Sikhlens: Sikh Arts & Film Festival

Sikhlens is back for yet another year, ready to showcase some of the top content created by a variety of artists and talented filmmakers from the South Asian community. This year’s Festival will open on Friday, November 20th at The Frida Cinema and end on Sunday, November 22nd evening at Chapman University’s Memorial Hall. The opening night will begin at 7 PM with a red carpet entrance and a special screening of ‘Zubaan’, followed by a dessert reception!

Saturday starts with the ‘Youth’ session from 10 AM to 12:30 PM. This will include short films targeted for the younger audience. During these screenings, in the adjacent theater, we will showcase ‘Valentino’s Ghost’ - a documentary film that takes a look at America’s portrayal of Arabs and Muslims in the media. A highlight of the day will be the ‘Creative Sikhs’, a panel which takes place at 1:30 PM and will feature some of the biggest and brightest Sikh names from the television, film, and the music Industry. The day will round out with additional short films, a screening of ‘The Last King’, a dance workshop for kids, and a discussion panel on the State of Sikhi: A Conversation Pre and Post Sarbat Khalsa 2015. We are very proud to end the day with two full-length feature films: ‘Angrej’, a comedy about a thoughtful young man struggling to find a woman to marry, and ‘Learning to Drive’, starring Oscar-winning actor Ben Kingsley. The day will end with a beautiful reception featuring desserts, drinks, and dancing!

The final day’s programming will start at 10 AM at the Dodge College of Film & Media Arts, Chapman University. The first session of the day will feature short films and run until 1:30 PM. There will also be a youth workshop that explores the world of art with special guest Amandeep Singh from Inkquisitive Illustrations. A Sikh Art Expo will run throughout the day at Memorial Hall where festival goers can see and purchase work from some of today’s top Sikh artists. At 4 PM the festival will have a unique presentation at Memorial Hall, the play ‘The Maharajah and the Kohinoor’. The festivities will come to a close with a very special concert at 5 PM featuring some very talented musicians from around the world. This year’s headlining acts will be joining us from Australia and Canada and are sure to please everyone in the crowd.

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