40 Years of Radical Media

FEATURED WORK 2005 12 minutes Color
Dastaar: Defending Sikh Identity
Dastaar: Defending Sikh Identity
Produced and Directed by Kevin Lee Associate Producer Josh Weisbrot Editor Helen Yum Part of the TWN Call for Change Series J.T. Takagi, Series Producer

Dastaar: Defending Sikh Identity presents the struggle of the Sikh American community against discrimination and violence caused by ignorance of an essential symbol of the Sikh faith -- the dastaar, or turban.

The documentary begins by observing the simple, quiet act of putting on the dastaar, a daily ritual imbued with the Sikh values of honor, discipline and faith. The solemnity of this ritual contrasts with recent incidents of violence and discrimination against Sikhs due to the wearing of the dastaar, which all Sikh men are required to wear at all times in public. Such incidents include the vicious attack on Gurcharan Singh and Rajinder Singh Khalsa by five men after being accused of being terrorists, two NYPD officers who left the force after refusing the order to remove their dastaars while on duty, and a subway operator who wore his dastaar for 20 years until being recently ordered to remove his dastaar.

Even though Sikhs have no relationship with the terrorist networks of the Middle East, they are often mistaken as terrorists due to their wearing turbans. The film explores how images in the media fuel the association of the turban with terrorism, leading to the widespread discrimination against Sikhs. The film also shows the efforts made by the Sikh community to counter this discrimination through a combination of community activism, legal action, legislation and education.

Preview a video clip from Dastaar: Defending Sikh Identity
AWARDS
San Diego Asian Film Festival, Best Documentary Short Eureka! International Film Festival, Best Documentary Short Dallas Asian Short Film Festival, Best Documentary Short
SCREENINGS
Hawaii International Film Festival Newport Beach International Film Festival AFI/Discovery Channel Silverdocs Film Festival San Francisco Asian American International Film Festival New York Asian American International Film Festival VC Los Angeles Asian American International Film Festival
RESOURCES
Visit the web site for producer and director Kevin Lee's new film Warrior Sins: Discovering Sikh America to learn more about the Sikh religion and culture.
VISIT THE CATALOG PAGE & PURCHASE THE VIDEO
Visit the TWN catalog page for more about Dastaar: Defending Sikh Identity and to purchase a copy of this work.

Call Us 1 (212) 947-9277
  • Third World Newsreel
  • • 545 Eighth Avenue, Suite 550, New York, NY 10018
  • • Telephone 212-947-9277

TWN acknowledges that in New York we are on the unceded territory of the Lenni Lenape, Canarsie, Shinecock, and Munsee peoples and challenges the harm that continues to be inflicted upon Indigenous and People of Color communities here and abroad, which is why we all need to be part of the struggle for rights, equality and justice.

TWN is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Color Congress, MOSAIC, New York Community Trust, Peace Development Fund, Ford Foundation, Golden Globe Foundation, Kolibri Foundation and individual donors.