The Spinning Wheel Film Festival (SWFF) Southern California celebrates the stories of Sikhs worldwide, and brings diverse interpretations of their culture, identity and history to the screen.
In earlier times, as villagers gathered around a spinning wheel—the charkha—to spin and weave, this also provided an opportunity to share their joys, their sorrows and their stories. Likewise, the SWFF is a gathering place for filmmakers and their audiences to explore the diverse experiences of Sikhs in the global village.
The Festival is a showcase of outstanding Sikh films, featuring a diverse mix of genres including documentary, independent, foreign and narrative films. The Festival brings together filmmakers from across the globe to screen their films and discuss their work with both Sikh and non-Sikh film-goers. As an “emerging cinema” ogranization, the SWFF has quickly grown in both size and reputation, and is now well-established as the pre-eminent Sikh film event in the world.
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| The Spinning Wheel Film Festival is a cinematic examination of Sikh life and culture, as well as universal themes of human rights, global peace, religious freedom, and tolerance. The SWFF seeks to use the power of film to both entertain and educate, while also challenging conventional perspectives on a wide range of complex issues facing Sikhs and the world community alike.
The mandate of the Spinning Wheel Film Festival is to deliver a film festival that:
- showcases Sikh documentaries, short films and feature films of relevance to Americans;
- brings together filmmakers, film students, filmgoers and critics;
- engages in a discussion that promotes a greater awareness and understanding of the history, traditions and stories of the Sikh community;
- and encourages artists to create works that touch on the Sikh experience, and inspires a new generation of Sikhs to pursue careers in the arts.
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