Talk
Desi Girl Comedy Project
Led by Zubi Ahmed of Kutti Gang
Desi Girls Comedy Project will connect and empower South Asian women through comedy, to provide community and catharsis during COVID-19. Tasveer has long championed intentional spaces for personal stories, amplifying the voices of underrepresented and oppressed groups.
Desi Girls Comedy Project will embrace LGBTQ+ individuals, womxn, Dalits, non-English speakers, and survivors of domestic violence to increase the joy, health, and self-esteem of South Asian women in Seattle and beyond.
Where: Virtual
When: Sundays 1 pm-4 pm PST (Seattle, WA time)
Dates: Sunday, Sept 12th, 19th, 26th, Oct 3rd, and 10th.
Desi Girls Comedy Project will be a five-week virtual workshop series with one session per week to nurture participants’ confidence and skills, culminating in a live comedy showcase presented within COVID-19 health guidelines.
Kutti Gang is a New York Times and Time Out New York recommended comedy show featuring women, queer, and non-binary South Asian performers.
About Zubi Ahmed: Zubi is a Bengali-American Muslim writer, comedian, and filmmaker. Zubi is one of the hosts of Kutti Gang, a live comedy show featuring South Asian performers.
About Sonal Aggarwal: Former international street performer turned emcee, Sonal Aggarwal is now an actor, comedian, producer and movement artist based in Chicago. Her one woman show The Alchemy of Bliss played for a sold out weekend at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theater and you can see her on Netflix’s Easy as well as the short A Period Piece which debuted at SXSW 2020.
This project is funded in part by a Neighborhood Matching Fund award from Seattle Department of Neighborhoods
Tasveer Film Fund Pitch Session
Introduction:
Tasveer Film Fund award will be given to one team from the 3 finalists selected in each category after the Pitch Session concludes. Categories are:
- Short Film
- Documentary
- LGBTQIA
Winners will be announced at the closing day of the Tasveer Festival on October 24, 2021. Award contracts will be sent to the winning teams during 10/25 – 11/15.
Schedule
- Documentary: Tue Oct 12th, 10:00 am PST
- Short Film: Wed Oct 13th, 10:00 am PST
- LGBTQ: Wed Oct 13th, 2:00 pm PST
Pitch Day Structure
Introductions:
Tasveer Film Fund team will introduce the Judges and each team.
Team Pitches:
Each team will have 10 minutes to pitch.
Q&A:
Judges will have 15 minutes to ask questions of the pitching team. Judges will be scoring the pitches based on predetermined criteria.
Award winner selection:
After all 3 pitches for a category, Judges will have 30 minutes for discussion and will select a winner.
Judges
Tasveer Film Fund Pitch Session – Documentary
- Sapana Sakya
- Priya Giri Desai
Tasveer Film Fund Pitch Session – Shorts
- Janki Parekh
- Zafeer Butt
Tasveer Film Fund Pitch Session – LGBTQI+
- Naman Gupta
- Neeraj Churi