DOGGONED: A short film by arshad khan

Dear Friends,

Ever since I made the political documentary THREADBARE, many of you have been hounding me for more work. I decided to go back to film school and now I am working on fictional shorts with a feature film project in development.

My latest film project is called DOGGONED. It is a film about a young South Asian student who is trying to find odd jobs in order to make ends meet when her work permit is denied. It is dark comedy that deals with an important social issue in Canada. Watch a clip with the actor Anum Peerzada here.

I need your help to make DOGGONED a reality. I am shooting on Super 16 film (it is a visually stunning theatrical format- recently BLACK SWAN was shot on it). The cost however is high. I have just started the online fundraiser drive in order to raise the $5000 needed for production.


If you are in Montreal, we are hosting a fundraiser on the 13th of August 2011.

Montreal Fundraiser

I am using this short film as the model to produce and crowd fund my feature film project FAULTLINE which is currently in development. Please spread the word and let your friends know that independent, political cinema is alive and well in Canada and that artists are busy trying to make good work despite massive government cutbacks.

Bazgasht: A phenomenal Art Exhibition in Mississauga

I was volunteering at MOSAIC Festival in Mississauga over the weekend and came across the most fantastic Miniature Art show ever presented in North America. Works of artists from all over North America, Europe and South Asia were selected.

http://www.cre8iv80studio.com/bazgasht.asp

Some artists like Tazeen Qayyum were at the festival explaining the entire technique behind the highly labor intensive art of miniature painting. She explained how miniature art students sometimes learn how to catch a squirrel in order to pull some hair out to make the brushes. The artist drops some water on each strand of hair and the ones that curve are discarded and the ones that remain straight are kept for the brush. A feather and some quills are used to complete the head of the brush.

In order to create the flat effect on the paper, the artist must paint several layers and make the natural pigments assume and unreal and almost plastic or acrylic smoothness. All the paint pigments are made from natural dyes.

The show itself was unbelievable. Highly charged and political works were displayed in the show which helped enlighten my sense of pride in South Asian art practice.