Warrior Boyz

Saturday May 31 | 5:00 pm | Vancity Theatre [Advanced Tickets SOLD OUT - Rush Tickets only at door]

SECOND SCREENING: Sunday June 1 | 11:00 am | Vancity Theatre

Director: Baljit Sangra, Canada, 2007, 42 minutes


WORLD PREMIERE
Director and special guests in attendance
No membership required

A grade ten drop-out and ex-con, Jagdeep carries the reminders of his gang experience mapped across his body in the form of bullet wounds and machete scars. A steady pattern of escalation pulled him deeper into the criminal underworld until he says, “I guarantee it…I was gonna be dead.” His experience is a stark rejoinder to fifteen-year-old Tanvir, a slender teenager, whose life is a free fall of violence and alienation. Eighteen-year-old Vicky, who is struggling to graduate from high school, refuses to even talk about his past for fear of retaliation. Director Baljit Sangra focuses on the experience of two young men and the people who are fighting to help them resist the deadly lure of gangs.

In a world where memory and tradition are fading—replaced with suburban strip malls and fast food joints, where a quick cell phone call can summon 50 kids armed with knives, bats, bear mace and machetes—it’s a struggle for some kids to reach their 25th birthday. To date, more than a hundred young men from the South Asian community have died in gang-related violence in Metro Vancouver—a pattern that is replicated in different communities across the city. But behind the body count and the headline news stories, a far different battle is being waged. People on the front lines of gang violence, educators and parents are taking action. Sukh Rai, vice principal at a major Surrey secondary school, says kids are “looking for connections in the wrong areas, with the wrong people.” To puncture the bad-boy fantasy of gang life, he organizes slide shows of crime scenes that show the grim reality of bodies, blood and senseless death.

Warrior Boyz takes an unflinching look at the root causes of gang violence, but more importantly, it also offers real solutions and hard-fought hope for the future.

Director Biography

Baljit Sangra is a graduate of the UBC Film Program. Sangra has worked as a director-producer for a number of different programs, including the arts and entertainment series VIVA! for City TV and Channel M. Her most recent documentary, Warrior Boyz, was produced in association with The National Film Board and Global Television.


Followed by a community forum with:

Indira Prahst

Indira Prahst (Moderator) is an Instructor of Sociology, at Langara College. She is involved in research projects on deconstructing the glorification of gangs, youth and domestic violence. Indira won the award for outstanding woman in culture and arts from The Burns Bog Society 6th annual awards in 2007 recognizing outstanding women in BC and she was recently nominated for the Leadership award at Langara College. She writes regular columns for “The Indo-Canadian Voice” newspaper, contributes to radio programs and is one of the team hosts of “Asian Pulse TV.” She is the recipient of the Leadership Excellence Award for her commitment to solution based exploration of community issues of domestic violence and the glorification of gangs.

Ujjal Dosanjh

Hon. Ujjal Dosanjh, P.C., Q.C., M.P. was elected as the Member of Parliament for Vancouver South in 2004, and was re-elected in 2006. He is currently the Official Opposition Critic for Public Safety, and previously served as Critic for both the Foreign Affairs and the National Defence portfolios. From July 2004 until February 2006, he served as Canada's Federal Minister of Health. Prior to entering federal politics, Mr. Dosanjh served as Premier of British Columbia. Mr. Dosanjh was the Attorney General of British Columbia from 1995-2000. Mr. Dosanjh and his wife Raminder have three sons Pavel, Aseem, Umber, and three grandchildren.

Suke Rai

Suke Rai is currently a Vice Principal at Frank Hurt Secondary in Surrey. He has been in the educational system for the past sixteen years and feels quite fortunate to be given the oppotunity to work with our youth. He enjoys coaching, working on community initiatives, and taking part in events to establish greater rapport with his students. "I truly believe that adults have a social responsibility in helping to guide and provide role modelling for our young people. An individual can make a difference, if they are willing to give their most valuable asset… time."

Baljit Sangra

Baljit Sangra is a graduate of the UBC Film Program and has worked as a director/producer for a number of different programs, including the arts and entertainment series VIVA! for City TV and Channel M. Her most recent documentary, Warrior Boyz, was produced in association with The National Film Board and Global Television.

Jagdeep Singh Mangat

Jagdeep Singh Mangat is a Vancouver area social justice activist. Though his primary interest is in the advancement of the collective interests of members of the working class, he has also been an active participant in social policy discussions related to gangs and organized crime. In the past, he has worked as a social service worker as a researcher, advocate and youth worker. Currently he is studying law at the University of British Columbia and intends to practice as a human rights lawyer specializing in social and economic rights.

 

Community Partner


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Virsa's mission is to build self-esteem, self-pride, leadership and good citizenship among South Asian youth and families through education, mentoring and outreach.