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PUNCHING AT THE SUN

12 April Wednesday, 8pm (Repeat Screening, also showing 8 April, 3pm)
CHICAGO PREMIERE
Tanuj Chopra | 2006 | 82 min | video | USA
Starring Misu Khan, Nina Edmonds, Ferdusy Dia, Hassan El-Gendi

Punching at the Sun is a coming-of-age story about a young man struggling to find hope in the face of violent personal tragedy. Set in Elmhurst, Queens in the racially and politically charged aftermath of 9-11, it follows Mameet Nayak, a 17 year-old South Asian immigrant with a passion for basketball and a hair trigger temper.
Haunted by visions of his murdered brother, and exasperated by the dead-end dreams of his friends, Mameet must balance his anger and grief as he is desperate to find a sense of hope in his violent racial tension filled surroundings.
Superimposing first generation immigrant cultures with the American firestorm of hip-hop culture, post 9-11 politics, interracial relationships, and violent crime, Tanuj Chopra pushes South Asian American filmmaking to new levels as he delicately showcases the dizzying complexity of contemporary Queens as a window into the future of the American dream.

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