South Asia Comes To The South Loop

By Rob Christopher in Arts & Entertainment on Sep 13, 2010 3:40PM

CIFF isn't the only film festival coming round the bend. In just a few weeks Columbia College will host the first festival of its kind in the US. The Chicago South Asian Film Festival runs October 1-3 and features 16 films from India, the US, and Pakistan.

Two Paise for Sunshine, Four Annas for Rain is the opening night feature (October 1 at the Chicago Cultural Center). You can bet that this Mumbai story has nothing in common with Slumdog Millionaire, highlighting an unlikely household made up of a struggling gay lyricist, an aging prostitute, and her 12-year-old son. In fact, as near as we can make out, none of the movies in the festival's lineup fit into the proverbial Bollywood musical category. As much as we enjoy mammoth musical spectacles there's something refreshing about the chance to see what else South Asian cinema has to offer. Chicago native Ajay Naidu, whose film Ashes will be shown, sums it up nicely: "People should see [my film] to know that the South Asian community is
not just producing tinkerbell movies about cultural confusion but rather viable powerful stories about social issues."

Also part of the festival is a Canon DSLR Workshop. Both workshop and film screenings take place at Columbia College, 1104 S. Wabash, 8th Floor. More info here.