Film/Stage
Young Filmmaker's Work Selected for Hollywood Festival
NEWS REPORT
An award-winning documentary film - Roots and Wings - by 15-year-old Sikh-American, Angad Singh, has been selected to be screened as one of the top family-oriented films from around the world, at the prestigious International Family Film Festival (IFFF) in Hollywood.
The International Family Film Festival, now in its 14th year, unites filmmakers and audiences from around the globe through its fundamental respect for humanity and the values of life as told through films that share the universal experiences that connect us all.
This year's theme is "Great Stories Bring Families Together."
"It is an honour and a great exposure for the Sikh community to be a part of this festival," says Angad Singh, who lives and goes to school in Atlanta, Georgia. His previous film, One Light, was also the recipient of a collection of awards and worldwide acclaim.
His second documentary, the new film Roots and Wings - which premiered in its finished form at The Sixth Spinning Wheel Film Festival in Toronto, Canada, last November - is a 36-minute long documentary film on the trials and tribulations of young Sikhs in post-9/11 America.
The film questions the notion of forced assimilation into a melting pot, and explores whether it is necessary for one to cut off one's roots in order to soar high on one's wings. In this documentary, Angad Singh, interviews the participants of a summer Sikh youth retreat held last summer near Washington D.C., to show to his audience the conviction and determination with which they deal with challenges they face on account of their unique identity.
Angad's first documentary, One Light, which he made at the age of 13 years as a summer project, has screened in over a dozen film festivals, and numerous youth conferences, cable and satellite TV networks, and schools across the continent, as well as overseas, inspiring thousands to take their baby steps in the direction of peace by building friendlier neighbourhoods.
It also educated people about the message of peace and universal brotherhood taught by Guru Nanak, and about issues relating to Sikh identity.
The screening at The International Family Festival will take place at the Chaplin Theatre located in the Raleigh Studios in the heart of Hollywood on February 28, 2009 at 12:00 Noon.
Angad requests the Southern California Sikh community and their families to please attend the screening and show their support and encouragement for the cause that he has taken on. Angad will be present for the Director's Q&A and available to speak to the audience later.
The tickets for each cluster of films are $10. More information is available at http://www.iffilmfest.org/
[If you would like to help Angad with his project or just learn more about it, please visit www.onelight-films.com.]
February 25, 2009
Conversation about this article
1: Mlle. S (Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A.), February 26, 2009, 9:37 AM.
Great job, Angad! Thank you for sharing your documentaries with me this year - I think the world has not even seen the beginning of all your many talents! Have fun in Hollywood!
2: Arvinder Singh Kang (Oxford, MS, U.S.A.), February 26, 2009, 4:04 PM.
Kudos! As we say it in Punjab, "Shabaash, Kaka!"
3: H. Singh (U.S.A.), February 28, 2009, 12:47 AM.
Hello, Brother: I am not sure about your message in 'Roots and Wings'. Is it to suggest that to soar high, we need American wings, and not Sikh? Can one have Sikh roots with Sikh wings in America?