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I am a film and literature scholar with a fascination of art cinema emerging out of South Asia. My internship with Kabir Centre of Arts & Culture enabled me to help with the organizing of an international film festival, South Asian Film Festival of Montréal (SAFFM), which screens independent films with a political and social tenor that usually don’t make it to the mainstream, owing to distribution and exhibition constraints. Kabir Centre of Arts & Culture is a Montréal based multidisciplinary arts organization with a mission to promote harmony among the members of the South Asian diaspora living in Canada.

Through the internship, I wanted to learn the specificities of what goes into the realization of a successful film festival and be an integral part of it by contributing through research, publicity, digital marketing, blog posts and much more. After coming on board, I singled out as many media and cultural organizations based in Montréal as possible, which involved significant research and documentation work. The goal was to connect with cultural centers and establish the festival as a part of the cultural fabric of Montréal by incorporating them in Kabir Centre listservs. I was predominantly responsible for digital marketing, documentation, writing blog posts and press releases, putting up posters around Montréal, and distributing flyers. I wrote social media captions for the organization and collaborated with my peers to provide social media and logistical support to the festival. I made sure that every film was promoted sufficiently by highlighting the themes of the film, the range of awards it had won, and setting the context for every film so it attracted the right people. I talked to numerous South Asian businesses in the Plateau, Parc Extension, Downtown, and other areas for potential funding sources that could help the festival grow. This was incredibly challenging since, during my visits to restaurants and other businesses, I had to convince the owners how sponsoring the festival is worth their time and money. I developed substantial communication skills and learned to get my point across as quickly as possible in the most compelling manner.

As a representative of the festival, my aim was to communicate the importance of the festival to the South Asian community in Montréal. The blog posts I wrote were meant to provide an idea of the wide range of award-winning short films, feature films, and documentaries screened at the festival, representing the diversity, mission and uniqueness of this festival. During the festival days, I was allotted evening shifts at Cinémathèque Québécoise and Cinema De Seve. However, I was present all day on most days, wanting to help in situations when other interns and volunteers could not show up. I arrived early on screening days and helped set up decorations including putting up posters at these cinemas, laying out the red carpet, helping with fixing banners and getting crucial print outs. I helped with the ticketing and distribution of lucky draws as people filed into the cinema. The screenings were followed by interesting discussions where directors were invited to interact with the viewers. As the festival came to a close, I made a presentation showcasing all the winners of the festival.

I had the opportunity to communicate with brilliant filmmakers and scholars who I had stimulating conversations with. I did not receive academic credit for the internship. However, these conversations have proven to be invaluable for the development and writing of my thesis proposal. My supervisor is Dr. Sandeep Banerjee. For my thesis, I am deeply interested in the films of some significant Indian auteurs, such as Shyam Benegal and Govind Nihalani, who were prolific in the ‘70s and ‘80s and known for making political cinema for social transformation. My MA thesis will explore their films and look at the models of social transformations through the exploration of the figure of the intellectual in these films. My thesis will further explore how this figure has transformed in contemporary independent films in a neoliberal India in relation to the socialist orientation of the films in the ‘70s and ‘80s. My work at this festival went a long way in refining my proposal and acquainting me with a range of films and their creators.

I am extremely honoured to have received the Dean of Arts Development Fund. These funds enabled me to manage accommodation and food, which otherwise would have been very difficult.