Sammy’s Final Arrangement, directed by For Us, By Us fellow, Chad Santo Tomas, screened at the 2024 Silicon Valley Asian Pacific FilmFest as part of the Bay Area Shorts program on October 19.

In Sammy’s Final Arrangement, Samuel Go must come to terms with the stresses and the dwindling creative freedom that have resulted in his decision to end his practice and begin a new life. As Sammy directs his own cycle of self preservation, he must navigate the final stages of packing the remnants of his studio, a 2nd child with his wife, and the stresses of a final large scale wedding.

A-Doc has announced its new Co-Directors, Cindy Choung and Pallavi Somusetty.

Re-Take Oakland filmmaker, Pallavi Somusetty, previously worked as a series producer for A-Doc and in nonprofit youth media.

Read Cindy and Pallavi’s interview with each other in IDA’s Documentary Magazine.

For Us, By Us fellow, Priyanka Suryaneni, is screening her film, Saranam Gacchâmi, with the Richmond Public Library.

Sat, October 5, 3:30pm
Richmond City Council Chambers
440 Civic Center Plaza, Richmond, CA 94804

This special screening will include a musical performance by renowned Tibetan artists, a panel discussion, and Tibetan tea and food.

Register here.

Saranam Gacchâmi is a documentary film about an enterprising Buddhist Monk who defies all odds to set up one of the largest Tibetan Monasteries in the Bay Area to preserve the endangered Tibetan culture and traditions.

PARAMITA, directed by Re-Take Oakland filmmaker Kirthi Nath, is currently screening at festivals.

Part poetry, part memoir-style reflection and part prayer, PARAMITA bears witness to Prajna Choudhury’s 25-year coming out process with her traditional Bangladeshi mother. Told with intimacy, tenderness and a quiet power, PARAMITA invites us into a meditative spiritual experience as Prajna connects with Buddhist practices and nature as gateways for intergenerational healing.

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EAST COAST PREMIERE

Queer Voices: NYC Film Festival

Shorts Block 2: We Fight Back

Saturday, September 28 @ 5 pm EST
LGBT Center in NYC – 208 W 13th St, NY, NY 10011
TICKETS

WEST COAST PREMIERE

Mill Valley Film Festival

FREEDOM shorts program

Saturday, October 5 @ 3 pm AND Wednesday, October 9 @ 3:30 pm PST
Smith Rafael Center – 1118 4th St, San Rafael, CA 94901
Post-Screening Q&A with filmmaker and subjects.
TICKETS

Learn more on PARAMITA’s website.

Two Re-Take Oakland filmmakers were awarded a 2024 Berkeley FILM Foundation Grant. Congratulations to Jessica Jones (Women Who Ride) and Pallavi Somusetty (The Aunties – working title)!

Women Who Ride is an intimate portrait of D’Vious Wayz Motorcycle Club, Oakland’s first Black all-women motorcycle club. Led by Tish Edwards, this group has been together for 20 years, but as membership dwindles during COVID and family responsibilities mount, multiple challenges will need to be addressed on the journey ahead.

The Aunties tells the story of Berkeley-based historian and artist, Barnali, who spearheads a grassroots campaign to rename a street after Kala Bagai, one of the first South Asian women to organize South Asian communities in California against intense racial discrimination, over a hundred years ago.

Congratulations to Re-Take Oakland filmmaker, Pallavi Somusetty, for being awarded a Sundance Institute Documentary Fund Grant for her film, Coach Emily.

Coach Emily is a feature documentary that follows Emily Taylor, an Oakland-based Black and queer rock climbing coach, as she battles systemic racism in her professional and personal life. Through her Brown Girls Climbing program, Emily trains young girls of color, including her own daughter, as they resist discrimination in the climbing world and work to define themselves in the outdoors.

Re-Take Oakland filmmaker Jenn Lee Smith, is a producer on the new film, Home Court, which is currently screening at festivals. Home Court is a feature documentary that traces the ascent of Ashley Chea, a basketball prodigy whose life intensifies amid recruitment, injury, and triumph throughout her high school years.

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Festivals

August 1-11, 2024 | Asian American International Film Festival | NYC

June 26-30, 2024 | Austin Asian American Film Festival* | Austin

*Winner of Jury Award – Documentary Feature Film

June 25-30, 2024 | Cambodia International Film Festival | Cambodia

June 14-23, 2024 | Shanghai International Film Festival | Shanghai

May 30 – June 14, 2024 | HAPPIFEST | Houston

May 9-19, 2024 | CAAMFest | San Francisco

May 5, 2024 | Visual Communications Film Festival | Los Angeles

Learn more on Home Court’s website.

ALIVE IN BRONZE: Huey P. Newton, directed by Re-Take Oakland filmmaker A.K. Sandhu, will be screened in the VC x BGDM Shorts Showcase 2024 presented by the Video Consortium and Brown Girls Doc Mafia. They are hosting in-person screenings across NYC, LA, SF, and Atlanta, curated by VC x BGDM and featuring in person Q&As.

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VC x BGDM Shorts Showcase: Bay Area

Tuesday, July 9, 2024, 7pm
The New Parkway

In ALIVE IN BRONZE: Huey P. Newton, sculptor Dana King’s hands and activist Fredrika Newton’s memories come together to build a new monument that honors the Black Panther Party’s vital place in American history.

More info and tickets: https://browngirlsdocmafia.org/VC-x-BGDM-Shorts-Showcase-2024

Re-Take Oakland filmmaker, Pallavi Somusetty, will be a panelist for Storytelling Our Way: Filmmakers of Color Forge Their Path. This panel is part of the IDA Logan Elevate Public Program, a series of panels where IDA Logan Elevate 2023 filmmaking fellows open a conversation about cultural exchange within the film industry.

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Storytelling Our Way: Filmmakers of Color Forge Their Path

Tuesday, July 2, 2024, 9 am PST

How can we be supported to tell stories outside of the dominant gaze, if most formative spaces for international artists are trying to make a film “accessible” to a mass audience? How can we create new Global South and diaspora forms for our specific audiences, particularly during a time when resources are scarce and the sustainability of our work is threatened? 

Join moderator Monika Navarro, Senior Director of Artists Programs at Firelight Media, and filmmaker panelists Jude Chehab, director of Q (2023),  Zippy Kimundu, co-director and co-producer of Our Freedom, Our Land (2023), and 2023 IDA Logan Elevate grantee Pallavi Somusetty, as they discuss ways to make room for their storytelling and reimagine their audiences.

More info and registration: https://www.documentary.org/event/storytelling-our-way-filmmakers-color-forge-their-path

Re-Take Oakland filmmaker, Jenn Lee Smith, was a panelist for Will You Be My Angel Funder? at the CAAMFest Filmmaker Summit. The panel focused on discussing what moves donors to invest in Asian American stories.

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Will You Be My Angel Funder?

Friday, May 10, 2024, 11:30 am

In partnership with A-Doc.

Featuring Jenn Lee Smith (Donor, Producer, Home Court), Masashi Niwano (Director of Artist Development, SFFILM), Robina Riccitiello (Partner, Spark Features), and Diane Quon (Executive Producer, Taste of Mango, Home Court).

Moderated by Don Young (Director of Programs, CAAM)

More info on CAAM’s website.