder of SAFF Bicky Singh expressed to India Journal his extreme happiness over the firming of the collaboration between the organization and Chapman University. His camp had been divided on the matter with many wishing to stay on in Hollywood because of its obvious film making reputation. He said it was a hard sell to convince them to move to Chapman in Orange, which he added would open up platforms for film makers through several programs and creation of scholarships. He was also extremely pleased with the 70 plus entries that were received for exhibition and said it was hard to prune the number down to the 22 which made it to the festival.