Creative Sikhs

Saturday Host: Nikki Gill

Nikki Gill has spent her entire life in the world of film and television production. As a teenager, she began filming and editing videos while pursuing her Bachelor of Arts at York University. Today, Nikki serves IMC among the city’s preeminent postproduction facilities as its CFO. However, in a shop as diverse as IMC, responsibilities entailed so much more than crunching numbers. The company specialized in most facets of post and demanded a highly diversified skill set from its executives. It is evident that the loyalty and dedication she has given to the company is well reflected by the shop’s slate of top-name clients; CTV, CBC, Shaw, CP Rail, Discovery, MuchMusic, YTV, are merely a few. Nikki’s vast industry experience and passion for all forms of media are also serving her well as a talented Executive Producer for TV shows such as Fight Xchange. For over 35 years, Nikki has continued to work in filmmaking. Now, Nikki continues her passion for film as one of the MCs for this year’s Sihklens Art and Film Festival.

Top Knot or Not 

In this coming-of-age film, Jag makes one of the toughest decisions of his young life. Does he honor his Sikh family values and traditions, and wear a turban, or cut off his hair to fit in with his friends?

Have You Forgotten Me?

In this emotionally compelling short, “Have you forgotten me” shines a light on North America’s oldest running Sikh Temple and the struggle it represents. 

Sab Rab De Bande

Sab Rab De Bande presents the various challenges that LGBTQ Sikhs grapple with and the different ways in which they reconcile their faith and gender/sexual identities. The documentary, through interviews with LGBTQ Sikhs, captures the varied experiences of queer Sikhs. Featured in the documentary are five different people with different gender and sexual identities, living in different parts of India.

No Beloved

Fifty-year-old Ehsaan runs a tea stall where he has been noticing a male couple, who have become regular customers. Their casual behavior makes him very disturbed and angry. One day this anger erupts in a violent reaction, leaving Ehsan with a mix of guilt and nostalgia.

51 States

51 States addresses the issues of equality, extreme nationalism, and pack mentality by taking us into an all too possible future where Sima, a Sikh wife, and mother, must fight to be reunited with her family.

Waleed

The story of Waleed revolves around a family of three people. Jaswinder, his mother Pritam Kaur, and his father live in a happy family in 1975. Jaswinder is an enthusiast who is looking for a job, but wherever he goes he is rejected. His father and his mother are finally compelled to tell him the truth about his engraved tattoo.

Masahiro Maeda’s World of Ceramics

The documentary produced by a Japanese Sikh student focuses on giving an insight into Masahiro Maeda’s creative process and philosophy of craftsmanship. Maeda-San is a well-known ceramics artisan based in Tokyo, Japan, and is considered to be a National Living Treasure.

Dark Wisdom (in Punjabi)

Dark Wisdom is about Rajbir, who likes donating money for a Gurdwara’s building and gets enlightened by a child’s soul that one should donate money for the benefit of humanity rather than donating to buildings and materialistic things.

DHUNDH

DHUNDH is a film based on the reality of abusive relationships. Suman convinces herself that she is happily in love with her abusive/manipulative partner Inder, while her mental health is deteriorating. Inder likes to take control and express his love on his terms.

Identity

Canada is a land of immigrants with around 300,000 immigrants arriving every year, including international students and refugees from all around the world. This is the story of a girl who escaped from the war in Afghanistan and landed in Canada. Fortunately, she survives the crisis, but she loses her home, family, and her identity to become a refugee. An international student falls in love with this Afghan girl. This film shows the struggle of immigrants and how they make their path to a new identity.

Panja Sahib

Panja Sahib depicts the famous shrine at Hasan Abdal, Pakistan. The shrine is so-called because the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak Dev Ji left his handprint on a boulder at the Gurdwara. Thousands of faithful Sikhs from around the world visit the shrine. Four times a year, during special celebrations, an even larger number of Sikh pilgrims visit the Gurdwara. The film explains the history and structure of the shrine, and how to visit it.

SEVA

Seva, a documentary created by Nishkham TV and the SALDEF SikhLEAD internship class of 2021, highlights how the pandemic profoundly impacted people worldwide and how Sikhs worldwide contributed to helping and saving lives by doing SEVA.

A Q & A session about this film will follow.