NC South and East Asian Film Festival Celebrates 6th-annual Virtual Storytelling through Art of Moving Images
Get ready for another year of remarkable films, with the virtual 6th-annual North Carolina South and East Asian Film Festival (NCISAFF). This festival will be screening seven films online September 12-13, 2020. via Facebook for viewers nationwide.
NCISAFF looks forward to bringing the community together once again to celebrate diversity and inclusion of voices; discover rising star, creative filmmakers and passionate creators; and enjoy innovative experiences and the best in independent film with online audiences globally.
NCISAFF’s focus is on films by all people that represent S. & E Asian Themes, or Films by S & E Asians representing any themes prevalent worldwide, representing the following countries culture, and stories: Afghanistan, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Bangladesh, Bhutan,Brunei, Cambodia, China ,Christmas Island, East Timor, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Macau, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, North Korea, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Tibet, Thailand, The Cocos (Keeling Islands), Malaysia, Vietnam, and the USA.
While the NCISAFF Committee initially selected 13 films, prior to the pandemic, for a May 2020 film festival to be screened at The Cary Theater in Cary, North Carolina, the online festival will be screening seven films. The films to be screened virtually include short films and a full feature film.
- Alice in Borneo’s World — 11 minutes (Malaysia/Indonesia/USA) — By David Mcguire
- He-TOO — 20 mins (India/USA) — By Jyoti Singh
- Knock knock knock — 40 mins (Nepal/India) — By Raj Krishna
- Padmavyuha — 39 mins (India/USA) — By Raj Krishna
- The Matchmaker — (India) 17 mins — By Gautam Arya
- Five Faces of Shiva — (India/USA) 60 mins — by R.A. Fedde
- Code Blue — (USA, now on Amazon prime) 1 hour 20 mins — by Dilip Barman
While films are free to watch, for some of the films registration is required. Registrants receive a password for viewing.
Screening Times on September 12, 2020
Opening film: Padmavyuha — 2:30pm (registration/password required)
HE-TOO — 4:30pm
Knock Knock Knock — 6:30pm (registration/password required)
The Matchmaker — 8:30pm
Screening Times on September 13, 2020
Alice in Borneo’s Wonderland — 2pm
Five Faces of Shiva — 4pm
Code Blue — 6pm
NCISAFF will be the USA Premiere for the film Padmavyuha before it is screened at other festivals in the United States. As per film committee members, the film sheds light on the history of world’s oldest, unknown, religion, and the ending of the film offers a totally new experience.
Said director, Raj Krishna, “The film is an exploration of faith at its highest level. A religion studies professor has lost his faith and receives a call late night that takes him to a mysterious path. It leads him down a dark path that leads him to mystic puzzles and those puzzles lead him to a discovery of a global conspiracy. That conspiracy also reveals to him some new information about the history of Hinduism. Padmavyuh is a number of things — it is a mystery thriller, it is a Da Vinci Code style of a religious, mystery, puzzle. It is an exploration of faith, it is an exploration of religious fundamentalism.”
In addition, NCISAFF is the first South Asian Film Festival to premiere Five Faces of Shiva directed by R A Fedde, which has been screened at film festivals worldwide. Gauri Singh, Festival Founder, admired the beautiful presentation of the history of the hindu god lithographs by the director, who was not raised in the culture being depicted. R. A. Fedde was able to present the concepts in such perfection that it draws the viewer to know more.
NCISAFF has films that are different than most themes presented in film festivals. He-Too is a film by Jyoti Singh that addresses abuse, where the film starts off with the filmmaker making a point, “No abuse is right,” and explores a field not much studied about when men are also targets of abuse, especially in metropolitan cities where women gain power. This rare film is an eye opener and offers something to reflect upon.
The next film is locally made, Code Blue, which is now streaming on Amazon Prime: go and check it out. Code Blue was produced by Durham-based Dilip Barman. The film follows a passionate physician, Dr. Saray Stancic, as she reflects upon her journey from a Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis to wellness through her own adoption of lifestyle medicine.
Each film brings it own style and flavor that is unique, which makes this year’s festival even more enticing. Alice in Borneo’s Wonderland, by David McGuire, presents Alice, a sixteen-year-old aspiring biologist, who learns to SCUBA dive off the coast of Malaysian Borneo and discovers a wondrous world. With the help of Shark Steward instructors, she learns to respect the key predators of that astonishing world — the sharks, endangered worldwide because of shark finning. Her next step is to share with other students her new knowledge about the importance of protecting the oceans.
Knock, knock, knock is a short psychological thriller by Sudhanshu Saria, produced by Raj Krishna.
The Matchmaker by Gautam Arya presents a machine that helps Karan satisfy his infidel dream by introducing him to Amaira. As he gets lost in his virtual fantasy, he wishes for Amaira to be his reality.
The film links will be available for 24 hours, including those that require registration/password. Watch on the following Facebook pages:
- NCISAFF: www.facebook.com/groups/ncisaff
- NCISAFF 2: www.facebook.com/ncisaff
- www.facebook.com/NorthCarolinaIndianAndAsianFilmFestival
- Franklin County International Film Festival: www.facebook.com/Franklin-County-Int-Film-Festival-175451549637034
Film Festival sponsors are:
- Town of Cary-Lazy Daze, RVP Productions, & NCISAFF
- The Festival Founder, Gauri Singh
- The Festival Executive Committee: Dilip Barman, Ketki Handa, Ravi Relangi, Sunita Dev
- The Festival Board Members: Beverly Kegley, Kruti Desai, Mehul Desai, Murty Swahari
North Carolina Indian and South Asian Film Festival is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that supports, develops, and promotes the artistic appreciation, education, and exhibits global independent films that fall into two categories:
- Films of South and East Asian Origin or themes by all people
- Films by South and East Asian filmmakers that cover various genre’s/themes/topics from around the world
Festival goals are:
- To enrich the cultural resources of the North Carolina area by broadening access to film of S. and East Asian origin & themes prevalent worldwide
- To encourage a deeper understanding of the film talent of filmmakers of S. & East Asian origin living globally and in the united states
With questions or to register, contact Gauri Singh via email.
