With less than a month to go for the first edition of the Bay Area South Asian Film Festival, the festival has begun announcing the films which will be screened as part of its official selection this year. The festival also revealed a few chief guests who will be stopping by the inaugural edition.
So far, three features and a documentary in focus have been unveiled. It includes Kireet Khurana's T For Taj Mahal, which had its world premiere at the London Indian Film Festival this June, will screen in competition as part of the official selection. Starring Subrat Dutta, Bidita Bag, Ali Faulkner, Manoj Pahwa and Pritobash, the film is the story of one man who seeks to bring literacy to his village.
Sriram Dalton's film on the uranium mafia, Spring Thunder, will have its world premiere at BASAFF. The in competition feature film showcases the fight in rural India between sustainability and development against the backdrop of uranium mining.
Competing against T For Taj Mahal and Spring Thunder is Anup Singh's The Song Of Scorpions, starring Irrfan Khan and Golshifteh Farahani, which has also been announced as part of the official selection. The film, with Farahani as a scorpion singer and Khan as a camel trader who wishes to marry her, will have its California premiere at the festival.
Sangeeta Datta's documentary, Bird Of Dusk, on Rituparno Ghosh is based on the late filmmaker's memoirs. The film involves archival material and interviews with family and artistes who worked with him and will be the documentary in focus at the festival.
The inaugural festival will be attended by Emmy award winning Mike Reiss, writer-director of the animated comedy The Simpsons; author and screenwriter Vikram Chandra; producer Saskia Vischer; and filmmaker Sangeeta Datta.
The inaugural festival will be held in Mountain View and Palo Alto from 21 to 23 September.