Published: March 21, 2010

Director Lenin M. Sivam's Film Showcase at the 2010 ReelWorld Film Festival

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CANADA (Sasha Stoltz Publicity): In the tradition of Crash and Boyz N The Hood, comes 1999, named the official selection of the 2010 ReelWorld Film Festival. "The movie is about the immigrant experience in Canada. It is about the struggle that youth from these communities often undergo as they negotiate a hyphenated new reality" said director Lenin M. Sivam.

The film follows Anpu, an intelligent but isolated underachiever with a strict disciplinarian father, who befriends Kumar, the charismatic leader of a local gang, who feels increasingly trapped in the cycle of violence. The third main character Ahilan is diametrically opposed to both Anpu and Kumar. He is a hardworking young man who remains idealistic in spite of the cynics around him. Bearing the unseen scars of Sri Lanka's devastating civil war, their worlds collide one fateful Saturday that begins like any other day.

Often growing up without parents or positive adult role models, these immigrant youth, aged 15-25, fall prey to the gang culture often attracted by its sense of brotherhood, loyalty, friendship and code of honour.

"The question is how these young men fall into these groups" states Lenin. "The movie is trying to explore these different reasons through the eyes of these three young men and it is eye-opening in that regard."

The 10th Annual Reelworld Film Festival will take place in Toronto from April 7-11 with regular screenings at the Canada Square Theatre and gala screenings at the Scotiabank Theatre. Tickets and passes are currently on sale; to purchase them, go online to www.reelworld.ca, email them at info@reelworld.ca, or call them at 416-599-7933.

Garrett Godwin writes for NewsBlaze from Michigan. Contact him by writing to NewsBlaze.