New Jersey Independent South Asian Film Festival
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Established in 2007, New Jersey Independent South Asian Cine Fest (NJISACF) is the first and only of its kind South Asian cine fest held in New Jersey, dedicated to independent films. The annual festival is produced by the Asian American Film and Theater Project, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit organization based in USA, committed to the promotion, production and exhibition of film and theater works that reflect the diverse experiences of the South Asian diaspora across the globe.
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[edit] Mission
NJISACF is dedicated to introducing its target audience in New Jersey-New York-Connecticut – about 250,000 South Asians as well as the mainstream American population in the New Jersey-New York- Connecticut area – to some of the alternative brilliant films that reflect the complex experiences of being a South Asian in the 21st century perhaps more truthfully, than some of the big banner commercial films do. Along with this, NJISACF helps to introduce and promote the South Asian independent filmmakers. NJISACF promises to be a major cultural event of New Jersey-New York, and has been hailed by the audience as a "pioneering event", a "gift to New Jersey and the South Asian community", and "one of the best things that happened to New Jersey". NJISACF is a cumulative effort and solely managed by volunteers, partners and sponsors, to bring the magic of the South Asian silver screen to its audience, and unite in the celebration of a common spirit.
[edit] NJISACF 2007 Winners
In its maiden year, NJISACF received an overwhelming success and popularity as well as rave reviews. it showcased some of the most recent and brilliant films from and about South Asia. The winners of NJISACF 2007 were:
- Best short film - Viva Liberty, (UK), Director - Dishad Husain
- Best documentary film - Divided We Fall, (USA), Director - Valarie Kaur, Sharat Raju
- Best feature film - Waking Dreams, (USA), Director - Deepika Daggubatti
[edit] NJISACF 2008
NJISACF 2008 will be held from 19 – 21 September 2008, at the Rutgers Busch Campus Center, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey. This three-day cine fest will showcase an outstanding array of more than 30 brilliant films by talented South Asian filmmakers from the USA, UK, Canada, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Burma, Nepal and many other countries. These films will create a focused, lively environment for conversation, education and exploration of issues that face South Asia and the South Asian diaspora, as well as create a prolonged space where the pertinent social-political-cultural issues that form the core subject of these films can be discussed and understood. The screening of the acclaimed feature, short, documentary and animated films of all genres will be accompanied by filmmaker Q&A s, and panel discussions on various topics related to the craft and business of filmmaking. Jury and Audience Choice Prizes will be awarded for excellence in various categories.
[edit] Media Coverage and Publicity
At NJISACF, each of the participant films reach out to the third largest concentration of South Asians in USA. The festival is an opportunity for the filmmakers to network with film industry professionals and filmmakers of South Asian descent, or those filmmakers who make films about South Asia and South Asians. The participant films and filmmakers get wide coverage in the media and ample publicity in form of news, updates and exclusive interviews of the filmmaker (not just the year they participate, but in the following years too) through their monthly newsletter, Bioscope. The goal is to ensure even greater media attention (both mainstream and South Asian), for both the festival as a whole and for individual films as well. The festival is dedicated only to films by or about South Asians all over the world, and therefore each film gets higher visibility here, than being in a crowd of films in any mainstream American international film festival.
[edit] Bioscope
Bioscope is the monthly newsletter of NJISACF, through which the organization brings to its readers news of the latest and the best of South Asian independent films and filmmakers, as well as the festival updates. It profiles a filmmaker every month, and promotes fresh filmmakers and new films by creating a buzz and reaching hundreds of readers in its vast database.
[edit] Contact
- Asian American Film and Theater Project,
- P.O. Box 136
- Monmouth Junction, New Jersey, 08852,USA
- Tel: (732) 310-0236
- saktis@njisacf.org
[edit] External Links
- New Jersey Independent South Asian Cine Fest Official Website
- Bioscope The NJISACF Monthly Newsletter