Opening Night

Wednesday, October 3rd, 2007, 7PM, Broadway Performance Hall

Salman Ahmed, the founder of Junoon, Opens ISAFF!

Salman Ahmed, the founder of Junoon, South Asia’s best known rock band, will kick off the 4th annual ISAFF with a performance. He will also share with us his thoughts on film and activism in the post-9/11 world as a Muslim American.
As an internationally recognized celebrity, Ahmed has been a passionate promoter of peace between India and Pakistan, as well as, between the West and the Muslim world. His documentaries, “Rockstar and the Mullahs” on music in Islam and “It’s My Country Too” on Muslim-Americans have appeared on PBS and BBC.
William Gilchrist will accompany Salman Ahmad on tabla. William has been playing tabla for 23 years and has been teaching for 11. He has been taught by great artists like Ustad Zakir Hussain and performs regularly in the Seattle area.

Voices of Kutch
(Chaitanya Modak, 2006, India, Kutchi with English subtitles, 34 minutes, DVD)
Our opening night short film, “Voices of Kutch” is an insightful film into community radio movement in India using the context of an experiment in radio programing done with community participation by the Kutch Mahila Vikas Sanghatan’s community radio project – Radio Ujjas.
Revolving around the story of a little girl and a radio she receives as a gift, the film’s argument is built through the radio program she listens to and the shared experience of the practioners and audiences of community radio broadcasting.

Chaitanya Modak: Hailing from Pune in India, Chaitanya is an independent filmmaker. A professional cartoonist, freelance writer and graphic designer, he finds the digitall movie world exciting and challenging.

Reception
Join us for a reception after the event. It will also be an opportunity to get CDs and T-shirts signed by Salman Ahmed. We will have finger food and drinks available as well.