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Spinning Wheel Film Festival –A
Cultural Confusion
WSN Bureau
 BEVERLY
HILLS:
The 5th Sikh Art and Film Festival held at Writer’s Guild Theater
attempting to showcase Sikhs through art, documentaries and films
fell short of its ambitious intent. The festival from the Sikh
perspective was desolate.
Starting from
the opening remarks and awful comedy, to the after event parties,
the organizers exhibited an extremely boastful non-Sikh attitude.
Some movies did invoke a thought - Where are the Sikhs headed?
Exhibition of art depicting culture and minute history of Sikhs can
best be described as mediocre. Noticeably the work being done by the
British, to preserve Sikh heritage, is commendable. Sikhs and their
families attending the festival overwhelmingly personified
transmigrated, liberal and mystified Sikhs.
While
documentaries persistently flaunted Sikh valor and past history,
very few evidently addressed their current issues and solutions in
modern times. Sikhs in Diaspora frequently struggle with their
identity. Practicing and, preaching and inculcating Sikh culture,
heritage, and religion to their children is a constant tussle that
continuously leads to arguments of ethnic values, non-Sikh cultures,
and foreign environment. A pathetic attempt was made by Shart Raju,
who in his film “American Made”, tries to bring awareness to a
cliché “…you look like a terrorist”, and intertwines his ideas by
juxtaposing prose from scriptures. His portrayal of a transmigrated
Sikh, who looked like an African Sikh, weak and perplexed, is a
tribute to Bollywood style of film making.
The mandate of
the festival to examine “Sikh life and culture, as well as universal
right, global peace, religious freedom, and tolerance”, was not only
puzzling but confusing. Cinematic themes and festival’s insinuations
clearly sent a message to the newer generation of Sikhs that they
should understand Sikh culture, history and heritage, but
necessarily need not be Sikhs in core values and practices.
19 November
2008
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