A Turban & A Beard [Pre-Feature Short]
Witness three stories told over two decades shedding light on Sikh hate crimes in one nation. It doesn’t matter who’s in the White House. White supremacy is still all around us. Hate never forgets.
Director
Jaskaran Singh holds a Bachelor of Arts with Honors from the University of Toronto in Political Science and is a graduate of Sheridan College’s Advanced Television and Film program. He held the positions of Head Writer and Creative Director while at UofT for its campus wide media channel. While at Sheridan, Jaskaran continued to write and produce short works, most notably “ReArranged,” which boldly addressed arranged marriages; and “S.A.M.”, a technically and logistically demanding sci-fi production. Upon completion from the program, Jaskaran produced another sci-fi short, “Autopsy,” and made his directorial debut with “A Turban & A Beard.” The short film highlighted Sikh hate crimes in the almost twenty years since 9/11. Jaskaran founded Paradox Lost, hoping to use his unique voice to highlight marginalized stories.
Virinderpaul Singh’s narrative films/documentaries have screened in multiple film festivals and on national network stations. Having produced broadcast news for Rogers Television and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, he has focused on hard-hitting social issues within the South Asian diaspora. With an educational background in marketing and journalism, he created an independent production label under Versatile Pictures. This entailed raising venture capital for independent feature films, web-series, and shorts. He is an active member of the Directors Guild of Canada (Locations/Accounting Departments) and the DOC organization.
Sartaj Aulakh has an in-depth understanding of the filmmaking process backed with the technical abilities to direct, shoot, and edit video content confidently. Having worked in the film and television industry for the last 7 years, in both Bollywood and North American cinema, he has collected ample experience for any variety of production, fiction or non-fiction. This extends itself to every aspect, from pre-production (drafting schedules, budgets, contracts), to production (directing/project management), and post-production. Sartaj’s academic history and experiences only attest to these abilities, having been trained and specialized in Audio Visual Direction from Symbiosis International University (India), and post-graduate studies in Producing and Documentary Filmmaking from Sheridan College. In the past year, Sartaj joined the Director’s Guild of Canada as an Assistant Director. During his apprenticeship, he was able to work on such projects as “Designated Survivor,” “Code 8,” and “Mangoes.”
Festivals/Awards
IFFSA Toronto