Newsletter, November 29, 2006
Divided We Fall
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-miami.html
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.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 in...@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 (val...@dwf-film.com)
Visit www.dwf-film.com and 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.)