Baljit Sangra

Three sisters have spent years bracing themselves for the pivotal moment that opens this film: the final verdict in their trial against their cousin, their childhood sexual abuser. From there, the story returns to their memories of growing up in a large and insular Punjabi-Canadian family in the small mill town of Williams Lake, British Columbia. With unflinching candour, the sisters discuss their family's dark secrets and expose a toxic family culture that relied on female subservience and obedience. These roles, they acknowledge, have deeper roots and have in part been reinforced by the Bollywood films that have structured their fantasies of romantic relationships. While the film tells a difficult and confrontational story of abuse, it is also a celebration of the loving sisterhood that allows these women to demand justice for the wrongs of their childhood years.

From local co-directors Baljit Sangra (Because We Are Girls) and Nilesh Patel, this spirited documentary follows four junior hockey players of South Asian descent throughout the 2021-2022 season as they strive to be drafted into the NHL. Arjun Bawa and Kayden Sadhra-Kang skate in the footsteps of their father Robin Bawa, who made history in 1989 as the first South Asian to play in the NHL. Meanwhile, seasoned defenseman Arvin Atwal seeks to shed the fighter reputation he acquired in the American Hockey League by transferring to Slovakia. And, in an uplifting turn of events, the film traces the journey of Surrey’s own Arshdeep Bains to signing with the Vancouver Canucks.

Gifted jazz singer Judi Singh defied expectations as a Punjabi-Black artist stepping onto the stage in the late 1950s. Weaving together moments of struggle and resilience, the film reintroduces a forgotten artist to the spotlight.

Mixing reflections on aging, mortality and love, Baljit Sangra's documentary, Many Rivers Home, examines the ties that binds South Asian families in a Lower Mainland seniors residence. There is rich human portraiture here, and a depiction of a vibrant ethnic community, but the core of the film is the director's love for her mother.