Courtesy of Inclusive PR
Due to the cultural ignorance that often abounds in the U.S. it is almost guaranteed that if you say to someone, “What do you know about Guyana?” they’ll reply, “Isn’t that where that Jim Jones guy…” There is no memory hole in America for American tragedies, even ones that happen on other shores. As for the many tragedies the Guyanese have suffered, including military dictatorships, interracial clashes, and economic instability, well, there are far fewer Americans who can hold forth on that. Those small ranks include the Indo-Guyanese immigrants who fled the country’s political turmoil during the 1970s and ’80s, who, though they avoided persecution in Guyana, suffered quieter hurts here: culture shock, economic hardship, the breakup of their families.
This is the topic of Festival of Lights, director Shundell Prasad’s first narrative feature (she has two documentaries under her belt: Once More Removed—a Journey Back to India, and Unholy Matrimony: Escape From Forced Marriage). The film examines big, abstract issues like religion, politics, immigration policy, culture and family, filtering them through the pinhole camera of a simple story about two families and two countries.
During the gorgeous opening scenes of the film, 3-year-old Reshma celebrates Diwali (the Hindu holiday also known as “festival of lights”) with her mother Meena (Ritu Singh Pande) and father, Vishnu (Jimi Mistry). Later that night, after overhearing an attack on neighbors by a group of government militia thugs, the family decides to flee to the United States. When Vishnu learns he will not get approval to leave, he urges his wife to flee with their daughter and join her brother in New York. After her sister-in-law lands her a cleaning job, Meena crosses paths with self-made Irish businessman, Adem (Aiden Quinn), who assures her that the whole American dream thing is true—he’s proof.
The story picks up 15 years later in 1980s Queens. Meena and Adem are married and have their own child, Sandy (Isabella Santos). Reshma (Melinda Shankar), is now a mouthy, rebellious teenage girl in high heels, short skirts and gigantic earrings, who doesn’t hesitate to do things like forge her mother’s signature on a release form for a senior trip after Meena refuses to grant permission to go. That particular bit of dishonesty results in all kinds of consequences for Reshma, which forces her to seriously reconsider her broken ties to her culture—and her father.
Festival of Lights is not a perfect film. In the second act, there are some slightly awkward transitions between scenes; a little bit of wooden script-writing; some over-acting. But these are slight, and this film offers such a rare thing in 21st century America—a compassionate, nuanced conversation about immigration that transcends the current shrill public conversation about “those illegals, takin’ our jobs”—that it is well worth looking past the flaws.
The film also a fascinating window into the Guyanese-American community (Prasad herself moved to the U.S. fron Guyana as a young girl, but is quick to add that this is not autobiographical). Not surprisingly, scenes that would not be out of place in a documentary—Diwali celebrations in Guyana and in Queens, lovely shots of the Guyanese countryside—are pretty close to perfect. But pretty as they are, they are not what keeps you watching the film. It is the story, and the actors' presences, that keep you glued to the screen. Quinn needs no introduction, of course. Shankar is the star of the YTV series How to Be Indie and plays Alli Bhandari on DeGrassi: The Next Generation. Though Lights is Pande’s first feature film, she’s got extensive TV and stage experience, and has a good screen presence and offers up a lot of emotion here. Up-and-coming young actor Stephen Hadeed, Jr. is excellent as Ravin, Reshma’s love interest, and many of the actors who have no other credits on IMBD shine in supporting roles (Nandanie Dudhnath’s charming performance as Asha comes to mind).
Of course, Prasad's had a lot of practice making documentaries, so it's no surprise she found beautiful locations, interesting-looking actors and worked hard at making sure the small details were authentic to time and place. The spots where Lights doesn't quite succeed seem, at least to this writer, to be the result of limits on time, budget, as well as some minor mistakes by someone working with actors for the first time. Hopefully, Prasad continues to perfect her hand with feature films, because there is much heart, beauty, and hope in this one.
Festival of Lights makes its world premiere on Saturday at the St. Louis International Film Festival and is part of SLIFF's "Women in Film," Sidebar. Director Shundell Prasad will be in attendance at the Saturday screening.
