Indian-American's film premieres at 'Cinequest'

A film depicting the story of an immigrant Sikh family confronted with the realities of the post-9/11 attacks in the US premiered at the prestigious 'Cinequest' film festival in Silicon Valley.

Titled 'The Gold Bracelet', the film directed by California-based Indian-American filmmaker and actor Kavi Raz, featured on Saturday night at the festival which is ranked among the top 15 film events in the world.

The cast in the film, which is Raz's directorial debut, includes actress Archana Puran Singh and newcomers Meherunnisa Hasan and Arsh Singh. Raz has also starred in the film, while Bollywood singers Jaspinder Narula and Sonu Nigam have lend their voice to several soundtracks in it.

Set against the backdrop of the September 11, 2001 terror strikes, which rocked America, the film traces the events in the lives of the Singh family. As the family prepares for the wedding, terrorists strike the World Trade Centre and it becomes at target of those wanting to take revenge, making no distinction among Sikhs, Arabs and those from the Middle Easterners.

"My father was also attacked by a group of young kids," following the attacks, Raz told a local newspaper.

The script, he told the Contra Costa Times, is based on a Sikh family, which lost two brothers after the tragedy.

One was a gas station owner who was murdered in Arizona on September 15 after being mistaken for an Arab and the other was a taxi driver in San Francisco who was also killed later.