Please Don’t Beat Me Sir: Screening at the 13th Annual NEW YORK INDIAN FILM FESTIVAL

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Congratulations to Henry Schwarz on the upcoming screening of Please Don’t Beat Me Sir, which he co-produced, at the 13th Annual NEW YORK INDIAN FILM FESTIVAL April 30 – May 4, 2013.

Saturday, May 4, 2013, 3:00 pm, Theatre 1 at Tribeca Cinemas

Please Don’t Beat Me Sir
Directed by Shashwati Talukdar, P. Kerim Friedman.
India, 2011, Documentary, 75 Minutes, Hindi, Bhantu and Gujarati with English subtitles.
U.S. Premiere.

Over 60 million Indians belong to communities imprisoned by the British as “criminals by birth.” The Chhara of Ahmedabad, in Western India, is one of 198 such “Criminal Tribes.” Declaring that they are “born actors,” not “born criminals,” a group of Chiara youth has turned to street theater in their fight against police brutality, corruption, and the stigma of criminality — a stigma internalized by their own grandparents. ‘Please Don’t Beat Me, Sir!’ follows the lives of these young actors and their families as they take their struggle to the streets, hoping their plays will spark a revolution.

About the Director: Shashwati Talukdar- Director/Producer/Editor, began her career as an assistant editor on one of Michael Moore’s TV shows. She has worked for HBO, BBC, Lifetime, Sundance, etc. Her films have been screened at the Margaret Mead Festival, Berlin and the Whitney Biennial, and numerous art galleries around the world.

P. Kerim Friedman- Director/Producer/Camera is an associate professor at National Dong Hwa University in Taiwan, where he teaches linguistic and visual anthropology. He is a founding member of the group anthropology blog Savage Minds and a documentary filmmaker.

For more information on the film festival please go to http://www.iaac.us/nyiff2013/schedule.htm