Welcome back to the *Divided We Fall: Americans in the
Aftermath*newsletter! And greetings to you, our new friends from
Florida and California! We welcome you to the *DWF* family. Meet your new
relatives in Illinois, Arizona, New York, and Massachusetts – and parts
beyond. Here are more tales from the road…

*OUR FIRST SIKH CONFERENCE - MIAMI!**
*Full story:
http://valariekaur.blogspot.com/2006/11/my-first-sikh-conference-miam...

South Beach. Little Havana. Shaq. *DWF*. It just fits.

Yes, *Divided We Fall* made its Florida premiere a few weeks ago in the
humid everglades of South Florida – *Miami*, to be exact. As part of
the *Spinning
Wheel Film Festival Florida *and *Jago Young Sikh Professionals Conference*,
*DWF* was showcased along with Director Sharat Raju's previous film *American
Made*. (Some might note that Sharat is not necessarily young, nor Sikh, much
less a professional…but he was let into the conference anyway.)

Sharat, along with Co-Producer and Writer Valarie Kaur, shared the film with
nearly 200 people in the first all-Sikh audience since we premiered in
September. The two fielded a lively debate and discussion afterwards. We
invite you to read Valarie's comments on challenges facing the Sikh
community from within and her own experience dealing with these issues of
identity (link above).

A special thanks, once again, to mentor and guide *T. Sher Singh*, as well
as *Sheena Wadhwa *and the Miami crew who put the weekend together.

From there, Valarie and Sharat hopped on the red-eye, due west...

*THE ROXIE – SAN FRANCISCO*

Full story: http://valariekaur.blogspot.com/2006/11/roxie-san-francisco.html

A Sunday morning in mid-November, 11:30am. No one is going to come to a
screening at that time, right? Especially not if they have to *pay* for it…

Well, that's what we were afraid of. Boy, were we wrong.

Valarie and Sharat, nearly late for the show, screeched into the *Roxie
Theater* in San Francisco's Mission District to find a full theater! That's
more than 200 people on a Sunday morning who came to see *DWF* at the *Third-I
South Asian American International Film Festival. *(Also, this is the first
film festival where Sharat was a "returning filmmaker," having
screening *American
Made* two years earlier.)

The premiere was a big hit, partially because we stacked the crowd in our
favor. Not really, but sort of. People who appeared in the film joined
us: *Jayashri
Srikantiah* (Stanford Law Professor), *Nitasha Sawhney *(Sikh Community
Legal Advocate and Close Friend of the Production), *Mandeep S. Dhillon *(Sikh
Community Leader and Close Friend of the Production), and *Linda Hess
*(Valarie's
college professor, mentor, and friend).

As well as our family-centric production crew: videographers *Sanjeev
Brar *(Valarie's
brother who is single and available) and *Karuna Tanahashi* (not single,
sorry guys);* Andrew Chung* (the man who started it all)*, Kathy
Jennings*(Valarie's family friend and the film's production
assistant), and of
course, Valarie's incredible parents and Associate Producers *Judge
*and*Dolly Brar
*.

It was a lively audience who stood up and applauded when the credits ended.
Afterwards, Sharat and Valarie led a discussion hosted by *South Asian
Journalists Association*. We were deeply moved by the comments and stories
that people shared. Thanks to *Ivan Jagridar *who has helped make the
Third-I Film Festival into a big happening in just a few short years. And
also to *Kulwinder Dol* who has been a cheerleader for the film throughout.*
*

Nothing could top San Francisco, we thought. Or could it?

A few days later, we drove east to the state capitol *Sacramento*…

*A GOLDEN (STATE) PREMIERE*

Full story:
http://valariekaur.blogspot.com/2006/11/lt-governors-resolution.html

As many of you know, California plays a significant role in *DWF*. The
Golden State is home to the first Indian immigrants who came to America.
Valarie's grandfather *Kehar Singh* was one of those early pioneers. His
story is featured in the film, and Valarie would eventually grow up on the
same plot of land Kehar farmed nearly one hundred years ago.

So it was very meaningful to have the State of California officially host a
premiere of *DWF*. That would have been enough, but our host* Lieutenant
Governor Cruz Bustamante* went one step further.

After a rousing introduction to an audience of 300 in the Secretary of State
building, Mr. Bustamante handed Sharat and Valarie government resolutions
officially recognizing *Divided We Fall*! Sharat and Valarie were each
presented with a framed declaration, honoring Sharat's work as a filmmaker
and Valarie's as an activist, scholar, and general good-deed-doer.

And this was all *before* they even showed the film! The two should've just
left after that, for it would all be downhill… No just kidding. We were
honored to receive yet another heartfelt standing ovation at the end of the
movie. It was a wonderful surprise. (You can check out the text of the
resolution along with pictures on Valarie's blog, linked above).

Afterwards, we recognized many friendly faces in the audience. Community
leaders* Harpreet Sandhu *(who has worked to secure the protection of Sikh
cab drivers in Richmond, CA)* *and* Gurprit S. Hansra* (who appears in the
film speaking with President Bush) – they have each given us both material
support and spiritual guidance through their leadership. As well as
*DWF *interviewee
*Pargat Singh*, who survived the *1947* *Indian Partition*, the *1984 Sikh
Massacres in New Delhi*, and has seen five of his Sikh friends and fellow
cab drivers gunned down in post 9/11 America. It was an honor to have him
join us.

*Basim Elkarra*, regional director of the Council on American-Islamic
Relations and *DWF *supporter, gave us perhaps the most stirring compliment
we have received to date: "I believe your film will save lives."

The whole evening was an overwhelming achievement, put together by Mr.
Bustamante's unstoppable staff – *Ravi Kahlon *and *Kiranjit Kaur* – all in
the midst of an election campaign.

Whew! After that, we should retire…but there is a larger capitol to be
conquered!

*WASHINGTON**, DC** PERMIERE THIS WEEK!*

Tour Schedule: http://dwf-film.com/tour.html

This Sunday, if you're in the greater Washington area, join us for our final
premiere of 2006. The screening is hosted by *Sikh Student
Association* at *George
Washington University *and* *co-sponsored by (believe it) the *Smithsonian*
! Oh, and in January – our first-ever *International Premiere*! A film
festival in *Mumbai**, India*… details to come...

*Washington**, D.C.** – Premiere!
**Saturday, December 2 at 4 p.m.

*

George Washington University
City View Room on the 7th Floor
1957 E Street NW
Washington, D.C.
Free Admission
Note: Dinner served following the film, hosted by the Sikh Student
Association at George Washington University and co-sponsored by the
Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program

*Cambridge, MA (Tentative)
**Thursday, January 18 - TBA
*
Fayerweather Street School
765 Concord Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
Filmmaker present for Q&A and discussion
Free Admission
School: http://www.fayerweather.org/

*Mumbai - India Premiere!
Thursday, January 18 to Sunday, January 21- TBA
*
Sports Movie and TV India FICTS Festival
Mumbai, India
Site: http://www.smtvindia.com/main.html
Filmmaker present for Q&A and discussion
Admission: Film Festival Pass
Contact: info@tenfilms <i...@tenfilms.com>.com <i...@tenfilms.com>

For a complete list of upcoming screenings on our film tour, including stops
in *Connecticut, California, Nebraska, South Carolina*, and *Alabama*, see
http://dwf-film.com/tour.html

*THE BUZZ!*

Our industrious web team (read: *Tracy* and *Ron Wells*) have just created
an exciting way to extend the dialogue and spread the word about our little
film. It's a place on our website where people around the country can share
their own stories, thoughts, and reactions to *Divided We Fall**.  Check it
out:* http://dwf-film.com/thebuzz.html

*We began to collect responses after our premieres in Phoenix, New York, and
Boston*, so if you saw the film in these cities, and feel a little left out,
we're sorry. But we would love for you to fill up the page for your state by
sending us your reactions to the film.  Just click here:
http://dwf-film.com/write.html

Our goal is to get every state covered. You hear us, Hawaii? We're waiting
for an invitation!

And if any of you would like to help spread the word in other ways, just
email i...@dwf-film.com to join the DWF Street Team. (No, not "Gang." We
mean "Team.")

This Thanksgiving, when we took a moment to recognize what we are thankful
for, it was overwhelming. In every city on our tour, there have been people
who have worked tirelessly to plan for our events and host us in their town.
They were strangers before, just email address and phone numbers, but no
longer – their faces and voices, their work on behalf of our little film,
have become unforgettable to us. We have gathered an incredible family
throughout the life of the film, and for that, we are more than thankful. We
are blessed.

And we hope to gather an even larger family. It happens with you, with your
word of mouth. So we invite you to take a little time this week to send us
your thoughts.  Our film is your film. Our success is yours.

Divided We Fall: Americans in the Aftermath

Produced and Directed by Sharat Raju (sha...@dwf-film.com)

Produced, Written and Created by Valarie Kaur (vala...@dwf-film.com)

Visit www.dwf-film.com and
valariekaur.blogspot.com<http://www.valariekaur.blogspot.com/>
.

(Would you be thankful if we took you off the list? Respond with REMOVE in
the subject and we will do so.)