ROOTS OF LOVE
27 min | 2011 | India
In Punjabi & English w/subtitles
Directed by Harjant Gill
Produced by PSBT (Public Service Broadcasting Trust)
SYNOPSIS
Told through the perspectives of six different Sikh men ranging in age from fourteen to eighty-six, Roots of Love documents the changing significance of hair and the turban among Sikhs in India. We see younger Sikh men abandoning their hair and turban to follow the current fashion trends, while the older generation struggles to retain the visible symbols of their religious identity. The film is a timely and relevant exploration of these inherent conflicts between tradition and modernity, between pragmatism and faith. The choice of cutting one’s hair is one that not only concerns the individual and his family, but an entire community.
READINGS ABOUT THE FILM:
2020 “Transnational Hair (and Turban): Sikh Masculinity, Embodied Practices and Politics of Representation in an Era of Global Travel,” in Ethnography
REVIEWS
“An honest, heart-wrenching film about religious, cultural, familial, and generational identity issues for Sikhs, focusing primarily on the wearing of the turban for male Sikhs... a timely exploration of Sikh identity in an increasingly secularized and globalized world that will be welcomed by educators, students, Sikh and non-Sikh religious centers and social commentators alike...” – Doris Jakobsh(University of Waterloo), author of Relocating Gender in Sikh History
“Beautifully shot and crafted… succeeds both cinematically and ethnographically as an engaging narrative sure to provoke discussion both among Sikhs and students of anthropology, gender, religion, or media." – Jennifer Cool, in American Anthropologist, 114 (4)
SCREENINGS
TV Broadcast:
· BBC World News
· Doordarshan (Indian national TV channel)
· NETA (National Education Telecommunication Association)
Film Festivals & Academic Settings:
· South Asia Institute, UT Austin (invited screening), April 2018
· Institute for South Asia Studies, UC Berkeley (invited screening), November 2017
· SF International Asian American Film Festival, 2012
· 3rdi SF International South Asian Film Festival, 2012
· Indian Film Festival of Hope, San Francisco, 2012
· DisOrient Asian American Film Festival of Oregon, 2012
· Annual Conference on South Asia, Madison WI – October 2011
· Society for Visual Anthropology Film & Media Festival, 2011 ***Award: Best Student Film***
· Sikhlens Film Festival, 2011
· Chicago South Asian Film Festival, 2011
· DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival, 2011
· Vancouver International South Asian Film Festival, 2011
· Tasveer – Seattle South Asian Film Festival, 2011
· Open Frame Film Festival New Delhi, 2011
· Kerala International Documentary and Short Film Festival, 2011