AWR screens at 1st Annual Vancouver International South Asian Film Festival (VISAFF)

This past Saturday, AWR screened at the 1st ever VISAFF.

VISAFF was the labour intensive vision of actor/producer Agam Darshi.  Along with her partners, Agam brought a festival to Vancouver that showcased Vancouver’s South Asian Community in a diverse fashion.  It was a great event created by some very talented film industry people.

I wish Agam and the rest of the VISAFF team best of luck in their future VISAFFs, you will definitely be around for years!

Thank you to the audience for the great questions during the directors Q&A and a sincere thanks to all the feedback I received throughout the day.

Shout out to Agam Darshi, your hard work paid off, thanks again for the invite!

To learn more about VISAFF, click here.

Posted in Latest News |

Honoured at the Community Leader Awards

Hello everyone,

Today I was honoured with a Community Leader Award – Honourable Mention from The Surrey Leader Newspaper, a community newspaper serving Surrey-North Delta since 1929.

It was a great gathering of proactive people from the community.  A chance to network with other activists and people with similar backgrounds.

To be honest, I have no idea why I received this award, or for that matter, who nominated me.  That person must see something in my work that I do not.  I never have nor ever will do this activism for recognition.  As I will continuously say until my death, it is everyone’s innate duty to make a positive difference in this world.

I have been recognized as a ‘community supporter’ as per the plaque, thank you.  To everyone who supported me and The Surrey Leader Newspaper, I sincerely appreciate and thank you for this.

To check out The Surrey Leader Newspaper, click here.

To download the entire 8th Annual Community Leader Awards Newspaper, click here.

Thank you everyone!

mani

Posted in Latest News |

AWR used as education tool for Resource Center

Today, the short version of ‘A Warrior’s Religion’ was utilized by Sarjeet Purewal of Pacific Resource Center Society (PCRS) and Club Utopia in conjunction with a presentation for her peers.  The goal of the screening was to educate other members of the resource center on the precursors that exist in the South Asian and other minority communities that can lead young men and women to poor lifestyle choices.

PCRS is a great service to the community and has been a staple in Metro Vancouver and neighbouring communities for over 25 years.  They encompass many programs that are specifically designed to help individuals and communities, I highly recommend that you check out their services and programs and utilize if needed.

The screening was followed by a great Q&A session.  Topics touched on were sexism, alcoholism, domestic violence, and BC’s growing marijuana industry.

I wanted to thank everyone for another great screening, as a sincere promise to you, if ever any more help is needed, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Shout out to Sarjeet Purewal, coordinator, community activist, and youth mentor for many years and hopefully many years to come (don’t retire!) and Kiran Dhami for her continuous hard work and great presentation.

For information on PCRS, click here.

Thanks everyone,

mani

Posted in Latest News |

AWR DVD Release in the next few weeks!

Exciting news everyone.  ‘A Warrior’s Religion’ is currently being licensed to be released on DVD.

Over the last year I have received 100s of people wanting a copy so they can help spread the message.  I thank everyone for their interest and patience.

It was a long road getting the film this far, but very worthwhile.  Bring awareness to youth and society has been my only goal for the last 4 years.

Please contact us via the contact section on the right hand side of the website if you are interested in purchasing a copy of the film.

Limited quantities.

Thanks again,

mani

Posted in Latest News |

AWR featured in Gangs in Canada book!

Hello everyone,

Last year I was contacted by the always hard working Jeff Pearce.  An amazing Canadian author.  I was interviewed for his recently released book, ‘Gangs in Canada’.

The book is a great researched piece of literature.  Anyone interested in learning more of the criminal underworld and gangs in Canada should definitely pick up a copy.  It touches on everything from the Hell’s Angels, Sexism, Bindy Johal, and much more.

Jeff has graciously let us quote a few sentences from his book;

For all his learn-as-you-go approach to journalism, filmmaker Mani Amar, a rank amateur, gets you to understand more about what makes gang life tick for the Punjabi community with a few talking heads in A Warrior’s Religion than W-Five does with one high-profile reporter, two producers credited on-air and shots of kids dancing and of scary knives.  Yes, Amar made a full-length documentary.  He spoke to victims as well as gang members.  He also bothered to get more than on opinion on the facets of the problem.

Shout out to Jeff Pearce for reaching out to me, for the kind words, and permission to quote his work.

You can check out more of Jeff’s work at www.jeffpropulsion.com.

To purchase this book, click here.

Thanks,

mani

Posted in Latest News |

Article in the Surrey Leader – ‘Guilty plea in Surrey murder plot’

Not much for me to say on this post, I always knew he was still involved.  Hence the premise of my documentary was that there is really no way out of this lifestyle.

—–

Guilty plea in Surrey murder plot

By Dan Ferguson – Surrey North Delta Leader

Published: April 16, 2010 1:00 PM
Updated: April 16, 2010 2:10 PM

Former gangster Bal Buttar is standing trial in connection with a Surrey murder plot.
- Courtesy Mani Amar

Meena Jouhal of Surrey has been sentenced to seven years in prison for plotting the murder of her husband with the alleged assistance of a blind and paralyzed former gangster from Vancouver.

The 33-year-old Jouhal was charged with counselling another person to commit an indictable offence in 2007 along with the wheelchair-bound Baljit “Bal” Buttar who lives in a long-term care facility.

She pleaded guilty in February and was sentenced in March of this year.

Because Buttar is still awaiting trial by jury, a B.C. Supreme Court judge has imposed a ban on publication that forbids reporting any details of the Jouhal sentencing hearing except for her guilty plea and jail term.

The ban is to remain in effect until the jury in the Buttar trial has retired to consider its verdict “…or until the case against Baljit Buttar has otherwise been concluded…” the order states.

Buttar’s trial on charges of counselling another to commit an indictable offence and conspiracy to commit murder is expected to begin later this year before a B.C. Supreme court judge and jury in New Westminster.

According to sworn documents filed by investigators in Surrey Provincial Court after Jouhal and Buttar were arrested, the pair began planning the murder of Navtej Jouhal in July of 2006.

They allegedly tried to get another person, identified in the court document only as “E. Kramer” to commit the murder.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Media|Blog |

AWR at University of British Columbia!

University of British Columbia (UBC), BC’s pinnacle post-secondary institution was the host of AWR yesterday.  The screening took place for the eager minds of Professor Harjot Oberoi’s South Asian Beyond South Asian course.  The screening was followed up with a Q&A where along with questions about the film, I answered questions about my personal experiences growing up and with the making of the film.

The students were very appreciative of my hard work to produce such a project.  It is for the youth, I work so hard.

Later that night, Emerging Leaders of UBC (ELUBC), a club for students wishing to taking on a leadership role in their school and endeavours, kindly invited me to speak at their 3rd Annual Leadership Summit, appropriately titled, ‘In The Face Of Adversity’.  The event hosted many speakers who came to share their stories of trials and tribulations.  What a great event.  I was given a great opportunity to speak about the issues of Marijuana Legalization and Gang Violence.  It was also a chance for me to advise students on the power each of them has in making a difference.  I sincerely hope I was able to spark a few minds.

The president of the club, William Tao, is a very hard working young student destined to make a difference in society.  Props to him and his club for approaching such proactive endeavours.

You can find more information about the event here.

Shout outs to Professor Harjot Oberoi and William Tao.

Thanks all,

mani

Posted in Latest News |

Screening and Q&A for Criminology Students of Douglas College

Hello all,

Thanks to our old friend, Professor Heidi Currie, I was invited back to Douglas College (Coquitlam Campus) to showcase the short version of my documentary for the Sociological Explanations of Criminal Behaviour course.  The screening along with an in depth Q&A session was a great success.  Students seemed to be very engaged and motivated with their future career choices in the Criminal Justice fields.

As always, it was my pleasure to help educate young minds.

Shout out to Heidi Currie for setting everything up once again.

Thank you,

mani

Posted in Latest News |

AWR Trailer shown at Vancouver staple – Celluloid Social Club!

The legendary Celluloid Social Club, renowned for bringing the independent Vancouver film scene together, was kind enough to reach out to me to have me show my film’s trailer and do a quick Q&A to the always interested audience on the night of February 10th, 2010.

The trailer seemed to reach the audience in the manner intended, to advise them there is an issue and we need to do something about it.

The Club was a great place to meet other likeminded individuals and also to garner support for one another’s film projects.

To everyone in the Vancouver independent film scene that is unaware of Celluloid, click on their logo at the bottom to check out their website.  Also, check out their partner website, First Weekend Club.

Shout outs to Alexandra Staseson & Paul Armstrong, your support of the industry is definitely appreciated.

Thanks everyone,

mani

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Film screened for youth – SACCAYV

Tonight my film was screened for local youth at Grand Taj Banquet Hall in Surrey.  The screening was put together by the always hardworking Rubina Mudhar & Sandy Bachra, both of Mosaic BC, both of South Asian Community Coalition Against Youth Violence (SACCAYV).  The event was youth motivated and driven.  Rubina, Sandy, and myself believed that this event should stay focused on youth and not have picture hungry adults invited.  The setting was comfortable for the youth, comfortable enough to have a strong Q&A session follow immediately after the screening.

It was a great intimate event and I want to send my thanks and shout outs to Rubina and Sandy for their hardwork.  Though they stray away from recognition, these two are some of the real community leaders that need to be known.  Thanks again ladies.

Best,

mani

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