AWFJ Movie of the Week, September 7-September 13: MEET THE PATELS
Opening September 2, the AWFJ Movie of the Week is Meet The Patels, the new documentary from filmmaker Geeta Patel (Project Kashmir) which tells the story of her family’s involvement in her 29-year-old Ravi brother’s romantic relationships. Read on…
Combining the tropes of romantic comedy with a sharp documentary eye, Geeta documents the family’s journey back to India and her parents’ attempts to help find their son a wife. Geeta and Ravi have a modern, American outlook and their parents are holding on to the Indian way of life, the result is an endearing, compelling fly on the wall look on cross-generational relationships and the enduring importance of cultural traditions.
The universality of the film’s message is helped by Geeta’s use of her brother, mainly in animated form, as both guide and something of a narrator of his journey. Ravi is as unfamiliar with the customs of his parents as a viewer may be and his POV, together with Geena’s intimate shooting style, make this a colourful and personal look at a fascinating family.
AWFJ Movie of the Week Panelists Comments:
Nell Minow: Meet the Patels is an adorable documentary romantic comedy about one particular culture and one particular family that is endearingly universal. Read Nell Minow’s interview with filmmakers Geeta and Ravi Patel.
Jennifer Merin: Filmmaker Geeta Patel’s charmingly clever documentary about her family’s ‘intervention’ in her 29 year old brother’s marital status is filled with wit and with revelations about how cultural traditions influence interpersonal relationships between generations.
Film Details:
Title: Meet the Patels
Directors: Geeta Patel & Ravi Patel
Release Date: September 11, 2015
Running Time: 88 mins
Language: English, Gujarati
Principal Cast: Ravi Patel, Geeta Patel, Champa V Patel, Vasant K Patel
Screenwriters: Geeta Patel, Ravi Patel, Matthew Hamacheck, Billy McMillin
Production Company: Four In A Billion Pictures
Distributor: Alechemy
Official Site
Trailer
AWFJ Movie of the Week Panel Members: Nikki Baughan, Anne Brodie, Pam Grady, Leba Hertz, MaryAnn Johanson, Loren King, Cate Marquis, Katherine McLaughlin, Jennifer Merin, Nell Minow, Perri Nemiroff, Kristy Puchko, Sheila Roberts, Liz Whittemore, Jeanne Wolf.
Other Movies Opening the Week of September 7-September 13:
September 7
Bird
September 8
War Pigs
Echo Effect
Adrenaline
September 9
Time Out Of Mind
Coming Home
Millennium Come
The Ghost Huntress
September 10
I Had A Bloody Good Time At House Harker
September 11
The Visit
Listening
X+Y
Goodnight Mommy
The Perfect Guy
Sleeping With Other People
Wolf Totem
90 Minutes In Heaven
Breathe
12 Rounds 3: Lockdown
The Challenger
Home From Home: Chronicle of a Vision
The Beauty Inside
Paul Taylor Creative Domain
Ambassadors For Mashiach
Helio Oticica
September 12
The Murder Pact
5To7 Minutes
Edited by Sandra Kraisirideja, AWFJ.org Associate Editor
