London: A feature film is being made to tell the story of some of those who were trapped inside the Darbar Sahib in Amritsar when the Indian Government invaded in June of 1984. The film is titled ‘Their Last Stand’ and is being made by NAUJAWANI.com who are using crowd-funding to enhance their budget for the production. It is the first time that a feature film is being made about this topic outside of South Asia, and is the first film to solely consider the attack on the Darbar Sahib as its subject matter.
‘Their Last Stand’ focuses on twelve Sikhs who find themselves encamped together and forced to come to terms with the reality of the Darbar Sahib being invaded in June 1984. Despite being from differing backgrounds, there is a growing realisation amongst them all that they have a decision to make – the most important one of their lives. Besieged, without provisions, and facing a certain death, the struggle that each of them goes through in the hours that they are together tells a compelling story.
A short film version of ‘Their Last Stand’ is available to watch on youtube (See video Above) and presents a vision of what the full-length film promises to be. On the basis of this short film, NAUJAWANI.com have been crowd-funding online to garner support for the production so as to add to the budget that is available to make it. Contributors are not donating money, but will instead receive rewards once the film has been completed. These range from £6 advance tickets for the first screening to £300 skype calls with the writer/director to discuss the script of the film.
Although the story is based on first-hand accounts of what took place in the Darbar Sahib, it is a work of fiction. Written by Harwinder Singh Mander, a writer and broadcaster from the UK, casting for the film is currently under way and will retain some of the actors from the short film. Mander states, “I am delighted that this creative team will be working together to create the feature film and with your backing, we will be adding more talented individuals to our crew to make this become the film that we know it can be. Please, watch the short film, leave a comment, share the project and if you feel what we feel about it, contribute!”
Further information about ‘Their Last Stand’ including links to contribute to the crowd-funding can be found at: http://naujawani.com/their-last-stand. Crowd-funding ends on 19 April, 2015.