Lakshmi Iyer
India Post News Service
SANTA CLARA, CA: On India’s 72nd Independence Day – August 15, a lamp lighting ceremony attended by local dignitaries marked an auspicious beginning for the FOG Film Fest, now in its 5th consecutive year, and also for the Festival of Globe (FOG) – a five day extravaganza culminating in a ‘mela’ and Parade in the city of Fremont on the weekend of 18th and 19th August.
This time, the venue for the festival was the lively AMC Mercado 20, a popular multiplex in the city of Santa Clara, California – the heart of Silicon Valley.
Fremont Mayor Lily Mei, Council member Raj Salwan, Sunnyvale Council member Nancy Smith and Vice Mayor of Santa Clara where FOG Film Fest took place, Kathy Watanabe, and a representative from California State Assemblymember Kansen Chu’s office, District Director, Anurag Paul, were the dignitaries who graced the occasion.
Dr. Romesh Japra, Founder and Convener of Festival of Globe (FOG), Rajesh Verma, President of FIA, Chandru Bhambra from the Board of Trustees and many other FOG members were present.
The three day film festival had movies from the Bay Area on the first day, international films on the second day and special screenings on the last day that also had a Women Empowerment Panel discussion with celebrity panelist and Grand Marshal Tanishaa Mukerji. The film fest closed with the 2008 comedy, “One Two Three” that featured the Grand Marshals, Tanishaa Mukerji and Tusshar Kapoor in its ensemble cast
On the first day, a series of short films from local Bay Area talent, started off the evening at 5 pm prior to the inauguration. After the inauguration, there was a documentary, “The Rockstar of Real Estate”, directed and produced by Donald Harrison. It is based on the famous realtor and motivational speaker from the Bay Area, Ken DeLeon, who has overcome dire circumstances and hopes to inspire other people to not get thrown off by life’s challenges. Mr. DeLeon himself attended the screening with his entourage.
Another Bay Area film was the drama, “Watching Peter Knorll”, the story of a teenaged boy trying to fulfill his mother’s last wishes against the backdrop of family feuds and secrets that he does not know. The film was well represented by its cast and crew, and their well wishers, family and friends, including the executive producer, Joseph Mangelli.
The second day saw an extraordinary lineup of films from UK, Russia, Canada, Japan and Australia. The first segment of shorts featured films on World War II and the Holocaust.
“A Secret Heart” by Cary Sawhney from the UK, told a time-travel story of a young man in London who falls for a mysterious young woman who is actually now an old woman. She appears to him as a young woman who is waiting for her beloved during World War II.
“Clash of Morality”, a short by New York based filmmaker, Vinay Pujara, told the story of a Muslim man and a white American trapped in an elevator and how prejudice makes us see normal, good people in a bad light.
“Waiting for Waldemar”, a Canadian film directed by Eric Spoeth, told the touching story of an ethnic German family in the Soviet Union during World War II. Fleeing for their lives, the father, Waldemar, disappears while going to buy bread for the family. The children piece together his memories decades later.
The last one, “Violin”, is part of a trilogy on the Holocaust by Russian filmmaker, Konstantin Fam. As the name suggests, it narrates the journey of a violin from a Jewish shop in pre-World War II Russia to a concentration camp where a Nazi commandant orders musicians to be shot dead, and finally to the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. This film has the distinguished honor of making it to the long list of the Oscars as a contender for Best Short Film.
The Japanese feature drama, “The Man with the Winged Tiger”, written and directed by Wataru Tomita, is the story of a failed novelist who returns to his hometown to join his father’s traditional pottery making business. He catches a young boy stealing from a bookstore and impersonates the boy’s favorite author while reprimanding him. He develops a bond with the boy and his single mother and an interesting journey ensues for all of them. The director himself had come for the screening and the audience fawned over him.
“Foreign Flame”, a crossover murder mystery romantic drama from Australia, directed by Jagapathi Peddi, featured Rishi Deepak in the lead role. The actor has been a part of FOG Film Fest in the past, too, with Fiji-Australian/New Zealand films. In this film, Rishi plays the nuanced role of a man who comes to Australia as a student, meets and falls in love with a local girl and when she breaks up with him, unhappily settles for an arranged marriage with a nice Indian girl.
He mistreats his wife and one day, when she suddenly disappears and is found murdered, finds himself as the chief suspect in the investigation.
Both Jagapathi (Jaga) Peddi, the director, and Rishi Deepak attended the screening and were present for a Q & A. Dr. Japra and Lakshmi Iyer, the Coordinator of the FOG Film Fest (and author of this article), lauded Rishi Deepak for his growth as an actor.
The last day opened with a short film on honor killings, “Forbidden”. Inspired by true events, it is the heart-rending story of a young Sikh woman who falls in love with an Iranian Muslim and elopes. Set in New Jersey, the edge-of-the-seat film features Gulshan Grover as the father who is out to kill his offspring and her lover, and Salony Luthra as his ill-fated daughter. The film is written, directed and co-produced by Vibha Gulati. Although Ms. Gulati could not be present, one of the producers, Neeraj Vasudeva, represented the film and was part of a Women Empowerment Panel that followed the screening. Tanishaa Mukerji, one of the Grand Marshals for 2018, was the celebrity panelist for the event.
Along with producer Neeraj Vasudeva, the other panelists included education pioneer and president of Indian Women Empowered (IWE) – Anima Desai; litigation claims specialist, social activist and founder of women’s forums and a gender neutral beauty pageant – Parmeet Randhawa;
multifaceted radio jockey, management consultant and founder of Pragnya, a non-profit for autistic children – Kavita Sreedhar; realtor and businesswoman – Nisha Sharma; model, actor, casting director and a former Ms. India 2013 – Esha Tewari and the emcee, the Hon. Teresa Cox. Ms. Cox is on the Board of Trustees for Ohlone College and is the first African American woman to have graduated with a degree in Nuclear Engineering in the US. She has served as trade advisor to President Obama and has held other distinguished positions in the US government. She has also worked with several large and prestigious companies in the Bay Area.
Lastly, a couple of short films – Bay Area short film, “Trail Past Prejudice” written and directed by Shruti Tewari who also starred in the film, and a thriller, “Los Angeles” by returning filmmaker, Kishore Tummala of New Jersey, preceded the screening of the closing film, “One Two Three”.
The feature is a comedy with an ensemble cast that includes the Grand Marshals of FOG 2018 – Tusshar Kapoor and Tanishaa Mukerji.
Audiences appreciated all the films that were screened at the festival.
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