SALTAF 2007 | South Asian Literary and Theater Arts Festival
SALTAF™ 2007 marked the fourth year that the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program joined forces with the Washington, DC chapter of the Network of South Asian Professionals (NetSAP-DC) to bring you another memorable event filled with some of the best and latest of the South Asian diasporic literati and glitterati.
Time:
Saturday, November 3, 2007, 10:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Location:
Meyer Auditorium
Freer Gallery of Art
12th Street and Independence Avenue, SW
Metro:
Smithsonian or L’Enfant Plaza
In spite of a fairly early morning start and regardless of IST, the theater was pretty much full for the over-the-top, hysterical fun fest that was Manish Acharya’s debut feature, Loins of Punjab Presents. Acharya’s buddy, Sanju K. Bansal, who was instrumental in getting the film even made, gave a lively introduction. No wonder Loins recently won Best Feature Film at the 65th First Run Film Festival in New York.
The lucky audience laugh-tracked our way through the roller-coaster world of seven strangers—including a ruthless philanthropist, a gay bhangra rapper, and an entrepreneurial yogi—whose lives collide during a singing contest in a small New Jersey town. For those of you who were unfortunate enough to miss it, RUN when it comes to a theater near you!!
From the celluloid world, we moved easily into a literary afternoon, featuring some of the best in South Asian and South Asian American writing. The first panel featured Amitava Kumar and Thrity Umrigar.
Kumar’s latest non-fiction book, Husband of a Fanatic: A Personal Journey of India, Pakistan, Love, and Hate, was named an “Editor’s Choice” by the New York Times. His first novel, Home Products, a dark romp through the deception and corruption of India’s inseparable worlds of politics and filmmaking, debuted in India earlier this year.
Thrity Umrigar is the acclaimed author of Bombay Time, First Darling of the Morning: Selected Memories of an Indian Childhood and The Space Between Us. Her latest, If Today Be Sweet, which debuted this spring, is a tale of two cultures set in Bombay and Cleveland, and the life that newly widowed Tehima “Tammy” Sethna must navigate for herself within her family and her dual community.
The afternoon’s second panel saw Madhur Jaffrey and Rishi Reddi together on stage.
The multi-faceted writer/cookbook star/actor Madhur Jaffrey read from her acclaimed memoir, Climbing the Mango Trees: A Memoir of a Childhood, which debuted last fall. Her renowned titles, An Invitation to Indian Cooking and Madhur Jaffrey’s A Taste of the Far East, which was voted Best International Cookbook and Book of the Year for 1993 by the James Beard Foundation, are also bestselling kitchen classics.
Rishi Reddi was this year’s newbie. Already a short story award winner, her debut title, Karma and Other Stories—absolutely one of the best story collections out this year—captures the nuanced, often contradictory lives of multiple generations of the Indian diaspora and offers a refreshing look at the irresolvable duality of the immigrant experience.
The day ended with another film, Partition, written and directed by Vic Sarin, one of Canada’s most lauded and distinguished filmmakers. Starring Jimi Mistry, Kristin Kreuk, and Neve Campbell, Partition is a latter-day Romeo and Juliet love story set in 1947 when the warring factions of Sikhs, Hindus, and Muslims are mired in bloodshed and destruction.
Serendipitously, Madhur Jaffrey, who is also featured in the film, joined Sarin for the Q&A following the screening. Although truth be told, Sarin’s 5-year-old son, Jaden, who made his film debut in Partition, was the biggest crowd-pleaser of all!
Click here to download the event schedule.
Click here to see our post-event press release.
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