Friday, June 8, 2012, 7pm
@ Alwan for the Arts
16 Beaver Street, 4th Floor (btwn Broad Street and Broadway)
New York, NY
$10 suggested donation
SAWCC is proud to present a discussion of the struggles in the Middle East/North Africa with Anjali Kamat, Faizan Fiaz, and Sabelo Narsimhan. Reflecting on their first-hand experiences, the panelists will present images and clips from various social and formal media sources, leading a discussion about the pressing need for social change that is sweeping the globe. This transnational panel will bring together three distinct voices for an evening of insights and inspiration.
Cosponsored by the Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU, South Asian Journalists Association, South Asia Solidarity Initiative, and 3rd I New York
Anjali Kamat is an independent journalist who grew up in Chennai, India. She now works with Fault Lines, a current affairs documentary program on Al Jazeera English. She was a producer and correspondent for Democracy Now! for four years, and spent 2011 living in Cairo, Egypt and reporting on the uprisings there and in Libya. Her writing has appeared in several online and print publications in the US, Egypt, and India.
Faizan Fiaz was born in London to Pakistani immigrant parents in 1972. After graduating with an honors degree from Leeds University in Arabic Studies in 1995, he began work at the then-only Arabic language satellite channel, Middle East Broadcasting Centre. Fiaz worked in a number of freelance and staff roles in London in television (and some print), learning most aspects of production including satellite coordinating, producing, scripting, filming, and editing. Since 2007, Fiaz has worked as a freelancer in Pakistan as a fixer, reporter, commentator, videographer and producer for news organizations such as the BBC, Associated Press, ITN, Channel 4 News, the Daily Telegraph, Fox News, NPR, and CBC Canada. He is currently serving as an overseas correspondent covering Pakistan for China Central TV News, and has also reported from Libya, Turkey, and UAE. Highlights of Fiaz’s career over the last five years have included covering the 2008 Pakistan elections, Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, Musharraf’s ousting, numerous terrorist attacks, the killing of Osama bin Laden, and the 10th anniversary of 9/11.
Sabelo Narasimhan is an urban documentary photographer and a Master’s student in International Policy at New York University (NYU). Brought up in Mumbai, India, and having lived in San Francisco and New York, Sabelo spent a year in Egypt pursuing graduate research in Migration and Refugee Studies at American University of Cairo (AUC). While there, Sabelo photographed in Tahrir Square almost daily during the first few months of the revolution. Prior to Egypt, Sabelo documented the political work of many NYC community-based organizations on campaigns related to immigration, youth political education, state and police violence, and community safety alternatives. A freelance photographer for over a decade and a budding filmmaker, Narasimhan’s film and photography projects have been exhibited and published across the US and internationally, as well as online.