Resilience is a common topic that shows just how strong somebody is in real life and the movies we occasionally cover on our website. Why? It took resilience for Alex Sangha to come up with this festival along with his associates from Sher Vancouver, which is a charity that’s been helping both Surrey and some other communities in the BC area. Alex has shown great growth with this festival, the charity, and even some films he made got featured on here. It feels like just yesterday when he reached out for a review. Now in its second year, it is a film festival with the most powerful messages to encourage people to stand strong. Films featured in SPFF tell the truth, whether it be harsh or hopeful, and people who were once unheard get a voice as their works get featured at this festival. What kind of stories talk about resilience? Stories by immigrants, women, BIPOC, and even 2SLGBTQ+ because the truth is they experience a lot of discrimination over the years. They don’t deserve any of it; they deserve to let their stories be told, and if it weren’t for Alex and his associates teaming up to make this festival happen, those voices would never be heard. There will be more seeing how successful this festival is coming. Nothing gets the word out better than an event summary that covers a film event’s entirety, so I’m kicking it old-school with that kind of article. Start with some shout-outs to Alex Sangha and Vinay Giridhar for adding this festival to the list of other festivals giving me something to check out, Sidartha Murjani who showed me around and made sure I was comfortable, Bhavesh Chauhan for the friendly little chat, Ian Frayne, Susan Ruzic, and a few other team members who treated me like gold at the festival, all of the volunteers for their hard work and efforts, everyone who submitted of course, and a few close personal friends of mine who made the effort to attend and support this festival. SPFF needs all the support it can get to get the word out there. Now, here’s how I show my support, with a detailed explanation of many events.
Day 1: Opening Night – Taking place at the SFU Surrey Campus, I arrived fashionably early, where I came across the set up of the festival and some familiar as well as unfamiliar people. I learned the content of the festival was 50% from BC and got a chance to connect with a few individuals making connections once people started to gather, and from there, we were ready for the opening screening. Before the screening started, some opening remarks had to be made, one by Joshna Hirani and another by Sidartha, who certainly was doing a lot this festival. I feel like I have to keep saying how impressed I am with all that he has done. There were also other speakers, like Surrey City Councillor Mike Bose, Prem Gill from Creative BC, and even Alex talked about the films and provided a little explanation that if it hadn’t been for the death of January, there would be no festival. Vinay came next and said how women’s representation is essential, and I agreed with every point he made. Of course, Vinay was supposed to be celebrating an anniversary with his wife, and Alex helped make that a little more special by providing some gifts for Vinay. It truly was a heartwarming gesture, and after that, filmmaker Clara Chan spoke about her film Have I Swallowed Your Dreams as it was going to be screened momentarily. Inspired by Clara’s family immigrating, Have I Swallowed Your Dreams is an animation featuring a Vietnamese woman moving to China with plans to become an architect but ends up having a kid. A very hearting and personal story that shows the different perspectives between mother and daughter and makes me wonder what would’ve happened if my mother chose peace of mind over having a kid. The feature of the night was Paper Flowers, based on the true story of Shalin Shah and his fight against cancer. One former writer has called cancer a horrible menace, but the protagonist of this story considers it an advantage. Shalin (Kapil Talwalkar) tries to make his way in his personal life after graduating from university and goes to Peru to build a community center. However, he gets a nasty cough, which forces him to go back home and reveals it was caused by a rough form of cancer that interferes with his lungs. The procedure is successful, but the cancer comes back, this time spreading through his brain. Another part of the story reveals his connection with his girlfriend Fiona (Olivia Liang) and how he’s a bit nervous about introducing her to the family, especially since his father, Jay (Faran Tahir), doesn’t entirely approve of her. The film has some good humourous moments and while the ending is a sad ending, it gives a feel of hope and seeing the positivity of the impact Shalin had on everyone shows that even though someone may not have long to live, they can sometimes still make the best of things in the limited time they have. The reception afterwards allowed attendees to enjoy some delicious goodies, and the live music was relaxing. Plenty more mingling, and I met more familiar people around the area.
Day 2 – I wasn’t able to make it to the first screening of the day, Relaiming Futures: A Call to Protect and Preserve, but I came just in time for the Q&A, which gave great information about climate change and Indigenous stories. Shortly afterward, a flock of familiar faces came on in, and I found myself in a crowded theatre. This along with Days 3 and 4 took place in Landmark Cinemas Surrey. I feel like Day 2 could’ve been the most productive day for SPFF, so this one will be a while. A large number of people came due to the first Shorts Program of the festival, Courage Unscripted – Moments of Fearless Authenticity. First off was the short film, Different Kind of Sick, which was a story about a little girl named Lily dealing with squabbling parents that make her feel uncomfortable, and then things get worse when her mother gets sick as well. Pretty sad but still beautiful to talk about traumatic moments in childhood. Lupe Q and the Galactic Corn Cake has already been mentioned, so I’ll just move on to Mannequin, which is all about a fashion designer who gets no credit or respect from his boss for his fashions that are inspired by his heritage. He befriends some mannequins, and then things get pretty disturbing from there. Female and Furious, which is certainly fast at 5 minutes, shows skater girls being the bad little beauties they aspire to be. There was some humour with this one and some heartfelt moments. Lifers told a story of a man dealing with cancer. He manages to bond with a young police officer who has to overwatch one patient who is an ex-gangster. It was a nice story and especially cool to see fellow locals in the film, like Grace Chin. Warmest Regards, E is the story about a girl staying at a cabin and writing letters to her ex-bf, claiming she’s struggling out there, but really, it’s the best retreat she’s ever had. I felt it was a pretty soothing film. One of my personal favourites came next, Beyond the Reins. It was a short film about a young girl named Lucy who really likes horses and ends up riding one despite her disability. Beforehand, she got mocked for riding a stick horse and went on to ride a real one. Even though it was short, I loved how well this was made. Kids are Only Kids Once was a bit longer, with a documentary that focused on children, especially those of Indigenous upbringing. It was both an inspiring and sad documentary that told a lot. Bubble Gum Ice Cream came afterward, showcasing the struggles of a girl who struggled with the loss of her innocence in a showcase of intensifying visuals. More struggles were showcased in The Eulogy as Julie couldn’t write something the least bit pleasant about her mother for a memorial service. Her brother Julian swings by for the first time in a long time, and it leads to intense argument scenes. A lot of people really enjoyed this one, though. Jia concluded the Short Program being about the lovely concept of a woman named Ming who comes to Australia to mourn her deceased son with Eric, who was her son’s best friend. There was quite the Q&A afterward, but with the tight schedule going on at SPFF, everyone actually had to prepare fast for the next screening.
Spirit and Resilience: A Vaisakhi Celebration was perfect for celebrating the holiday of Vaisakhi, which is an important day honouring the harvest of Spring in the Punjabi community. Starting off was Lullaby for Gulli, a short film about a man who plays the Sitar and makes one of the most beautiful songs I ever heard. Then there was Make The Shot, which talked about South Asian Hockey players. The coach talked about racist issues and setbacks, as well as his own experience in hockey. An athletic young man named Ronin explained his aspirations of being a hockey superstar (before his unfortunate accident a few years ago), and we learn the hardships and history of the hockey everyone got involved in. Very remarkable stories, both a mix of good and bad. I enjoyed watching this, even if I’ve never been too big on hockey myself.
The second Shorts program automatically started afterward, known as The Human Mosaic – Dreams, Loss, and New Beginnings. It all began with A Summer’s End Poem, a fascinating short film about a young boy who uses his savings on the last day of summer for a trip from his grandparents’ home to the city, followed by a haircut so he can look like the coolest kid ever. There’s some humour to this. Next came New Blood, which is all about Hazel and the home she’s living in. Her mother and best friend have a deep, dark secret, and because of that, Hazel’s boyfriend doesn’t quite approve of them. That one ended up being pretty messed up and reminded me of some films I worked on in the past. Now to jump into Jumpstart, a video game-like short that took place in the future, as a guy helps his friend track down her imprisoned friend in a weird world where people’s lifespans are determined by a percentage on a little chest device. With a power surge, the prisoner is free, but both he and his rescuer have guards to fight off. Right after that one came Stand In, which shows the struggle of some of us in the film industry. An aspiring actor named Kenji is almost always the stand-in for the real star, Chris Wong, leading to jealousy. This was a hilarious film to watch, and I laughed right along with everyone else, also at the relatable moments. All those times of being relegated to BG when I didn’t get lead role. For a more musical moment, the next short film was Out Beyond, where a young man looks about his bathroom and starts to play some pretend drums. It was strange, that’s all I can say, really. Then things were steamy and sensual with The Pringle Mingle, when a couple checked into a “luxury” home infested by a couple of strangers. This was also pretty weird, but it was also pretty funny. After that was Close Shave, where a man rushes from mob types and hides out in a building. It’s mysterious, ominous, and later on, it’s a reference to the title. One of those ’Name says it all’ films, more or less. Mirthless, which showed afterward, takes place in the future where a security system, a health system and other bits of technology monitor a big fat bald guy who doesn’t seem too interested in living anymore. When his AI house recommends a service that ships him a baby, he finds his purpose in entertaining the little one through physical comedy. That got freaky, and it reminds me of why I don’t do stunt work to entertain my friend’s kids, unless I can find a way to get paid for it. Now for a rather complex title, Choose The Correct Answer A, B, C or… and it’s about a girl trapped in a room where she has to listen to an audio file while watching three creepy-looking doll types act out a scenario. Ugh, reminds me of my test anxiety. But the disturbing only amped up with HATCH, (no, not this one) where some Afghans hide out in a tanker truck full of water in an attempt to be sneaked across the border. Among them is a little boy who witnesses a couple deaths, and while the underwater moments for the most part were relaxing, most of the movie was disturbing. These are the kinds of stories that really make me think.
By the time everything was done, it was late, and I was exhausted. But I’d have to get up early the next day because there were more screenings I would have to check out. They’ll be more divvied up around here because I’d rather not bulk all of these screenings together for one day.
Redefining Her Story – Getting in around 11:30 or earlier, I settled in and relaxed for quite a while before Velvet Secrets came on, starting with a young woman named Deepthi and her family celebrating Pongal. While Deepthi is out for a while, her mother comes across a red velvet dress that is considered scandalous in their culture. But through a funny and interesting experience, the mom develops a desire for the dress and seems to enjoy wearing it. I enjoyed watching this one just as much as I enjoyed the next one that followed: Teresa’s Choice. A female doctor wants to be a mother, but the pandemic hits and the change of plans makes it hard for her to focus. This one was sad, but it had some relaxing moments. These stories were powerful, and the next one, to wrap it all up, was so inspiring that I enjoyed it thoroughly. Designed By Preeti is a fantastic story about a housewife named Preeti who celebrates her anniversary with her husband, Ajay, and while the festivities are fun and the gift for her is astounding, Ajay turns against her during an argument and slaps her hard. After some help from friends and a change of the locks, Preeti needs something to focus on besides a toxic marriage, so her friend Harry encourages her to start her own fashion designing business. Preeti is a little unsure at first and decides to decompress some more by going out drinking with her gal pals at a bar where she meets Jackson, who owns the place. At the same time, we get to see Preeti’s daughter, Malika, who performs live at the venue. Malika, or Miku as her family calls her (probably because of her musical talent), wants nothing to do with her mother and shuts her out. Preeti tries to find work in design, but the expectations of modern-day employers make it all so difficult. She ends up taking a grocery store cashier job and dealing with cash register complications and a pushy boss. Eventually, Preeti finds work with a designer named Erica, but she’s put on red alert with a too-soon deadline, finding fabric, getting finance, and looking for people to help. But in the process, she finds the ability to reconnect with Malika and stand up to Ajay while getting help from other people. A mix of humour and hardships, Designed by Preeti is a perfectly designed film that shows that when you run your own business, it can be tough. But eventually, it’s going to pay off, I ought to know, and so does Alex, for that matter.
Rewriting Queer Representation – Things were running smoothly so we just zipped right into the next screening with two films to speak out to all the LGBTQ people out there and to those attending. There was a bit of a technical issue with My Roommate Ahriman, resulting in a rescreening afterward. But the film is about a man dealing with his monster roommate who leaves clutter and post-its everywhere and even yells at needlessly harsh volumes. Kind of reminds me of my brother. The man also deals with personal struggles, such as a breakup and how his father doesn’t seem to approve of the way he lives. This one felt silly and strange to me. Then came the long-titled Bulletproof: A Lesbian’s Guide to Surviving the Plot, which is a documentary about lesbians who weren’t the most well-represented in media, most of them getting a sad ending or being killed off. The director went on to explain her reason for making this film while other subjects talked about their favourite characters. But more importantly, it brings up the rise of queer character deaths that happened in 2016, along with revelations of how TV writers aren’t always well organized. This one was very informative, showing just how writing for TV works, and ultimately explained why some shows I watched definitely went downhill within a matter of seasons.
Threads of Memory – The third shorts program, and the first thing today that didn’t start with re. Unlike the last one, there wasn’t as much BC content showcased for this, but it was still interesting. The first was Mirage, where a young woman takes a job at a motel owned by her friend who has a significant debt to pay off. She also finds out how guests come to do drugs. This was a creepy short to watch. Following that was Tehran is Ours an animation showcasing protests and a person from assault, only to be shot. There’s a butterfly that appears frequently in this as well. Pretty sad short, actually. Bardo came next as a woman named Stephanie goes to meet her father who just revealed her mother died, and upon arriving finds her Buddhist godmother who makes her stress worse. This was somewhat funny but mostly stress-inducing. After that was Desync, a film shoot within a film, as the director looks back on her struggle with her mother during her youth while trying to make this scene look presentable for her production. It seems confusing, but it makes sense later. I actually enjoyed it. Then we all got to look at LOOK, a short film about a little girl named Ellie who is often alone since her parents and sister are usually out. Ellie goes to her special place on a dock, where she befriends another little girl. Kind of cute and creepy, and once again something that reminds me of Phoenix. I wonder if she’d ever have the ability to befriend a ghost? Now, back to the films, A Simple Ask is about a student who must muster up the courage to ask her friend out to a cool exhibit. While doing so, she stumbles across an ancient sword summoning an elaborately dressed ancestor who initiates a sword fight. Very strange but very humorous. Next was Conviction, which started with a man in prison named Joseph Crowe, who gets reformed and finds work in a store, but it’s hard for him to readjust. This one was so unsettling, and Joseph himself looked kind of like Phoenix’s dad. A rather strange and simple short was Whispers of Colours, which was an elaborate animation while someone talked about his childhood trauma. Pretty powerful even for its length. Then it all ended after FLIGHT 182, which wasn’t about some band but rather a flight that fell from a terrorist attack in the 70s. Before it happened, a man made plans to take that plane to India so he could check up on his mother, who had a stroke. His wife is unsure of this, but he wants to be there for his mother in case she dies. This was one of the most disturbing things I saw, and it relieves me that security is actually super tight in airports these days. I’m okay with airport security as long as they don’t lose their cool with me. But anyways, this was a really great screening, and wouldn’t you know it, the 17-year-old director of LOOK was in attendance and got a special early award for her film as a surprise. I’m so impressed with how professional her film was made, but even more so that she got a well-deserved award for Best Youth Short.
Harvesting Hope – Food as Healing and Activism – An amazing little showcase that made me hungry as I got some food for thought from the two films for the start of Day 4. It’s a good thing I got some snacks from the exclusive green room beforehand. First off was A Nation’s Table, which was a documentary about food and Anita Stewart, who traveled around to learn about cuisine. We also got some stories shared by farmers and cooks. An extremely beautiful film that talked about food and someone who really made an impact. Then came Tea Creek, which was about Jacob Beaton and the land he owned, with which he is destined to bring food sovereignty back to the economy and Indigenous culture. Through the doc, we are treated to how Tea Creek manages in the 4 seasons, all the ways the people out there work, and how it has benefitted them, but there are still some lingering issues, funding being the biggest one, and Jacob having to deal with childhood trauma. At one point, he gives a good speech to inspire people and get them interested. This was a well-detailed doc with inspiring content and even some humour. This was great content that worked as brain food, in my opinion.
Unseen Palestine – Palestine has been a big discussion topic since it appeared in the news, and today, I still wonder how things are going down there. For this screening, I got to see three films that took place in Palestine, showing some of what life is like out there. The first short was Mawtini, where an elderly woman and a girl named Tanya bond together over gardening, but the landlord doesn’t approve of the new plants and plans to tear them out. Tanya has a personal problem with having to plant something for her mother. The film is funny at first, then cuts deep. Following that was a balance of calm and intensity in The Poem We Sang, which told a story through letters and a collection of memories. A young woman and her uncle used to sing a song together. Finally, after all the harshness, we got introduced to some funny and even interesting content in This is Who We Are, the feature documentary. It was all about skaterboarders in Palestine and the business of Skatepal, which designed some unique and original boards. Run by Charlie and Dan. Charlie used to skateboard in Palestine while teaching English, and this caught the attention of Dan, who reached out, and together, they journeyed to Palestine years later because of how widely accepted skateboarding is. Locals talk about what it’s like to board out there, seeing as it’s not seen as rebellious like in other countries, how they’re running the Palestinian branch of Skatepal, and some other interesting stories about Palestine. Out of all the things I had never seen before, this was the coolest and most radical. If only the Q&A had lasted longer, though.
Life in Full Colour – Celebrating Queer Triumphs – More Queer culture, something I always enjoy looking at. First off was Body Varial, where Rachel/Rami has just had a surgery removing their breast tubes but still doesn’t feel comfortable with their new body. They also have an overprotective mother AND a helpful roommate/bestie. Some funny and pretty powerful. Next, there was Canyon Chorus, where 5 friends raft to a canyon and sing together, having all kinds of fun. Larry Edwards took his very first adventurous trip with an extreme adventurer named Mica and some other associates, including Dan and Shane. I’m not sure, this seemed to remind me of a King of the Hill episode. The next film was Leilani’s Fortune, a documentary about Leilani, who is a singer that goes by the stage name Witch Prophet. She has hardly done stage performances since 2020, when she had a seizure, and even before then, her music career wasn’t fully ready since she had to take care of her son when she was 19. Like some other films in this festival, this one had chapters along with inner details, and the whole thing was really cool in showcasing her fantastic journey.
The Fragility of Forever – The evening was about to come to a close with one last screening before the awards ceremony, so let’s get into what was screened before the best for last. First off was HOLY HEAV3NESs, and yes, that is how it was spelled. Made with rather unusual animation featuring freaky-looking characters, this short was all about an elderly man remembering his live-action childhood before life rapidly changed. The elderly man lingers with a younger man who cradles him. Valuable emotions in this one, but I got kind of creeped out by all the details that went into the design of the characters. The last and definitely not least film was Firma Aqui (Sign Here). Fran Robies lives in a rather interesting future, part of a special dating service where people get together in 4-year relationships and then the contract terminates. Aside from being a part of this temporary partner service, she also spends time talking to her grandmother and working her gardening job. But she gets tired of the service after a while with this particular plan and tells her friends/associates. After they do some drugs, they do a mix with their profiles questionnaires to make things more interesting. Fran is paired up with a man named Rocque, and already she’s unsure of some of his interests. When Fran confesses the truth halfway through their contract, Rocques responds with what true love is, and they find a way ot make it work. Once it’s over, they decide to have a real relationship later on with no contract boundaries. The whole film was great fun but super emotional. It shows how a relationship with someone, given their oddities, can evolve. My last one, personally could never go through something like that.
After that, it was finally time for the Awards Ceremony, which took a bit of time to set up. While that was happening, Sidartha made an announcement and brought up the media team and the planning team, thanking them for all their hard work. Some more opening remarks by Ian Frayne and Susan Ruzic as they talked about plans for next year and thanking their volunteers as well. Alex told everyone the origin story behind this festival and what it was all about. Sundar meant beautiful, and the prize was a bamboo trophy along with a cash prize. Bamboo is actually pretty valuable, and it takes a few hundred dollars to craft one of those Sundar Prize trophies. The festival was made for filmmakers who were starting out, but he was especially pleased with how the majority of submissions were by both women and BIPOC directors. A highlight reel of the whole festival was showcased, and I was shown in there a few times. A lot of great films won great awards, and there was an open mic afterward. In conclusion, SPFF made for a very eventful weekend for me, and I enjoyed it there. Even though it’s only in its 2nd year, it’s doing great, and I can’t wait to see the number of attendees and submissions increasing by next year, especially in the variety of youth content. I’ll have to get Shawn to come along for next year’s or any other events by Sher Vancouver.
