Gursikhs and Filmmaking

[akjforever]

Author: harmanpreet Singh

Date: 02-27-04 05:39

Waheguroo Jee Ka Khalsa!

Waheguroo Jee Kee Fateh!!

There are a couple of documentaries about our community currently being made that I thought my brothers and sisters on this message board would like to know about. But before the details on those, a few thoughts on Gursikhs and filmmaking.

As a community, do we hate movies or feel that they're wrong? I'm not talking specific movies, but the medium itself.

Is it just me, or do other people also get the sense we have some underlying issues with film? It seems like many of us have taken the abundance of bad examples as reason to dismiss the entire artform as something corrupt and useless. We still seem to be thinking of movies in a narrowly defined, negative way. Something like this, i think:

Movies = Bollywood & Hollywood = singing, dancing, sex, drugs, manmat, various other forms of stupidity, etc = One of the evils of Kalyug

It seems we don't understand the how powerful of a tool it can be for our community, a tool that can certainly be used in a positive way. Why should we care about filmmaking, anyway? Here are some practical reasons that came to mind...

The past: Film is a way of bringing our past to life. To celebrate, remember and admire it. Make it a living history, so to speak. The Christian community has done a particularly good job of this. Look at 'The Ten Commandments', or even the current one, 'The Passion of The Christ'. Then think of all the amazing stories from our history and how great it would be to see them brought to life on the big screen.

The present: Film is

an enormously effective way to inform and educate (both within our community, and just as importantly, the other communities we share this planet with), on current issues of concern to us as Gursikhs. It may be the single most powerful tool for social activism. Look at 'Bowling for Columbine'. Tens of millions worldwide have seen it. It has been huge in raising awareness about the consequences of a powerful nation promoting a culture of violence.

The future: Film is a way of archiving our unfolding community history. In this role it has easily surpassed books. Books reach a fraction of the people that film tends to. So in making movies about our current challenges and victories, we help ensure that our children, grandchildren, and generations beyond that will have an easily accessible way of learning about their community and seeing what we've been through.

Of course none of this will happen until we start taking film seriously, respecting it as an artform, and getting involved. Having said that, here are a couple of projects going on that I found out about and wanted to share with the Sangat of this forum.

'Riding the Tiger' by Michael Singh (Los Angeles)

Project website: http://ridingthetiger.us

What it's about: Narrates the personal experience of the director in November 1984, when along with his brother and a group of two dozen Sikh men, women and children, he was given shelter from the Delhi Massacre at a brave individual's home. Michael is a graduate from one of the best film programs in the U.S. He's looking for footage from 1984 that anyone has available to share.

Email contact: michaelsingh@ridingthetiger.us

'Targeting the Turban' by Valarie Kaur (Bay Area)

Project website: http://911prejudice.stanford.edu

What it's about: A university student traveled across the U.S. (and even to India) compil

ing interview footage, in order to shed light on the consequences of Sikhs being targeted for revenge, post 9/11. Valarie has teamed up with an award-winning, young South Asian director.

Email contact: valarie@stanfordalumni.org

Check out the websites for more info and please help spread the word by mentioning it to friends and family. The filmmakers can use all the help we can provide. **Most importantly, we need to show our support by contributing financially (tax deductible in both cases, by the way)** How much is not as important as giving whatever we can.

Making movies (especially professional, high quality ones) takes plenty of money. We're talking in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. There are a lot of people whose specialized skills and equipment is required. But if enough of us can squeeze out a contribution for them, it will go a long way to ensure they have enough funds to complete the job.

If you think about it, it's a sad comment if they need to beg us to fund such worthwhile projects when we are the ones, as a community, who will be benefiting most from their efforts.

Maybe i'm way off, but shouldn't we consider it a Panthak duty to do our part to ensure projects like these get completed rather than die from lack of funding? We need to take the initiative to seek them out and say, "You're doing something good for our community. Here's some money to help you out."

And what a great feeling it would be if one of these documentaries ends up playing at film festivals around the world, winning awards, and you've contributed to its making. That's certainly possible considering the talent and training of the individuals who are putting the films together.

By the way, if anyone knows about other Sikh film projects, please share the details on this thread, as they might need some financial help too. It's a cause that makes sense to help out, for the betterment of the Panth. (More awareness about Sikhs = less problems such as

France!)

http://www.akj.org/phorum/read.ppa?f=3&i=14844&t=14844

Waheguroo Jee Ka Khalsa!

Waheguroo Jee Kee Fateh!!

[ms514]

Sat Sri Akal:

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the medium of film itself. I think you yourself have summed it up pretty well.

In that line, Guru Sahib never discouraged Sikhs from participating in the arts. He himself was a poet and kept 52 poets in his court. If anything, Guru Sahib wasa parton of the arts.

So far, the opposition that Sikhs put up to movies are that they are either too manmukhi or that they portray Sikhs in the wrong light. However, the community has supported Sikh films that brought awareness about the values, history and the philosophy of the Sikh community.

[smartsingh24]

I don't mind american cinema that much, but I have a strong distaste for EVERYTHING Bollywood. First, it's basically a horrible hack that has the same reused story line everytime. And secondly, it grossly distorts our culture and we as a people.

[p Singh]

waheguru ji ka khalsa

waheguru ji ki fateh

I'm really glad that these documentaries are being made. I feel that films are a great medium to do Sikhi parchar and raise awareness on all of these issues. I remember hearing a speaker say that "The 84 attack happend almost 20 years ago, and we still haven't been able to tell our story to the world." People don't understand the struggle that Sikhs had to go through, because it hasn't been properly shown to the world yet. Bollywood is obviously not going to cut it, as all of us know. They aren't going to expose the doings of the India government in any way that would make look India look bad.

The fact that these documentaries will show real footage of events and stories from people who experienced them, and will be presented from people who understand what Sikhs had to go through, and are still going through, will be such a help for our Panth. So many people watch movies, documentaries etc on tv. It's the perfect medium to show people the history, struggles and qualities of Sikhs. I hope these filmmakers are able to get enough support from our community to make sure these films are made and broadcasted or televised.

bhul chuk maaph karnee

waheguru ji ka khalsa

waheguru ji ki fateh