Punching At The Sun
credits:
Director: Tanuj Chopra
Producer: Tanuj Chopra
Writers: Tanuj Chopra, Hart Eddy
Cast: Misu Khan, Nina Edmonds, Ferdusy Dia, Hassan El-Gendi
San Francisco Premiere
USA 2006 | 82 mins | Color Video | English
IN PERSON: Tanuj Chopra, Misu Khan
Director Tanuj Chopra’s lauded 2003 short BUTTERFLY was a whimsical, romantic look at love and culture, but for his feature debut he delves into more heady issues of racism and identity, rage and redemption. Set during the sweltering heat of summer in post-9/11 Queens, PUNCHING AT THE SUN concerns a South Asian teen, Mameet Nayak (played by electrifying newcomer Misu Khan), who is consumed with both personal and social demons after his older brother, a local streetball legend, is murdered in their family’s corner store.
Not only does Nayak have to struggle with his own guilt, but his borough is wrought with racial tensions. Within a Black and White world, Nayak and his desi friends quickly learn that being Brown is to be both invisible and hyper-visible. While his buddies turn to humor and hiphop as outlets for their frustrations and a way to resolve these contradictions, Nayak instead fends off the lure of violence.
Tackling the complexities of race and resentment, Chopra heads an emerging wave of South Asian American filmmakers moving beyond formulaic family melodramas and exotic cultural ethnographies. His piercing look into the contemporary experience of desi youth asks difficult questions about America’s delicate social balance, and refuses to indulge in easy resolutions.
—Oliver Wang
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