SALTAF 2008—11/15/2008

SALTAF 2008

South Asian Literary and Theater Arts Festival

Photos by Ricky Leung

The fifth annual South Asian Literary and Theater Arts Festival was a great success for the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program and the Network of South Asian Professionals. The event opened with a screening of AMAL, a film about a rickshaw driver in Delhi who unknowingly receives a huge fortune, and was followed by a lively talkback with director Richie Mehta. Anna John, co-founder of Sepia Mutiny, a blog that focuses on issues of the South Asian Diaspora, moderated.

Two literary panels followed the morning screening. The first panel featured Tahmima Anam, author of A Golden Age, and Manil Suri, author of The Age of Shiva. The panel was moderated by Supriya Goswami, professor of English at George Washington University. The panel touched on interesting themes from both books, and the audience had an opportunity to ask questions of both authors. The second panel featured V.V. Ganeshananthan, author of Love Marriage, and Naeem Murr, author of The Perfect Man. This panel was moderated by Tamara Bhalla of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and also shed light on probing aspects of both novels.

The festival ended with a screening of Little Zizou, a film about two warring families from Bombay's Parsi minority. The film was a huge hit with the audience! After the screening, director Sooni Taraporevala, producer Dinaz Stafford, and the film's star, Boman Irani, all sat down for a discussion with Terry Hong, the Smithsonian APA Program's Media Arts Consultant. It was a truly amazing opportunity to witness a discussion between so many integral members of the film's production!

Once again, SALTAF proved a great success and we hope to follow with an even better event next year. Plans are already being made for SALTAF 2009, so keep checking our website for updates as they become available!

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