The 4th Independent South Asian Film Festival kicks off Oct. 3 with a musical performance and a short documentary on community media in rural India.

Voices of Kutch

(Chaitanya Modak, 2006, India, Kutchi with English subtitles, 34 mins.)
Our opening night short film, "Voices of Kutch" is an insightful film into community radio movement in India using the context of an experiment in radio programing done with community participation by the Kutch Mahila Vikas Sanghatan's community radio project - Radio Ujjas.

Revolving around the story of a little girl and a radio she receives as a gift, the film's argument is built through the radio program she listens to and the shared experience of the practioners and audiences of community radio broadcasting.

Salman Ahmed

Salman Ahmed, the founder of Junoon, South Asia's best known rock band, will kick off the 4th annual ISAFF with a performance. He will also share with us his thoughts on film and activism in the post-9/11 world as a Muslim American.

As an internationally recognized celebrity, Ahmed has been a passionate promoter of peace between India and Pakistan, as well as, between the West and the Muslim world. His documentaries, "Rockstar and the Mullahs" on music in Islam and "It's My Country Too" on Muslim-Americans have appeared on PBS and BBC. More information: www.junoon.com