CHICAGO (Diya TV) — Chicago’s South Asian Film Festival or CSAFF, returned to the Showplace Icon Theater this year with over 100 films, a master class, an industry panel, and a web series premiere.
The festival is a place for filmmakers to showcase their hard work and share stories they feel are not told often enough. The intimacy of CSAFF is huge part of why attendees and filmmakers alike are drawn to the festival year after year, and sharing stories with the South Asian community specifically is meaningful for filmmakers.
Rasika Dugal and Aparshakti Khurana were the recipients of CSAFF’s SAFA award, South Asian Films in America, an award honoring South Asian films and artists exclusively in Chicago.
Amidst the writer and actor strike, the importance of independent cinema was quite apparent. The panel ‘East Meets West’ featured actors who spoke to topics such as the changing landscape of filmmaking, telling stories authentically and answering audience questions.
Filmmakers are also able to connect with each other during Q&As, being at the festival and of course the Bollywood afterparty. It is a opportunity for artists to connect with their peers, reminisce about the filmmaking experience, support each other and possibly ignite that spark to make a project together.
Next year will be CSAFF’s 15th year and festival director Jigar Shah is already making big plans.
Stay tuned to Diya tv for your source into the film festival scene.
