caravanserai

Panel Discussion:
Bridging Culture Through Film

Wednesday, February 8, 4-6:00 p.m.

Granoff Center for the Creative Arts - Martinos Auditorium
154 Angell Street, Providence [map]

Moderated by George Marshall, Executive Director, Rhode Island International Film Festival, this panel discussion will explore the role of filmmaking in breaking down cultural barriers. Guest panelists from the local film industry will not only bring their expertise in filmmaking to the discussion but also academic and business perspectives.

FREE - Seating is limited. Reserve at this link or call 401-421-4281.

Meet our panelists:

Ayesha Khan

Ayesha Khan, director of feature film "KASHF: Lifting of the Veil" and executive producer of the documentary "Made in Pakistan" is one of Pakistan’s most talented and dynamic young filmmakers. "Made in Pakistan", a 60-minute documentary directed by Nasir Khan and produced by Ms. Khan, follows the lives of four young, middle-class Pakistanis during Pervez Musharraf’s state of emergency in 2007. Winner of the Audience Choice Award for Best Documentary at the South Asian International Film Festival in New York, "Made in Pakistan" is a riveting glimpse into life in Pakistan—a country where politics, fashion, religion, debate and tradition intermingle—where one definition of an Islamic State no longer holds true.

 

 

Beena Sarwar

Beena Sarwar is a journalist, artist and documentary filmmaker with extensive experience working with television and print media in Pakistan and abroad. She holds a Masters in Television Documentary (Goldsmiths College, University of London, 2001) and a BA in Studio Art & English Literature (Brown University 1986). She was a Nieman Fellow, Harvard University (2005-06), Research Fellow, Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard Kennedy School (2006-07), and is currently a Fellow at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance at the Harvard Kennedy School. She is also editorial consultant for Aman ki Asha a peace initiative between the Jang Group of Newspapers, Pakistan and The Times of India.

Sara Archembault

Sara Archambault is the Program Director at the LEF Foundation in Cambridge, MA, funding the work of independent, documentary film and video artists and broadening recognition and support for their work locally and nationally. She is a co-founder and programmer at The DocYard, Boston's premier nonfiction film series, bringing filmmakers from around the world to screen what's innovative and inspiring in documentary cinema. She is currently producing the documentary film "STREET FIGHTING MAN" about a neighborhood in transition in Detroit, MI, and is creating an online audio archive called Rhode Island Lost Landscapes which aims to preserve the memories of where things used to be. Sara frequently serves as a juror, panelist and moderator at a variety of film festivals; and volunteers for the Women¹s Fund of RI and Girls Rock! RI.

Keith Brown

Keith Brown is a native Rhode Islander who first started making films as soon as he was old enough to borrow his parent's Super 8 camera. He holds an MFA in Film Production from Boston University. His film, "Tough All Over", has screened at the Boston Cinema Census, the Antelope Valley International Film Festival, the Georgetown Indy Film Fest, the Syracuse International Film and Video Festival, Film Stock, and the Rhode Island International Film Festival. His previous film, "Moving Pictures", was honored with First Place Student Experimental Film at the Columbus Ohio International Film and Video Festival, First Place Experimental Film at the University of Rhode Island Visualizations Film Festival and the Best of Festival Award at the University of Rhode Island Visualizations Film Festival. Keith developed a film studies course, Representation of Youth in Film, which he taught at Tufts University in 2006. He has also taught film production courses at Boston University.  He is currently a Lecturer in the Film/Media Department at the University of Rhode Island.


Reshad Kulenovic

Reshad Kulenovic is a writer/director based in Rhode Island and New York. He has worked in the production department of numerous films and TV shows, including "THE EDUCATION OF CHARLIE BANKS" and in the camera department for the Newport Jazz Festival. He has been awarded the Antonio Cirino Memorial Art Fellowship and the University of Rhode Island gave him the first ever President's Award for Excellence in Film. For his short film "SNOVI" he became one of the first artists to be funded by the Heinrich Boll Foundation. Another producer of "SNOVI" was the Centre Andre Malraux Sarajevo, which also produced Jean-Luc Godard’s "NOTRE MUSIQUE". "SNOVI" is nominated for a 2011 Student Academy Award. He is currently writing his follow up film and teaching in the film department at the University of Rhode Island.

Dr. Kevin Esch

Dr. Kevin Esch has taught film studies at Tulane University and Hofstra University, and currently teaches at Roger Williams University and the University of Rhode Island. His articles and reviews have been published in Film Quarterly, Journal of Film and Video, Film Criticism, and a forthcoming edited collection on screen acting from Routledge. He is at work on his first book, to be titled In the Moment: Mythologies of Performance in the Contemporary Hollywood Industry. In a previous life, he was a film reviewer for WORT-FM in Madison, Wisconsin.

 

 

Panel discussion presented by FirstWorks as part of our year-long Caravanserai project—introducing American audiences to Sufi artists, filmmakers & musicians through a series of intensive community engagement and performance programs.

This event is supported in part by a grant from the RI Council for the Humanities, an independent affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, with additional support from the Brown University Creative Arts Council.