Qissa

Set in post-colonial India, QISSA tells the story of Umber Singh, a Sikh, who is forced to flee his village due to ethnic cleansing at the time of partition in 1947. Umber decides to fight fate and builds a new home for his family. When Umber marries his youngest child Kanwar to Neeli, a girl of lower caste, the family is faced with the truth of their identities; where individual ambition and destinies collide in a struggle with eternity.

Born 1961 in Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania, Anup Singh grew up in a Sikh family of Punjab origin. Their forced displacement is one of the main sources of inspiration for QISSA. Anup’s first feature THE NAME OF A RIVER (2002) was in 30 festivals worldwide, won several awards and is available BFI’s DVD collection. He has also directed film projects for Indian TV and consulted for BBC2, as well as writing film reviews for industry press includ- ing “Sight&Sound”. Anup’s third feature film project LASYA – THE GENTLE DANCE picked up the CNC (France) prize at the Locarno 2011 Open Doors industry days.