The Chicago South Asian Film Festival is in its 10th year! Since 2010, this festival has been a preeminent global platform for innovative, groundbreaking, and generation-defining South Asian cinema. Our mission has always been to promote South Asian art and culture by connecting artists, patrons, organizations and ideas in a weekend-long celebration of storytelling.
The first festival held in October of 2010 showcased 16 films. By its 9th year, the festival showcased over 70 films including 10 global premieres, with hundreds of viewers in attendance. Let’s take a look back at the journey of this past decade:
2010, Debut with a Bang: The inaugural festival was founded in 2010 by Amit Rana, Mileen Patel, and Ketki Parikh with the support of Vachikam Inc and the Network of Indian Professionals (NetIP). After attracting 1300+ audience members and elite filmmakers like Aparna Sen and Deepti Naval, it was clear this festival had to become an annual event. The success of this maiden voyage heralded the formation of the Chicago South Asian Arts Council which has since been the foundation of this remarkable forum.
2011, Here to stay: Once again hosted at the Chicago Cultural Center and Columbia College Chicago, year two was just as successful as the first. Showcasing 28 films, including 2 world premieres, 7 US premieres and 15 Chicago premieres, the festival’s theme was “Art, Life, Respect”, a motto for its films and the worldview it sought to put forth. Memorable films from the line up included Ketan Mehta’s Rang Rasiya and Nila Panda’s I am Kalam.
2012, A 4-day affair: By year 3, the sheer popularity of the festival amongst its audience and artists warranted the extension of a 3-day weekend into a 4-day affair. This year’s event included the North American premiere of popular Bollywood film “Heroine”, and expanded its footprint to the mainstream Showplace Icon Theater complex. Other highlights included a unique panel on entertainment law, and actress Raveena Tandon’s remarks to a packed audience at the premiere of her film “Shobhna’s 7 Nights”.
2013, Celebrating 100 Years: In it’s 4th year, the festival paid tribute to 100 years of Indian Cinema, presenting over 24 critically acclaimed and mainstream films. This year’s event boasted the attendance of prominent celebrities like Farooq Sheikh, Parvesh Cheena, and Priyanka Bose. Mira Nair’s award-winning The Reluctant Fundamentalist was screened in the presence of film producer Ami Bhogani. The 2013 event was lauded for its daring and highly curated selection of films, avoiding the temptation to dilute its now well-established reputation.
2014, A New Partnership: In 2014, CSAFF launched its famed partnership with India’s premiere Hindi movie network Zee Cinema. Screening moe than 25 films, the festival introduced the South Asian Films in America (SAFA) Awards, an Award honoring South Asian Films and Artists exclusively in Chicago. Notable figures like actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui, actor-director Rajat Kapoor and US-based TV celebrity Sendhil Ramamurthy were in attendance. The Festival proudly shared the news of it’s opening night film a premier of Liar’s Dice, India’s official submission into The Oscar’s foreign language category.
2015, A Gala Affair: In its 6th year, the festival Festival and presented a Lifetime Achievement Award to Ms. Sharmila Tagore, an Indian cinema icon, at the Festival Awards Gala, a memorable cocktail event held for the first time. The star-studded Gala evening also featured Chicago Premier of playwright Fawzia Mirza’s one-woman show ‘Me, My Mom and Sharmila.’ and fashion designer Joy Mitra’s preview of a nostalgic India Fashion Week Collection entitled “Chitrahaar”. Actor Kalki Koechlin and Director Ravi Kapoor were also in attendance, and the 2015 festival also marked the emergence of highly popular content workshops.
2016, Going Global: The 7th annual festival still predominantly featured films from India, but this year included films from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and the United States as well, solidifying the festivals truly global reach. The 2016 festival included films that earned high acclaim in India including Aligarh, Masaan, and Ottaal. A highlight of the event was Swara Bhaskar’s opening Q&A following the screening of critically acclaimed Nil Battey Sannata.
2017, Women in Cinema: In its 8th year, the festival presented 44 films across three venues in downtown Chicago and Oakbrook. The films were showcased around the theme of “Women in Cinema”, bringing together renowned and up-and-coming female filmmakers. The star-studded ppening night red carpet saw the likes of Shabana Azmi, Aparna Sen, Rajkummar Rao, and Akshay Oberoi. The Opening Night film was Newton, India’s official entry to the 2018 Oscars. Chicago South Asian Film Festival closed with its first ever audience-selected awards ceremony, recognizing the best short feature, short documentary, feature documentary and feature films.
2018, Pushing Boundaries: In its 9th year, the festival screened over 70 films, a testament to the dramatic growth and popularity of this platform for almost a decade. This year’s event was especially praised for presenting several films highlighting the LGBTQ community as well as other themes around diversity and discrimination. This focus was particularly timely in light of India’s groundbreaking Supreme Court legislation in 2018, de-criminalizing homosexual acts. On the opening night, the festival also paid tribute to the late actor Sridevi through a dance performance featuring some of her most memorable songs.
It has been a glorious decade of cinema, art and culture and the 10th anniversary of CSAFF promises to be its best event yet!
