Theresa Thanjan and I produced the following PSA for the Dream Act. The music, Star Mangled Banner was composed by John Plenge.

Whose Children Are These? provides a gripping view into the lives of three Muslim teenagers impacted by anti-terrorism national security measures. One such program, “Special Registration,” required male non-citizens, as young as 16 from 25 predominately Arab and Muslim nations, to register with the US Government and resulted in the discriminatory deportation of nearly 14,000 men.

The film introduces Navila, an honors student who fought to have her father released from detention; Sarfaraz, a popular basketball player who confronts pending deportation; and Hager, a young woman who faces bias and is spurred into activism as a result.

I edited this award winning doc which has won seven awards and still counting. It got finishing funds from the Corporation of Public Broadcasting, and is now being offered to Public broadcasting affiliates at the end of August. It needs letters of support in order to be programmed. So if you are in the US, please write to your local PBS station by clicking on the following link:

http://www.whosechildrenarethese.com/outreach.html

And forward the information to your friends and networks. Hopefully lots of people will get a chance to see this important documentary.

Our short doc will be at the One Billion Eyes Indian Documentary Film Festival, on 16th August at 5 pm. Budhan Theatre will be performing their latest production, Choli ke Pichhe, an adaptation of Mahasweta Devi’s Stanadayani. Its a pretty remarkable piece of theatre. It will be performed on the 18th, at 8 pm.

Prakriti Foundation
In association with The Alliance Francaise, Chennai
presents
One Billion Eyes Indian Documentary Film Festival – 2007
August 15 – 19, 2007
Venue : The Alliance Francaise, Chennai

The entire festival has several films I’d like to see. Too bad we can’t attend.

If you have been following the immigration debate, you might know that the DREAM Act is one of the provisions that applies to young people who came here with their parents. It essentially allows these kids to have a fair chance to compete with every one else for access to education and jobs.

My colleague Theresa Thanjan and I have made a music video for a song written by a couple of kids about the DREAM Act.

Some of the stories about these young people are just heartbreaking. This American Life has a story about one such girl who is struggling to get an education.

To get involved, get in touch with New York State Youth Leadership Council.

Our film is screening at the 10th Royal Anthropological Institute Ethnographic Film Festival on Friday, June 29th. The festival is running from June 27th to July 2nd and is exhibiting many interesting films and installations from all over the world.

There are several screenings of Acting Like a Thief, one in Delhi and a couple in the Northeastern United States.

IAWRT IIC Asian Women’s Film Festival
March 7th and 8th 2007
10 AM - 8:30 PM
at the India International Centre
Lodi Estate, New Delhi

Association of Asian Studies Conference
March 23, 2007, 10:30 am
Brandeis room (3rd Floor)
Boston Marriott Copley Place,
110 Huntington Avenue, Boston

The Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival
March 26 to April 2, 2007
Ithaca College and downtown Ithaca
(Mahasweta Devi: Witness, Advocate, Writer is screening as well)

Bollywood Terror played at the South Side Film Festival in Bethlehem, PA, last June. Now, the town of Bethlehem is holding an ArtsFest with art, music, installations and films. Hence the re-screening.

Thursday April 7th 7:45pm to 10pm
Packard Lab Auditorium, Lehigh University
Behtlehem, PA.

Bollywood Terror and Acting Like a Thief are being screened as part of MS Films Festival in Durham, North Carolina. On Friday, February 23.

Niku Arbabi, the festival director was interviewed on NPR regarding the festival. There are nice articles in the News Observer, and the Venus Magazine.

Bollywood Terror will be screening as part of the opening of the Documentary Fortnight series at the Museum of Modern Art here in New York City. If you plan to attend please say hello, I will be attending the February 9 screening.

Thursday, February 9, 6pm
Saturday March 11 at 4:00pm

Roy and Niuta Titus Theater at the Museum of Modern Art, 11 West 53 Street,
New York, NY 10019-5497

Click here for ticketing information. And here for directions.

Acting Like a Thief is being screened in several cities as part of the Tri Continental Film Festival. Journalist Dilip D’Souza and author of Branded By Law: Looking at India’s Denotified Tribes will be available for discussion in Mumbai, and playwright Dakxin Bajrange will be attending the screening in Bangalore.

Jan. 27, 10:30 am, Little Theatre, NCPA, Mumbai
Jan. 31, 10:30 am, Alliance Francaise, Bangalore
Feb. 1, 9:15 pm, South Indian Film Chamber Theatre, Chennai