Festival winner will be based on votes by viewers.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: An Indian American film has been selected for the 2014 PBS Online Film Festival, an Internet-based showcase of short films that allows viewers to vote for their favorite in an effort to celebrate diversity in filmmaking.
My Dear Americans is the only South Asian-centric film selected out of the 10 that are being showcased on the 2014 slate. The film, which runs only about seven minutes long, is directed by Arpita Kumar, an Indian-origin artist who is now a filmmaker and professor in California.
The film, as described on the Film Festival’s website, is about “An overly excited husband [who] tries to cheer up his wife as they prepare to celebrate Fourth of July in their brand new home – complete with matching American flag T-shirts; but as the Indian-American couple adjust to life in the ‘burbs they are soon exposed to local ignorance and prejudice that threatens to dampen their spirits.”
My Dear Americans stars Gugun Deep Singh and Ansuya Nathan as the husband-and-wife couple at the center of the story. Singh is originally from Canada and played a small non-speaking role in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, while Nathan was a shuttle pilot in the centerpiece action scene of 2006’s Superman Returns.
The film is a joint presentation of the National Black Programming Consortium (NBPC) and the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM). The NBPC is a 35 year-old organization that “develops, produces and funds media content about the Black experience for public media outlets, including television, digital radio and online,” while CAAM is a non-profit dedicated to “presenting stories that convey the richness and diversity of Asian American experiences to the broadest audience possible.”
The 2014 PBS Online Film Festival began on June 16, and will go through the end of July. As of now, My Dear Americans ranks #5 out of the 10 selected films in terms of user votes. Those interested in watching the film and voting for it can do so at the festival’s official website. The trailer for My Dear Americans can be viewed below: