The South Asian Studies Institute (SASI) actively engages with both the community and the public on issues pertinent to South Asia and the Canadian South Asian Diaspora. SASI has had the privilege of contributing to documentary filmmaking and participating in a variety of interviews. Below is a selection of the documentaries, films, and interviews in which SASI has been involved in.
South Asian Studies Institute
Documentaries
Not Your Butter Chicken (2024)
With her mother losing her memory to dementia, food and wine expert Shiva Reddy travels to South Asian farms and homes in search of her roots. A four-part documentary series set in Western Canada that demystifies Indian food and culture. Dr. Satwinder Bains served as both a commentator and contributor in this documentary series.
Click here to watch the docu-series.
Marriage & Migration: The Story of the Gill Family (2024)
This short documentary, by Henna Mann, is a part of the Marriages and Migration - A Transnational Story of BC exhibit at the Sikh Heritage Museum. It is the story of Rajinder Gill and Nash Gill.
The exhibit is curated from Del Monte Studio digital collection in the South Asian Canadian Digital Archive which consists of 8,084 photographs from 379 individuals and families, and covers the period between 1959 to 1998.
Click here to watch the documentary.
- To view the exhibit, click here.
This Heritage Minute introduces the mill town of Paldi, BC, through the eyes of a Sikh woman, Bishan Kaur. It is the first Heritage Minute to highlight a South Asian Canadian story. Dr. Satwinder Bains was the history and expert consultant for this project.
- Read SASI's blog on the Paldi Heritage Minute here.
Unarchived (2022)
In community archives across British Columbia, local knowledge keepers are hand-fashioning a more inclusive history. Through a collage of personal interviews, archival footage and deeply rooted memories, the past, present and future come together, fighting for a space where everyone is seen and everyone belongs. History is what we all make of it.
Click here to watch the documentary.
- Watch Dr. Satwinder Bains interview on the feature documentary Unarchived on SiriusXM Canada Talks here.
- Read SASI's blog on Unarchived here.
Rails, Jails and Trolleys (2022)
Filmed and directed by Henna Mann, and produced by the South Asian Studies Institute at UFV, this documentary film provides historical context, and an in the moment look into the world's largest farmers protest that took place in India.
This ground-breaking documentary captures the electric ethos of a protest that received international attention and the resounding response by Canadians to the movement. A full year in the making the film tells the story of why and how the farmers’ movement ignited a nation, and youth, women, and men from all over the world.
Click here to watch the documentary.
- Read more about the documentary on the South Asian Canadian Heritage website.
South Asian Studies Institute, UFV - 2020 Contributions (2021)
See some of the 2020 highlights by the South Asian Studies Institute, including students and the South Asian Canadian Legacy Project. Film by Henna Mann.
Click here to watch the video.
Komagata Maru: Discrimination Meets Determination - Virtual Exhibit Launch (2021)
A new exhibit, "Komagata Maru: Discrimination Meets Determination" launched at the Sikh Heritage Museum located in the National Historic Site Gur Sikh Temple in Abbotsford on April 14, 2021. It is an adaptation of an exhibition titled Komagata Maru: Challenging Injustice created by the VMM during the centennial year commemorations of the Komagata Maru in 2014.
The exhibit launch, a virtual event, was hosted by the SASI on April 14th and a part of the Sikh Heritage Month BC commemorative events. The launch featured reflections by descendants of the passengers of the Komagata Maru, conversations about why the story continues to matter today, poignant poetry and the need for activism and vigilance against ongoing racism.
Click here to watch the virtual exhibit launch.
Gur Sikh Temple (2021)
This is a short documentary on the Gur Sikh Temple, National Historic Site and Sikh Heritage Museum located at 33089 South Fraser Way in Abbotsford. The documentary was produced by the South Asian Studies institute, University of the Fraser Valley and directed and narrated by Henna Mann.
Click here to watch the documentary.
Solidarity Lives (2021)
This film is a part of the South Asian Canadian Legacy Project's South Asian Historic Sites of Significance in BC, Canada. Produced by Dr. Satwinder Kaur Bains and Madhavee Inamdar, written by Paneet Singh and filmed by Bhavesh Chauban.
Click here to watch the documentary.
Punjabi Canadian Legacy Project (2018)
The Punjabi Canadian Legacy Project's (PCLP) Phase 2 - History Across the Regions Project (HARP) (2017-2018) - aims to preserve, share and explore the Punjabi community’s contributions to British Columbian and Canadian History.
In each region, the PCLP’s objective is to bring people together to record family histories, and share and collect Punjabi historical and contemporary perspectives on immigration, employment, social organisations, family settlements, integration, political struggles, experiences of racism, discriminatory legislation, inter-generational, intercultural experiences, etc.
Click here to watch the video.
- To learn more, visit the South Asian Canadian Heritage website.
Interviews
Conversing with Dr. Satwinder Kaur Bains (2024)
In Fraser Valley India's (FVI) first podcast, Dr. Satwinder Kaur Bains, the first principal of FVI and currently Director of SASI, talks about FVI’s journey, how it shapes the lives of its students, SASI, the Indian community in Canada, and more.
Click here to watch the video.
BC Museum Portraits: Gur Sikh Temple & Sikh Heritage Museum (2021)
The BC Museum Portraits Project is an audio interview and photography initiative that will result in an online archive of the ‘institutional memory’ of the Province’s museums and archives. In this episode, Spencer interviews Dr. Satwinder Bains of the Gur Sikh Temple Sikh Heritage Museum.
Socio-cultural impact of South Asian communities in Canada - Science Talks (2021)
The Virtual Science Cafe is a series of online informal talks given by experts in the field, where the latest ideas in science, research, and technology are explored. Social scientist, Dr. Satwinder Bains, sums up her work at the South Asian Studies Institute in this talk. Dr Bains’ award winning research interests include the impact of language, culture and identity on South Asian Canadian migration, settlement, and integration; anti-racist curriculum design implementation; identity politics; migration and the South Asian Canadian Diaspora, South Asian Canadian archival records, Punjabi Canadian cultural historiography and EDI policy development and implementation.
Click here to watch the video.
Farmers Movement and Emerging Solidarities in Rural Punjab: Caste, Class and Sikhi with Dr. Jodhka (2021)
Professor Dr. Surinder Jodhka (Jawaharlal Nehru University) addresses the Farmers protests.
Rural Punjab has been a divided region. The most important axis of this division has been through caste, which also overlaps with class. Almost all the agricultural land is owned and cultivated by Jatts and a few other minor caste groups, such as Sainis, Kambojs, Rajputs and Labanas. Dalits, who make for more than 30% of the state population, are almost all landless. This presentation will look at how the current farmers' movement has provided an opportunity to rebuild solidarities across castes. Unlike other regions of India, Punjab has the idiom of Sikhi that could help in building newer solidarities across caste communities.
Click here to watch the video.
The Sikh Foundation International (2021)
Dr. Mark Juergensmeyer, in conversation with Dr. Satwinder Kaur Bains of the University of the Fraser Valley, Canada on the topic of Sikh Studies.
Dr. Satwinder Kaur Bains is an Associate Professor in Social-Cultural Media Studies at the University of the Fraser Valley, Canada. Her current research interests include migration, settlement, and integration; cross-cultural education and curriculum implementation; race, racism, and ethnicity; identity politics; South Asian Canadian Diaspora studies, Punjabi cultural historiographies.
Dr. Mark Juergensmeyer is professor of global studies,professor of sociology, and affiliate professor of religious studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he was the founding director of the Global and International Studies Program and the Orfalea Center for Global and International Studies. He is an expert on religious violence, conflict resolution and South Asian religion and politics, and has published more than two hundred articles and twenty books.
Click here to watch the conversation.
BC Historical Federation (2020)
BC Historical Federation President Shannon Bettles interviews Satwinder Bains and Sharanjit Kaur Sandhra from the South Asian Studies Institute at the University of the Fraser Valley to congratulate them on their 2020 Centennial Legacy Fund award. Their project: Missing Aesthetics of Early Sikh Settlers in BC: Where are the women?" was selected for funding.
Click here to watch the interview.
The Harpreet Singh Show (2014)
University of Fraser Valley's Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies director and university advisor Dr. Satwinder Kaur Bains talks about the history of the centre, its major achievements and future plans.
Click here to watch the video.
100 years since Komagata Maru denial marked with exhibit - CBC News (2014)
The Sikh Heritage Museum in Abbotsford, B.C., marked the passing of a century since a tragedy took place in Vancouver's harbour with the launch of a new exhibit called: Challenge and Denial: Komagata Maru, 100 Years Later.
Satwinder Bains, director for The Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies at the University of the Fraser Valley, helped curate the exhibit and said it's a reminder of a terrible incident — one that needs to be remembered.
Click here to watch the news clip.
The Harpreet Singh Show (2013)
Founder of GirlKind Foundation Deesh Sekhon and passionate advocate against gendercide, foeticide, infanticide Satwinder Bains from UFV speak about GirlKind Foundation.
Click here to watch the interview.