3rd i's SEVENTH ANNUAL SF INT'L SOUTH ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL
Nov 5 - 6, Roxie Theater/Nov 7 - 8, Castro Theatre
From art-house classics to documentary films, from innovative and experimental visions to cutting-edge Bollywood, 3rd i is committed to promoting diverse images of South Asians through independent film. The 2009 festival includes offerings from India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Australia, Canada, Germany, UK and the USA. Highlights include a special focus on documentaries, a spotlight on the global Sikh experience, the best independent features from emerging filmmakers, and as always our signature local shorts program on Opening Night (with neo-benshi performances this year). Visit 3rd i's website to purchase tickets and for more information on all festival programs: www.thirdi.org/festival
ROXIE THEATER
Thursday, November 5, 2009
7:15pm SUPERMEN OF MALEGAON
Faiza Ahmad Khan, 2008, India, 52 mins
*Bay Area Premiere*
In this hilarious doc, filmmaker Faiza Ahmad Khan follows a motley film crew as they craft their micro-budget masterpiece, Superman of Malegaon, revealing the strange and wonderful movie-madness that afflicts this small textile town.
8:40pm FOCUS::LOCAL
Various, 2009, USA/Canada, 90 mins
*Writers Neela Banerjee and Summi Kaipa perform live*
*Local filmmakers in person*
3rd i's signature opening night program: animation, comedy, documentary, personal narratives, Sikh identity, the arts in Afghanistan, memories of a loved one lost, and more in this eclectic set of shorts. With live re-imaginings of Bollywood classics (Bobby with a SoCal twist, and Silsila with a queer twist) that will have you cracking up!
10:00pm OPENING NIGHT PARTY @ Bollyhood Café
Co-hosted by the *Center for Asian American Media*
DJ Rav-E spins Bhangra, Hip-Hop
Friday, November 6, 2009
7:15pm WARRIOR BOYZ
Baljit Sangra, 2008, Canada, 44 mins
*Bay Area Premiere*
*Filmmaker Baljit Sangra in person*
To date, more than a hundred young men from the South Asian (specifically Sikh/Punjabi) community have died in gang-related violence in Metro Vancouver. Warrior Boyz takes an unflinching look at the root causes of gang violence, and offers real solutions for the future, through the personal stories of three gang members.
9:00pm LOVE IN INDIA
Kaushik Mukherjee aka Q, 2009, India/Germany, 91 mins
*US Premiere*
*Filmmaker Kaushik Mukherjee (aka Q) in person*
A deeply personal documentary that unabashedly takes on the contradictions surrounding sexuality in the Indian subcontinent -- where couples can be arrested for kissing in public, yet the erotic play of Lord Krishna and his lover Radha are widely celebrated.
11:20pm QUICK GUN MURUGUN
Shashank Ghosh, 2009, India, 97 mins
*Bay Area Premiere*
A preposterous plot, nostalgia for classic South Indian films, visual pananche and high camp rounds out this outrageous spoof on westerns. A vegetarian cowboy is sent back to earth to save the cows from the beef-eating machinations of Rice Plate Reddy! Initially a character in a TV promo from the nineties, Quick Gun Murugun has since achieved cult status in India.
CASTRO THEATRE
Saturday, November 7, 2009
12noon FULL MOON (CHAUDHVIN KA CHAND)
M. Sadiq, 1960, India 168 mins
*West Coast Premiere*
An exquisite production from Guru Dutt Films set in Lucknow, a center of Muslim literature and culture. Two friends fall in love with the same woman in this initially comic, but ultimately tragic tale of mistaken identities. Produced by and starring Guru Dutt (a master from the golden age of Hindi cinema), this film was his biggest box-office success. Nariman Irani's cinematography and Ravi's music stand out.
3:25pm SEARCHING FOR SANDEEP
Poppy Stockwell, 2007, Australia, 56 mins
When the singles scene proves fruitless, Sydney native Poppy Stockwell turns to the internet to find romance. When she meets Sandeep, an Anglo-Indo woman from London, she thinks her search is over. But the couple’s quest together—overcoming distance, difference, and intolerance—has only just begun. A candid and funny documentary. With short, Mr. & Mrs. Singh (Punam S., 2009, USA, 12 mins)
5:00pm CHILDREN OF THE PYRE
Rajesh S. Jala, 2008, India, 74 mins
*Bay Area Premiere*
*Introduced by Prof. Angana Chatterjee, CIIS*
A startling film that follows seven children who eke out their living at the busiest cremation ground in Varnasi, India. This verité-style documentary, "at times darkly funny and at others deeply morose... humanizes these children forced to grow up before their time."
7:00pm BOMBAY SUMMER
Joseph Mathew, 2009, India/USA, 102 mins
*Bay Area Premiere*
*Director Joseph Mathew in person*
A sensuous, stunning film that examines love and betrayal over a languorous summer in Bombay. Three young artists form—and test—a delicate friendship, journeying across class and landscape, in this unhurried look at contemporary India.
9:30pm MY HEART GOES HOORAY! (DIL BOLE HADIPPA!)
Anurag Singh, 2009, India, 148 mins
*SF Premiere*
When the feisty Veera is refused a place on the cricket team, she dons a turban and beard to prove that she's the best batsman in town. Smoky Rani Mukherjee and hunky Shahid Kapoor sizzle on screen! "Full of the rump-shaking, percussive joy of Punjabi music... this movie bursts with vibrant, firecracker charm." Total Bollywood Masala!
Sunday, November 8, 2009
12noon IRON EATERS (LOHAKHOR/EISSENFRESSER)
Shaheen Dill-Riaz, 2008, Bangladesh/Germany, 85 mins
*West Coast Premiere*
Filmmaker Dill-Riaz exquisitely captures the mind-boggling scenery of behemoth container ships washed up like whales on the muddy shipyards of Chittagong, Bangladesh. A fascinating look into the growing ship breaking industry that cares more for kilograms of metal than for human life.
2:00pm MAD, SAD & BAD
Avie Luthra, 2008, UK, 86 mins
*US Premiere*
*Director Avie Luthra in person*
Hardeep is a psychiatrist "who can diagnose everyone’s problems but his own"; Rashmi is single woman who dreams of leaving home and starting her own family; Atul is a sitcom writer aspiring for literary greatness, but stuck in mediocrity. A dark British comedy about three eccentric yet endearing siblings and their dysfunctional relationships.
4:15pm ZERO BRIDGE
Tariq Tapa, 2008, Kashmir/USA, 95 mins
*Bay Area Premiere*
*Director Tariq Tapa in person*
Dilawar, a teenage pickpocket and orphan, hopes that one of his schemes will help him escape his seemingly dead-end life in Srinagar, Kashmir, especially after he develops a friendship with the beautiful Bani – the victim of one of his crimes. An authentic story of the Kashmiri people, inspired by Italian neo-realism.
7:00pm YES MADAM, SIR
Megan Doneman, 2008, India/Australia, 95 mins
*Bay Area Premiere*
*Director Megan Donegan in person*Special guest: KIRAN BEDI*
The against-all-odds journey of the charismatic, controversial Kiran Bedi -- India's first female police officer -- narrated by Academy Award-winning actor Helen Mirren. "Adored by the masses and vilified by her critics, she has publicly fought high-level corruption, feudalistic bureaucracies and brutal opposition, at great personal and professional cost." CLOSING NIGHT RECEPTION with festival filmmakers and Kiran Bedi following the film.
Visit the website for more information: www.thirdi.org/festival, or join us on facebook: www.facebook.com/3rdiFilms
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