The 1st Annual South Asian Canadian Film Awards night was held on Sunday, May 28th, 2006 at the Living Art Center in Mississauga, Ontario. The show was organized by Avtar Surti and Tariq Yousaf of the South Asian Actors Association. "This will be an annual event in which all the films made in Canada will be recognized and it will take place every year in the month of May - the month we celebrate South Asian Heritage in Canada," says Tariq Yousaf, Entertainment Director. "I understand many South Asian Canadian films do not get the recognition they deserve and that's the reason for the South Asian Canadian Film Awards" added Avtar Surti, Managing Director. It was a well organized and well presented show. Comparable to Film Fare Awards from Bollywood.
The program began with local singers namely Rafi fan Naqi Bilgrami, Chandrima, Iqbal Brar and Moin Jamal. A young boy's performance stole the show with his dance. A Punjabi folk dance presented by Shane Punjab bhangra team was appreciated by the audience.
The four nominated films were Sandes, Sulagde Rishte, Player and Virsa. Sandes was filmed in Brampton and received the most awards.
The awards and winnners were: Best Negative Role (Tajinder Sandhu - Virsa), Best Story Writer (Major Mangat - Sulagde Rishte), Best Supporting Female (Gita Jagdish - Sandes), Best Supporting Male (Kamal Nandi - Sandes), Best Cinematography (Ben Girn - Player) , Best Singer Female (Raina Sen - Player), Best Singer Male (Moin Jamal - Virsa), Best Music Director (Sonu - Sandes), Best Editor (Satish N.P. - Sandes), Best Actor Female (Gurvir - Sulagde Rishte), Best Male Actor (Ritesh Singh - Player), and Best Director (Pardeep Grover - Sandes).
The four films were judged by Dalbir Kathuria, Iqbal Brar, Kadir Sheikh, Ravinder Jasal and Samina Tabasum. Indian and Pakistani Radio media were also recognized on this night.
"We want to recognize all films from North America in the 2nd Annual South Asian Film Awards next year," says Avtar Surti. He's appealling to all the South Asian film makers in North America to register their movies at the South Asian Canadian Film Awards website www.sacfa.com.
Avtar Surti managed the stage in a very professional manner and thanked all the sponsors and the audience at the end of the evening.
By: Surjit Singh Flora, Brampton
Surjit Singh Flora has worked as writer for the past 20 years. He is a reporter and photographer for the Hamdard Weekly Punjabi Newspaper in Brampton. His articles, poems and stories have been published in local and international newspapers and magazines. He won the Editor’s Choice Award from the National Library of Poetry in 1993. Surjit is a resident of Brampton.