Karma Local (USA, 1998, 84 mins)

Directed by and Starring Darshan Bhagat

quirky "multicultural comic thriller". Set in New York City, the film draws us into the offbeat world of Bali, a young Indian American who sells candy, soda and newspapers to hurrying customers deep in the bowels of Fulton Street Subway Station. Encouraged by the odd behavior of a coin, he senses his karma change.

When he's entrusted with a bag of smelly fish containing a large sum of money, Bali embarks on a wild ride into a world of fish markets, racetrack gamblers and gangsterswho quote the Bhagavad-Gita. Hottest South-Asian American feature of 1998. If you didn’t see it then, you must see it now!

Desperately Seeking Helen

Co-presented at Myraid Voices Film Festival

To the Indian film mecca of Bollywood and back, Marjara seeks out her childhood film idol, Helen. From Amritsar to Trois Rivieres, Desperately Seeking Helen enters a world of fantasy and unimaginable realities, as Marjara navigates cultures and memory to find a sense of self. Who is Helen?

California College of Arts and Crafts, Timken Hall 1111 Eight Street (corner of 8th and Irwin at Wisconsin Street), SF

In Memory of Friends

followed by a discussion with documentary filmmaker, Anand Patwardhan, visiting from Mumbai

3pm @ATA - 992 Valencia St (x st 21st), SF

One of India's most celebrated and controversial independent filmmakers will be in the house to introduce and to discuss a variety of ideas from the relationship between communalism and masculinity, environmental degradation and violence affecting marginalized communities in two of his award winning films:

In Memory of Friends documents the violence and terror in Punjab, India - a land torn apart by religious fundamentalists and a repressive government.

After examining the political turmoil of the late 1970s and rise of Sikh fundamentalism, the film concentrates on the legacy of Bhagat Singh, a young socialist hanged by the British in 1931 at age 23.

Singh has since become an almost legendary figure. Today, both sides claim him as a symbol of their cause: the socialist state eulogizes him as a patriot, while Khalistani separatists portray him as a Sikh militant.

We Are Not Your Monkeys

5min, a short peace which speaks to the mythological construction of the dalit's or the 'untouchable' community in India.