Samrat Chakrabarti gathered a few of his friends including Sheetal Sheth, Debargo Sanyal, Reshma Shetty, Reena Shah, Sanjiv Jhaveri and Sarita Choudhury to appear in Obama PSA 2012 – We Are America, a video conceived and directed by Chakrabarti.
Presented by the South Asian Community United (SACU), the video was produced by Tim Dutta, and shot and edited by Vishesh Sharma. Paintbrush, a song composed and performed by Samrat Chakrabarti, with Arun Ramamurthy on Indian Violin and Joshua Geisler on Indian Flute, is featured on the soundtrack of the video.
A message from the South Asian Community United (SACU)
Since President Obama’s election in 2008, he’s worked hard to ensure that our country is on the right path for the South Asian American community and all Americans. We must continue what President Obama started.
Cuz…
WE ARE AMERICA and AMERICA IS US
The Next Four Years
Samrat Chakrabarti portrays Wee Willie Winkie, in Deepa Mehta’s Midnight’s Children, based on Salman Rushdie’s book by the same name, and co-stars with Seema Biswas, Satya Bhabha, Shahana Goswami, Anupam Kher, Shabana Azmi, Rajat Kapoor, Soha Ali Khan, Rahul Bose, Sarita Choudhury, Siddharth, Shriya, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Darsheel Safary.
Richard Wong and writer H.P. Mendoza, the award-winning team that brought you the infectious, quirky coming-of-age tale Colma: The Musical, return to the Asian American International Film Festival (AAIFF’12) with their fourth collaboration, Yes, We’re Open, a raunchy sex comedy starring Lynn Chen (Saving Face), Parry Shen (Better Luck Tomorrow), Sheetal Sheth (Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World) and Kerry McCrohan, which screens at Clearview Chelsea Cinemas, 260 W. 23rd St, in New York, on August 4, 2012 at 7pm. Click here for tickets.
Sheetal Sheth, Parry Shen, Lynn Chen and Kerry McCrohan in Richard Wong and H.P. Mendoza’s Yes, We’re Open
Set in the San Francisco Bay Area, Yes, We’re Open follows Luke (Parry Shen) and Sylvia (Lynn Chen) who think of themselves as a modern couple – always in the know and open to new experiences. Enter Elena (Sheetal Sheth) and Ronald (Kerry McCrohan)a provocative polyamorous couple that challenge Luke and Sylvia’s status in their circle of friends and with each other. With temptation right around the corner, Luke and Sylvia must figure out where they really stand on love, sex, and honesty. Yes, We’re Open takes an intimate look at the unconventional world of San Francisco relationships, where promiscuity and fidelity aren’t always mutually exclusive.
The film also features Tasi Alabastro, Dave Boyle (Surrogate Valentine), H.P. Mendoza (Fruit Fly: The Musical), and Theresa Navarro (Option 3).
Yes, We’re Open was directed by Richard Wong, written by H.P. Mendoza, and produced by Theresa Navarro and Richard Wong. The film premieres the work of first time director of photography Seng Chen and features the skills of Hong Kong Studio-reared production and costume designer Wing Shan “Irene” Chan. Yes, We’re Open was scored by Digital Crafts Night, including the catchy theme song, “All of Our Friends Are Getting Married,” written by H.P. Mendoza and performed by film stars Lynn Chen and Parry Shen.
Richard Wong, H.P. Mendoza, Kerry McCrohan, and Theresa Christine Navarro will be in attendance for a post-screening Q&A.
Director Richard Wong (Photo by Lia Chang)
Richard Wong (Director) is a Spirit Award nominated director and cinematographer who has worked on independent films such as Wayne Wang’s Snow Flower and The Screet Fan, The Princess of Nebraska, Fruit Fly, and Colma: The Musical. Colma: The Musical was also Wong’s breakout full length motion picture directorial debut, and it earned him a nomination from the Gotham Awards for the Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You Award, a nomination from the Spirit Awards for the Someone to Watch Award, and a special citation from San Francisco Film Critics Circle.
H.P. Mendoza
H. P. Mendoza is a Filipino American writer-director, and singer-songwriter based in San Francisco best known as the screenwriter and composer for the film Colma: The Musical, directed by Richard Wong. In 2006, he was listed as one of the Top 15 Creative Talents of 2006 by UCLA Asia Pacific Arts. His directorial debut, Fruit Fly, premiered on March 15, 2009 at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival and is the winner of their Best Narrative Feature Audience Award. I Am a Ghost is his second feature film.
About Asian CineVision & AAIFF
The Asian American International Film Festival (AAIFF) is produced by Asian CineVision (ACV), a nonprofit media arts organization devoted to the development, promotion and preservation of Asian and Asian American film and video. AAIFF is the nation’s longest-running festival of its kind and a leading showcase for the best in independent Asian and Asian American film and video.
Lia Chang
