Indy
Downtown Indy "Skyline" by day. (Please. I'm from Chicago. )
The wonderful, delicious, mouth-watering, chocolate-covered South Bend Chocolate Cafe. I spend way too much time there ;)
My Favorite dessert at the Chocolate Cafe: Hot fudge Sundae!!!
Veteran's War Memorial by night.
Expand your vision...
I found out about 2 wonderful events today:
Sixth Annual Ind0-American Arts Council Film Festival: NOV 1-5, 2006, NY
The 42nd Chicago International Film Festival: Oct. 5-19th
(click on both of those to go to their websites and get schedules/location information)
Starting off with the first one, this is one of the few times I'm jealous I don't live in NY or have any opportunity to go there in the next few weeks. Of course, I wouldn't mind skipping a few weeks of school for this...:)
Anyway I don't know which ones to choose, they all look SO good and worthy of my time and money!
Here's a few that really stood out for me:
Punching at the Sun
Cast: Misu Khan, Nina Edmonds, Hassan El-Gendi, Ferdusy Dia, Kazi Rahman, Karan Singh, Mohammad Mirza, Rana Quraishi, Farhad Asghar, Raymond Vasquez, Keyonn Sheppard Synopsis: Punching at the Sun is a crackling, emotionally-charged dream ride through the streets of Elmhurst, Queens. It is a tale of rage and redemption as seen through the fiery eyes of Mameet Nayak: a headstrong Indian teen lost in the shadow of his brother's death.Director: Tanuj ChopraChopra’s projects have taken him from India to Manhattan. His short film, Butterfly, won three best film awards in addition to playing at over 20 festivals across North America, Europe, India and Pakistan. His other films Uljhan and Bade Bahiya (Big Brother) have also played in a number of festivals around the country.A film version of one of my favorite short stories:
Toba Tek Singh (Narrative Short)
18 mins, 2005, Urdu, English, Punjabi, Hindi, NYC PremiereScreening: Thursday, Nov 2, 6pm Courthouse, Anthology Film Archives32 East 2nd Street (corner of 2nd Avenue) New York City Festivals/Awards: New York Asian American International Festival, 2005, 22nd VC Filmfest, The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, 2006, 7th CrossRoads Film Festival, Jackson, MadCat Film Festival 2006, Bite the Mango festival 2006 Cast: Midhat Kazim, Omair Rana, Imran Siddiqui, Adeel Ansari, Zahid Qureshi, Usman Raja, Ali Imtiaz
Synopsis: It is 1947. The newly created governments of India and Pakistan wish to exchange lunatics. Bishan Singh, a Sikh lunatic in Pakistan, wants to know whether his hometown, Toba Tek Singh, has gone to India or Pakistan. No one seems to know. Based on the classic short story by Manto, Toba Tek Singh is a search for an identity in a world gone suddenly mad.Director: Afia NathAnielOrdinary people have extraordinary stories to tell ”, says Afia Serena NathAniel. A poet-writer-mathematician- computer scientist-copywriter-activist, Afia is Pakistan’s first independent female filmmaker from a minority background.
Anamika-Her Glorious Past (Doc Short)21 mins, 2006, EnglishScreening: Friday, Nov 3 - 6pm Maya Deren, Anthology Film Archives32 East 2nd Street (corner of 2nd Avenue) New York City Synopsis: The Devdasis are known as "The Lovers of the Lord." In ancient Indian tradition, young girls who were trained in the classical art forms were chosen to be married to God and the temple. These women were highly respected as patrons of the arts and for their status in society. They would never be the victims of widowhood. The film explores the glorious past of the Devdasi tradition in India Director: Pavitra ChalamA graduate student at New York Film Academy, Chalam made her film debut with ‘Bus’, when she represented India in the Youth Initiative for Peace in Pakistan."Anamika" marks the beginning of her quest to understand the transformation of the Devadasi tradition, from the revered patron of the arts to the fallen woman of today.
Meanwhile, back home, the Chicago Film Festival looks enticing and has loads of movies from documentaries, movies on Chicago and Illinois,and of course, to the vaguely titled, "World Cinema." While I've only skimmed through some of the movies being played there, a couple that caught my eye:
21 Up AmericaIn 1962, Michael Apted started his influential and fascinating Up series in which he chronicled the lives of fourteen children by meeting with them every seven years. Apted’s work inspired an American parallel to the original British series with director Christopher Quinn now takes the reigns for the third installment. With the subjects at the complex age of 21, their lives have branched off in diverse ways having grown to be a law student, U.S. Coast Guardsman, a black metal musician, and a prison inmate, among others. Quinn has succeeded in developing a closeness with all of them and they open up with him easily, revealing a thought provoking picture of young adults in flux who are part of a young country in flux. 99 min. (link)
Nina’s Heavenly DelightsA marvelous movie with the whimsical passion of Chocolat, the subtle charm of Kissing Jessica Stein, and a flashy dash of Bollywood, Pratibha Parmar’s Nina’s Heavenly Delights is a flavorsome tale of ripening romance. Charismatic Nina returns home to find the family curry house is in jeopardy thanks to a big gamble by her recently deceased father. Former classmate Lisa also has a stake in the business, which will be sold to the competition if they can’t find a way to win the “Best of the West” curry competition. As the two women get closer in the kitchen, Nina finds herself trying to figure out the most difficult part of all. . . the recipe for love. 96 min. (link)
If anyone gets a chance to see these movies or any others or is going to the event (blog about it) leave something in the comments section.
Karsh Kale, Anoushka Shankar Concert at Millenium Park 8-13-06
Before I left for Indy, Tanvi and I had an amazing time at the Karsh Kale and Anoushka Shankar concert at Millenium Park as part of the World Music summer series. Anoushka's band was incredible and the stadium was quite crowded. Here's some pics:
