Threads That Tie Us: An Oshwal Odyssey
Overview
The Halari Oshwals are a small community dispersed around the world yet held together by a history of sacrifices. But times have changed. This globalization has led to many problems within the community, and their numbers are dwindling. An Oshwal woman from Canada worries about the preservation and survival of her heritage in the hands of generations to come. She sets out on a pilgrimage to visit Oshwal communities in Kenya, where she was born; the UK, where she lived for a while; and India, where her parents originated. She discovers a shared concern for the future of the community and its traditions in the face of globalization and geographical disconnect, and explores what this means for the younger generation and their Oshwal identity.
Key Film Crew
Production Stats
You May Also Like
Home movie collection of the Bohulano Family of Stockton, CA. Footage dates between the 1950s-1970s.
The Bohulano Family
Phil Comeau shines a spotlight on the Ordre de Jacques-Cartier, a powerful secret society that operated from 1926 to 1965, infiltrating every sector of Canadian society and forging the fate of French-language communities. Through never-before-heard testimony from former members of the Order, along with historically accurate dramatic reconstructions, this film paints a gripping portrait of the social and political struggles of Canadian francophone-minority communities.
The Secret Order
Prodigal Korea is a documentary that highlights the cultural divide between the first and second-generation Korean-Americans, particularly in the context of the church. The film showcases the struggles of the second-generation Koreans as they attempt to navigate the cultural expectations of their parents and their own identity crisis as Americans. The documentary features interviews with second-generation Korean-Americans who share their stories of growing up in a culturally traditional Korean family in America. They speak about their struggles to balance the expectations of their parents, who often hold onto traditional Korean values, and their own desire to assimilate and become more American.
Prodigal Korea
The story of five lesbian and gay seniors in the Northwest Florida region as they navigate coming out, identity, politics, and the challenges and victories inherent in the gay experience. The film weaves together interviews with fictionalized interludes of magical realism that capture their feelings and experiences.
Someone Waits For Me
A paralysingly beautiful documentary with a global vision—an odyssey through landscape and time—that attempts to capture the essence of life.
Baraka
Through testimonies and images, the crude reality of human rights in Argentina in democracy is portrayed and the role of the hegemonic means of communication to make causes and protests invisible ...
Caos de tránsito
This documentary tells the haunting story of the Klondike Gold Rush in legendary Dawson City. Peppered with Robert Service poems read by New Zealand-born Hollywood actor Russell Crowe, the film recounts how stampedes of fortune seekers came to the Yukon from far and wide in 1897. Less than half of the 100,000 adventurers ever finished the treacherous journey. Archival photographs re-create the saga of the Klondike, including stories from the deadly Chilkoot Pass and Dawson City itself, where fortunes were made and lost overnight. With a personal stake and a sense of wonder, filmmaker Rita Roy discovers a territory still vibrant with legends, and miners still panning for gold under the spell of the harsh yet stunning wilderness.
The Spell of the Yukon
Mother India is home to many castes, tribes and religions and one common factor that brings this diverse country all together is Jewelry. Come explore the deep history and culture of the jewelry of India dating back more than 5000 years. As we explore the history we also take you into Bangalore, India and talk to local Jewelry Stores and Jewelry Artisans as they share their stories and their family history of their involvement in jewelry going far back into their family ancestry.
Jewelry Of India
A Documentary film exploring the history and evolution of vinyl records. Featuring Interviews with the experts, musicians and fans alike, 'Stuck in the groove' takes you on a journey of vinyl-mania, music and nostalgia.
Stuck in the Groove
The injustice of the Japanese internment is explored through the story of Kyuichi Nomoto, one of the first Japanese Canadians to graduate from UBC, who suffered a breakdown deep in the BC Interior.
Nomoto: A BC Tragedy
In 1921 the Kwakiut'l people of Alert Bay, British Columbia, held their last secret potlatch. In 1980 at Alert Bay, the U'mista Cultural Centre (U'mista means "something of great value that has come back") opened its doors to receive and house the cultural treasures which were seized decades earlier and only then returned to the people. The center also took up activities such as recording stories told by elders so that some part of the past would always be alive and teaching children about their heritage in order to make them feel connected to their ancestors. This film documents the cultural significance of these events for today's Kwakiut'l people. It is an eloquent testimony to the persistence and complexity of Kwakiut'l society and to the struggle for redefining cultural identity for them.
Box of Treasures
Italy, from the '50s to the present day, told through the eyes of generations of children captured in Rai's (Italian public TV) archival footage.
Bambini nel tempo
In Asheville, NC, five individuals find their place in longboard world. This is an action documentary crafted with a broad audience in mind, appealing to more than just the downhill community.
Couch Man
Traces the making of UC-Davis professor Darrell Hamamoto's first-ever Asian American porn movie ("Skin on Skin") from planning to production. Hou interviews filmmakers Justin Lin ("Better Luck Tomorrow") and Eric Byler ("Charlotte Sometimes"), professor Elaine Kim and playwright David Henry Hwang to get at whether Asian America truly needs its own "porno practices" as a way of decolonizing the community's collective sexual imaginations and confronting how sexuality and masculinity are treated in the Asian American community.
