Short movie on eminent Indian-American Sikh's struggle to follow his faith bags award in US

WASHINGTON: A short film based on the real-life of an eminent Indian-American Sikh, whose campaign forced the US authorities to change their policy towards turban, has won 'Short of the Year' award at a prestigious film festival that showcases independent films from around the world.

Directed by Jenna Ruiz, the movie titled 'SINGH' was chosen among 100 films submitted for the award in the same category at the Covellite International Film Festival in Montana, a media release issued by the organisers said on Wednesday.

The film is based on a true incident happened in Indian-American Gurinder Singh Khalsa's life.

'SINGH' tells the incident that happened in May 2007 when Khalsa (a Sikh man who wears a turban) was not allowed to board an airline without the removal of his turban to be further inspected by the Transportation Security Administration agents.

In this emotional roller coaster of the short film, Gurinder is made to choose between his religious beliefs and his flight to go visit his dying mother in her last days.

Following this incident, Khalsa worked towards bringing the issue to the attention of the US Congress, which later resulted in headgear policies being changed in airports nationwide.

The movie SINGH has also been chosen by Covellite International Film Festival as an official selection for the Indy Shorts International Film Festival, the largest film fest in the midwest.

"Indy Shorts International Film Festival, presented by Heartland Film and the organisers of the Heartland International Film Festival (HIFF), is an Academy Award-qualifying fest dedicated to the art of short film!," said a statement from the heartlandfilm.org.

The Indy Shorts will showcase storytelling from around the world from July 25-28, 2019 in Indianapolis.