South Asian filmmakers like Satyajit Ray, Deepa Mehta, Mrinal Sen, Mira Nair, and Ritwik Ghatak have made significant contributions to the development of cinema using the medium to tell authentic stories of South Asian communities and their relationship to various socio-political issues. However, their contributions have always been overshadowed by the media hype surrounding Bollywood films.

To showcase the diversity of South Asian films, South Asia Institute is launching "SAI Screening", a bi-monthly film screening series highlighting feature films and documentaries by South Asian filmmakers whose talents transcend cultures and boundaries. Their films are not only unique but also reflect different facets of South Asian culture and society.

For our first event, we are screening “Indus Blues” (2019), an award-winning documentary directed and produced by Jawad Sharif. The film explores the dying folk and classical musical culture of Pakistan and the challenges faced by the musicians to sustain the craft.

Join us for the screening of this thought-provoking film, followed by a discussion with the director.

Event Details

Ticket Price: $5

Date: Saturday, February 10, 2024

Time: 3:30 pm

Venue: 1925 South Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL (South Asia Institute)

About the film

Shot in over 15 locations across Pakistan, Indus Blues is a musical feature documentary highlighting the plight of the folk musicians and craftsmen of Pakistan and the state of their dying art.

The diverse cultures around Indus, with over 70 spoken languages, have deep roots going back centuries. Despite the richness of the various cultures flourishing along the mighty Indus river, their sounds have faded to the background in a world dominated by modern musical instruments. Filmmaker Jawad Sharif takes us on a journey spanning a thousand miles from the Karakoram Mountains to the southern coastline, capturing the little-known ethnic, linguistic, and musical diversity and humanism of the cultures of the Indus.

About the filmmaker

Jawad Sharif is an award-winning filmmaker and National Geographic Explorer based in Pakistan. Exploring the themes of social change and human rights, his projects focus on reviving the suppressed cultural and indigenous identities of Pakistan. In the past 15 years, Jawad has pushed the boundaries of visual storytelling by documenting stories about the rights of folk musicians, high-altitude porters, climate migrants, and marginalized communities.