"The Gold Bracelet"
Continues Its Golden Run at Cinequest
The
critically acclaimed feature film The Gold Bracelet, has
been officially chosen to close the Competition Section
of Cinequest Film Festival in San Jose, California. This
will mark the film's official World Premier at the prestigious
film festival.
Cinequest is ranked among the top 15 film festivals in the
world and features an array of films from all over the globe.
The festival opens with a gala event on March 1st and ends
on March 12th with the closing festivities.
The Gold Bracelet is being shown in the largest venue of
the festival - the historical 1100-seat California Theatre
(CAL). It is also the only film in the competition to have
two screenings at this theatre.
This is a great honor for Kavi Raz on his directorial debut;
he has been receiving glowing praise for his work as the
writer, producer, director and star of the film.
In choosing the film the festival organizers said in their
invitation to Raz, that they find the film "absolutely
absorbing and would consider it a great honor to have the
film in the festival".
The Gold Bracelet will compete in the "Maverick Competition"
section of the festival, vying for the top honors against
several veteran directors and major studio productions.
"We could have chosen to be in other, less competitive
sections of the festival; we were given those choices by
the festival committee. However, I chose to compete in the
toughest section. I wanted to compete among the very best.
I have faith in my work," said Raz.
"Regardless of how the film fares at the festival,
we are just moved by the fact that the selection committee
is very excited and proud to have our film at Cinequest.
They have shown a great deal of confidence in my film and
believe it will do exceedingly well. That's the primary
reason they have chosen two showings in such a large venue
and that too on the final two days of the festival. The
festival is treating this film as their prime catch for
this year. "
The Gold Bracelet recently had a private screening for a
packed house at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences
where Kavi was greeted to a standing ovation at the end
of the screening.
The film also stars Archana Puran Singh, Meherunnisa Hassan,
Arsh Singh. Ari Barak, Joseph Whipp and Sonny Mandal, all
turning out stellar performances.
Peter Carl Ganderup provided the original background score
while the several original songs featured in the film were
composed by Micky Narula. Bollywood singers Jaspinder Narula
and Sonu Nigam gave voices to several of the songs on the
soundtrack.
The Gold Bracelet is an original story set against the turbulent
times of the 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers. That tragedy
compounded itself into international headline grabbing incidents
that played out across the country as people vented their
misplaced anger against the many innocent Arabs and Muslims.
Caught in the whirlwind of this euphoria were the Sikhs,
mistaken for Arabs for their code of dress and appearance
that is so similar. The story of The Gold Bracelet is based
on true events.
"I am somebody. I believe in the truth. I still have
faith in the truth." For the Singhs, an immigrant family
living in America, life could not be more promising when
everything seems possible. In Arjun Singh's (Kavi Raz) heart,
one step remains to fulfill his dream of possibilities:
the marriage of his daughter, Simrun ( Meherunnisa Hassan).
Her own dreams include Bobby Dhillon (Sonny Mandal), a boy
on campus whose pursuit of her is nearly relentless, proving
it during a spin on reality that takes us on a colorful
and musical voyage. However, Simrun's love for her father
forces her to make a difficult choice until the 9/11 terror
attacks change everything forever. What began as the quest
for true happiness ends as the fight for their lives when
the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center fall. Nevertheless,
there is one truth that will never change - amidst unthinkable
tragedy- there is still hope. The Gold Bracelet sends a
strong message of hope and courage
The Gold Bracelet will be shown on Saturday March 11th:
8:30 pm and Sunday March 12th: 12:30 pm. At California Theatre
(CAL) 345 South Street, San Jose, CA 95113.
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