NEW YORK: The Sikh Art and Film Foundation held a grand, star-studded Sikh Heritage Gala on Sept 22 at Cipriani Wall Street New York City and the Fourth Annual New York Spinning Wheel Film Festival at Asia Society on September 23.This year's gala was emceed by Daljit Dhaliwal, anchor of the PBS international documentary series, "WIDE ANGLE" and "ABC News Now" and recognized individuals for their contributions to the Sikh community.

They included Jagdeep Singh, President of Infinera Corporation, honored for leadership as a leading entrepreneur in Silicon Valley and also well known for his philanthropic work; director Shonali Bose and producer Bedebrata Pain were recognized for their courage in making the movie "Amu" depicting the 1984 riots in Delhi India; and for vision, New York State Comptroller

The Honorable Thomas P. DiNapoli was honored for his tremendous effort to bring Sikh awareness amongst the public post September 11th and for co-sponsoring legislature in New York supporting religious freedom for the Sikhs.

The event garnered support and encouragement from all communities. Mayor of New York, The Honorable Michael Bloomberg in support of the event issued a proclamation declaring September 22 - 28 "Sikh Heritage Week." The guests of honor for this event were Congressman Joe Crowley and Member of Parliament, India and Former Chairman of Minorities commission, Sardar Tarlochan Singh. Ambassador of India Ronen Sen, was the honored guest for the event and he commended the President of the Sikh Art and Film Foundation on the Foundation's progress and initiatives.

"Four years ago we hosted our first New York Film Festival at Hofstra University and we have progressively grown over the years," Tejinder Singh Bindra, president of Sikh Art and Film Foundation. "Last year, Sikh Art and Film Foundation supported the Sikh Exhibition 'I See No Stranger' held at Rubin Museum, which proved to be a resounding success and received rave reviews in the New York Times and other media.

There has been a wonderful steady growth in support of this event from all over including the United States, Canada, England and of course, India."VIPs who attended the event included Bollywood star Kabir Bedi, Dr Ruby Dhalla, Member of Parliament, Canada, Consul General of India, Neelam Deo, Lawrence Mulvey, Nassau County Police Commissioner and Dr. Chirinjeev Kathuria, Chairman of Planetspace.All the patrons of the Sikh Art and Film Foundation attended the gala including: Ajay Banga, Chairman, Global Consumer Group - CITI, Ishar S. Bindra, Chairman Jeetish Group of Companies, Sant S. Chatwal, Chairman Hampshire Hotels & Resorts, LLC., Dr. Narinder S. Kapany, Chairman of Sikh Foundation, Palo Alto California Gurpreet Singh (Judgee). Chairman Grace Drive Management Corporation.The Board of Directors for the Spinning Wheel Festival was also present to support the event including Dr. Brinder Singh Ahluwalia, Bicky Singh (chair of Los Angeles Chapter) and T. Sher Singh.

The Chairs of this year's Spinning Wheel Film Festival celebrating the art of Sikh filmmaking are Inni Kaur Dingra (New York) and Miriam Kaur (Washington D.C.). This year's platinum sponsors included: Iconix Brand Group, Inc., New York Commercial Bank, Saavn, Ishar Singh Bindra, Sant Singh Chatwal, and Gurpreet Singh (Judgee). The event's gold sponsors were Air India, Habib American Bank, Hofstra University, Jackson Hewitt, Ritu & Ajay Banga, Surinder Singh Chawla, Vikas & Indu Dhall, Maninder Singh Sethi, Arnick Singh, and Dr. Prithipal Singh. Silver sponsors of the event included: Bank Leumi USA, CIT, DCD Capital, FBI, IDB Bank, Tejinder & Manmeet Lamba, and B.J. & Preet Singh.