The event started off with a screening of the 1989 short film made by the
'journalist' Gurinder. The film was titled 'I'm British But...'.
The underlying theme was that the young second generation Asians were trying
to establish an identity for themselves by this time. Despite them facing
all the racial abuse and prejudices, they were happy to call themselves
British and were begining to realise that 'home' was in 'Britain' and
not in the country where their parents came from.
This was a raw documentary style, hard-hitting, unintentionally political
which brought Gurinder Chadha into the limelight. The "£20,000 budget was
all used up - to the last penny, and they used everything they shot" said
Gurinder. The interviews with the young Asian participants from teh South,
North, Midlands, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, who obviously, spoke
in their regional accents, were interspersed with some traditional Punjabi
folk music reminding us of the land we have left behind and the prejudices
our parents faced in this country on their arrival. There were clips of
the pioneering, upcoming younger bands who were in those days
experimenting with mixing Bhangra music with reggae, house and also the
more traditional folk and even the religious hyms and chants.
The film ceratinly brought a lump in my throat when thinking about the pains
our parents faced when they came to settle in the western world and how,
against all odds, they managed to establish themselves and their families
economically, in this unfamiliar land.
The film followed an interview with Gurinder Chadha, where she spoke about
her other current and future projects. Her currently showing film is
titles 'What's Cooking', which opened in America in Nov 2000 and is
due to open in the UK in the summer of 2001. This is about 3 typical
American families where inter-racial marriage is a norm thereby creating
a family with members from several nationalities. This film opened to
great reviews in USA and we await eagerly the release of this film.
The film shows the lives of Latino, European and Asian combinations of
families living in LA.
Among Gurinder's future projects is one about a West London Asian girl who
dreams of becoming a professional footballer. This film, titled Bend It
Like Beckham, is in its early stages, but we wish Gurinder all the best
for this project and with her credentials, we can surely expect another
masterpiece.
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