October 20th, 2009 mani
On October 19th, after months of hardwork by the criminology coordinator, AWR was brought to the collegiate level as a film that was required to be watched for criminology students for a related assignment.
It was great to see students watching the film with the goal to be educated. The Q&A period was my opportunity to educate these eager young minds on how they can make a difference. As criminology students, their potential for helping is limitless. For them to have an accurate understanding of why the issue is happening was essential. I made them aware of the relation of marijuana trade in British Columbia and how it increased the number of gangs significantly.
I was given much respect as many students stayed after the Q&A to continue the discussion with me and to give me their positive comments. It is reasons like this I never tire in trying to make a difference. The kindness and respect is more than enough fuel to drive advocation of the issue forward.
Thank you to Douglas College for welcoming me. The screening at the college was in association with Cinema Politica, a great proactive network of film screenings. A special shout out to Heidi Currie, criminology coordinator and faculty member.
Thanks all,
mani
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October 15th, 2009 mani
Surrey, a suburb of Metro Vancouver, has seen its fair share of gang violence. Surrey is also home to the largest population of Sikhs and South Asians in North America.
On September 28th, AWR was booked to be screened for Professional Development Day for approximately 70 teachers. Despite the bright sunlight through the windows of the library, the teachers were able to extract enough content from the film to be given insight and awareness into this gang violence issue that has shaken Metro Vancouver. The screening led to an in depth Q&A period lasting nearly 45 minutes. Questions presented were thought provoking none the less to the audience, I hope the answers and avenues I provided were equally as thought provoking and enough to have the issue discussed in the future.
I wanted to thank Q.E. Secondary School, Q.E. Secondary Teachers & Staff. A special shout out to Don Cosens, chair of Professional Development, for recruiting the film and working very hard to bring it to his school.
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One of the teachers present on the September 28th screening of my film took it upon herself to initiate conversation with her Punjabi Studies Class. The interest was evoked, my film was screened for the class on October 8th, and further discussion occurred. The response was so positive that a student took it upon himself to seek me out. Contacting me and speaking about the issue for well over an hour, it was apparent the thirst for knowledge was there for this youth and his classmates. He further took initiative and approved my visit to the Punjabi Studies Class as a guest speaker on October 14th. The discussion about my life, my work, and an educating Q&A seemed to have kept the youth interested for nearly 2 hours.
This further solidifies my belief, that with a spark, you can engulf the world with the fire of awareness.
Thank you to Q.E. Secondary School once again. A very special shout out to Rani Kandola, the teacher who further took the initiative to bring my film to the youth, and Shehbaaz Jhalli, the youth, who took the initiative to bring me to the youth.
Thanks everyone,
mani
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September 27th, 2009 mani
Hello all,
On September 26th, ‘A Warrior’s Religion’ was screened at the Spinning Wheel Film Festival in Toronto.
The festival took place September 25th to 27th at the Royal Ontario Museum.
SWFF has been a pioneer in South Asian driven film and art festivals, in its 7th year, it becomes one of the longest running South Asian festivals.
The Q&A after the film’s screening further reiterates that people are willing to talk about and support an issue when unbiased information is presented. It seems that my film acts as a good catalyst to initiate dialogue and/or evoke action.
Shout outs to all the volunteers of SWFF making it a success every year. A very special shout out to T. Sher Singh for recruiting my project to be a part of this year’s festival.
Thanks all,
mani
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September 21st, 2009 mani
Hello everyone,
Thank you for all the ongoing support.
On September 19th, 2009, ‘A Warrior’s Religion’ was screened to a sold out crowd during the documentary session of the festival. It was very well received and I was approached by many people in regards to the subject matter. It is always a great feeling when your work is appreciated and applauded for the different manner in which it was created. I am more glad everyday that I stuck to my guns and produced a film within a very small genre called ‘poetic documentaries’.
On September 20th, 2009, Sikh Arts & Film Foundation hosted the gala for the Sikh International Film Festival, to my surprise, I was awarded Best Documentary prize along with $5000.
I plan on using the money as seed money to fund my next project if yet again I am unable to secure a producer. The film world needs to understand that I am not going away, and regardless of no funding, I will continue to make films that evoke thought.
Shout out to Sikh Arts & Film Foundation. And a very special shout out to Paul Johar, the chair of the film festival, he scouted me, got me out there, and helped spread the message to a broader audience. Much respect my friend.
Thanks all,
mani
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August 27th, 2009 mani
Hello Everyone,
I got some good news and some bad news.
The Good
A couple of months ago, a lead programmer from the Toronto International Film Festival kindly gave me a call, which was much to my surprise. Though I relentlessly hoped, I would never think my film, especially my first film, would ever be of interest to TIFF, the biggest film festival on Earth. They told me they had spotted my film project some time ago and were patiently waiting to see the finished product. What a compliment to be semi-courted by such a respected institution. I was further given the respect to bypass the standard application process and speak directly with the programmer.
The Bad
Now, I don’t look at this as really bad. Hey, I was so happy being even considered. In the end, my film was not accepted. I was told it was not due to film quality, but instead the theme of the film. This year they were not going to focus on such themes. Whatever the reason is, it is totally ok, I am just happy to be given the opportunity.
Shout out to Ms. P. Dhillon for calling, and yes, I will be shipping out my 2nd project directly to you 
Without the support I have received from around the world, I would not be given such opportunities. The world I wish to help, the world I wish to protect, unknowingly helps me, unknowingly protects me.
Thank you everyone,
mani
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July 29th, 2009 mani
Whoever said that hosting screenings was easy is mistaken. Just ask our new friend Pete from the Plaza Theatre in Calgary.
Day 1:
Due to time constraints, our dvd disc was not fully tested out to make sure it is compatible with the equipment available at the Plaza. “It is just a dvd disc, what could go wrong?” Surely those words were lost in a puddle of sweat when the dvd disc’s aspect ratio would not match up properly when hooked up to a $30k projector! While trying to figure out the aspect ratio, the projector decided to go into a standby mode that they were unable to get it out of. Thank God for back up equipment, we then decided to go with a lower key projector that was able to display the picture, still not in the correct aspect ratio but at least it displayed the image. All good? Sadly no, 45 mins into the picture (after a 15 minute delay in start time and impromptu apologies on stage for the ‘technical difficulties’) the disc started skipping! Many screenings under my belt, not one disc skipping issue! Kulwant Neote, my acting manager in Alberta, got up on stage to explain the situation, ‘it was not our dvd disc’…’it was the equipment’…’we are offering full refunds’… Things seemed bleak but the audience responded with ‘no refunds are needed’ and an undeserving applause. Turns out almost everyone was impressed with what they saw up until we decided to stop beating the dead horse and call it a day. A few refunds were given but mostly everyone either wanted to come back or watch the online screener of my film. Many kind thanks to everyone and their patience. Shout out to Al, another technician at the Plaza who tried desperately to get things working in Pete’s absence.
Day 2:
This time no taking chances, Pete and I came to the conclusion that the technical difficulties that we could not get around (the dvd disc skipping) were due to unclean dvd player heads. That pesky dust did a number on my morale, that is for sure. The night before, I watched the entire dvd disc on a residential dvd player and there were no skips! We borrowed the dvd player (which belonged to Kulwant’s family) and hooked it up at the Plaza. Pete, wanting to make sure we have a successful screening this time around sat in the poorly ventilated projector room on a crate making sure he is there in case of an emergency. No problems today, with less than a minute to go in the film, I go upstairs to shake Pete’s hand on a job well done when the disc freezes! After hitting play repeatedly we were able to finish the screening with that one and only glitch. I guess I celebrated too early.
Conclusion:
So what went wrong? The dvd disc played fine at Kulwant’s home with no skips. The same dvd player was used on Day 2, but there was a freeze point. Could it be bad luck? Or a combination of factors? We cannot say for sure, but that same dvd disc has been used a few more times since with no problems. Pete took the onus upon himself to make sure the entire technical difficulties fiasco was due to the equipment at the Plaza. Although I appreciate Pete putting the onus on himself and the theatre (he even offered to come up on stage and apologize), things like this happen and I am not in the business to hold grudges but to instead make friends.
Pete has offered free movie vouchers to anyone not satisfied with the Plaza Theatre after Day 1′s screening, you can contact Pete here.
If anyone came to see the film on Day 1 and wants a refund or watch the film in its entirety may contact me at anytime.
Shoutouts to Kulwant Neote, The Neote Family, The Neote Family DVD Player, Pete, Al, The Plaza Theatre, the Audience, and their Patience.
(The Calgary Public Screenings took place July 25th & 26th 2009)
Thanks Everyone!
mani
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June 27th, 2009 mani
On June 24th to June 26th, the Government of Alberta hosted a Summit targeted at Gang Crime. The goal of the summit was to unite different levels of government, law enforcement, and community to open dialogue and look at new ways to improve measures to combat Gang Crime.
This summit was light years ahead of anything the Government of British Columbia has put together. Furthermore, BC waited until there was well over 75 gang related deaths before any type of summit or proactive forum was held. I was very honoured to be an invited guest at the summit, not only to showcase ‘A Warrior’s Religion’ at a private delegates only screening, but to educate and discuss my research and knowledge of Gangs as well as the Gang Violence issue in BC.
It was a long 3 days but I believe the hard work of all the invited guests, presentations, and speakers encouraged more proactive measures and brought enough media attention to make this known as a serious issue.
Thanks to Jennifer Berglind for reaching out to me and Toni Sloan for getting me out to Calgary, both of whom are of the Alberta Government.
(click the above picture to be taken to the Alberta Government website)
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June 22nd, 2009 mani
On June 20th, ‘A Warrior’s Religion’ was screened for community members concerned about the recent rise in gang activity in Calgary, Alberta.
Here is an excerpt from the press release:
Over the past six months Calgary has seen an increase in gang related deaths. Communities are concerned and struggling to find ways to address this issue.
Please join us on Saturday June 20, 2009 for a community dialogue and private screening of A Warriors Religion, a documentary exploring the gang violence in Metro Vancouver.
A Warrior’s Religion provides an insightful view of both life as a gang member and the communities response to violence. It is our hope that we can learn from the experience of Metro Vancouver and begin to develop a Calgary based response to the violence in our communities.
Communities are made of parents, youth, schools, social service agencies, religious centers businesses and governments therefore solutions must include the same. We invite you to share your experiences and learn from the experiences of others so that we may together begin to work towards a solution. Please consider attending and share this invitation with others in your community.
I was prepared to deal with the so called ‘controversy’ but I was quickly surprised at the progressive mindset of the community in Calgary. As this dialogue event was intended to be a precursor for our public screenings set for July 25th & 26th, we garnered much support and sponsorship of tickets. It was a great feeling to have the support of the community and the understanding of my intentions without the focus on the controversy. This event will surely help pave the way for success during the public screenings and other events across Canada.
I want to thank all the volunteers for the event and give special shout outs to Kulwant Neote and Susan Ramsundarsingh.
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May 27th, 2009 mani
Hello everyone,
First off, I’d like to thank everyone for their support to help bring ‘A Warrior’s Religion’ to a theatre in Vancouver. Without you, we would not have been able to do more screenings in Metro Vancouver.
Everything was on track for the screenings to take place; the theatre was booked & paid for, the projector/screen were tested, advertising was in process, and tickets were selling. However, we did not know that working with Raja Cinema would turn out to be a nightmare.
Read the rest of this entry »
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May 23rd, 2009 mani
Hi everyone,
‘A Warrior’s Religion’ screened at the University of Fraser Valley on May 21st & 22nd.
Thank you for all the people that made it out to Abbotsford to check out the film.
The screenings were done with minimal advertising (as our budget had been depleted) and with many time constraints, we were still able to get a respectable amount of viewership.
The event could not have succeeded without the hard work of Balreet Mandair of South Asian Peer Network Association (SAPNA) & Centre of Indo-Canadian Studies (CICS) and Satwinder Bains of University of Fraser Valley for making the initial contact and purposing the idea of bringing the film out to Abbotsford.
We look forward to continue screening the film and bringing awareness,
thanks again everyone,
mani
(click on the above picture to be taken to the CICS website)
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