Silk Screen Asian American Film Festival

Introduction

In 2005 Harish Saluja founded Silk Screen Asian Arts & Culture Organization which celebrates diversity & multiculturalism. Silk Screen brings together the region’s diverse ethnic communities. Through the media of film, music, dance, and theater, these communities are able to learn and experience each other’s cultures and come to recognize our shared human experience. The main event of Silk Screen is a 10-day Asian-American Film Festival. Each spring, Silk Screen brings 20 + feature length current Asian Films to Pittsburgh. Films range from drama to comedy to human interest to animation. Audience appeal is from 8 years to senior citizens. Internationally acclaimed filmmakers are invited to attend screenings and for Question and Answer sessions with the audiences. Silk Screen is the only organization in Western Pennsylvania to provide programming of this type.

2014 Film Festival

The 9th annual Silk Screen Asian American Film Festival began Friday, April 25, with a gala party, and ran for 10 days. The festival showcased 25 feature films and two short films during 47 screening events taking place at Regent Square Theater, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, The Andy Warhol Museum and Waterworks Cinemas. Films and filmmakers from the 2014 hail from India, Japan, China, Taiwan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Iran and more.

2015 Film Festival

The 2015 Festival took place July 10–19, 2015. It was the most successful to date, boasting record attendance numbers. Theeb, a collaborative effort from the UAE, Jordan and Qatar, opened the festival. The Centerpiece Presentation was Dukhtar, an affecting drama about a mother's love, which pulled in record single-screening audience record for the festival. Closing out the Festival was the crowd-pleasing Miss India America, directed by Ravi Kapoor, who flew in from Los Angeles to speak with the audience following the film.

2016 Film Festival

The 2016 festival began on September 16th, and concluded 10 days later on the 25th. The festival showcased a total of 31 of the newest and most acclaimed feature-length, as well as 7 short films. This year, the festival expanded to reach a total of 7 different venues including Frick Fine Arts, CMU McConomy Auditorium, Carnegie Museum of Art, and Cranberry Cinemas. The festival opened with the Kurdish film El Clasico, which was awarded Best Fiction Feature at the Dubai International Film Festival. Nawara, an Egyptian film set against the backdrop of the 2011 Revolution, highlighted this year's Centerpiece Presentation on Thursday, September 22nd at Regent Square Theater. The festival concluded on Sunday, September 25 at Melwood Screening Room in Oakland. The Closing Night Film was the Indian film, Parched, which took home the Grand Jury Prize at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles and the Impact Award at the Stockholm Film Festival. During the festival, the film Psycho Raman made its US premier just months after making its world premier at Cannes.

2017 Film Festival

Film entries are currently being accepted for the 2017 festival which will be held between September 15-24.

Silk Sound

Silk Screen's reach extends as well to the music industry. The non-profit produced an Asian fusion jazz ensemble called Silk Sound in 2014. The band's distinct sound combines traditional Asian classical music with modern American jazz to create gorgeous, unique harmonies. The group's debut album, Sun Gate, was released in January 2015. Among other live performances, Silk Sound was the featured musical act at Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto's inauguration celebration.