watch I WANT TO BE A DESI 1 & 2 online

I WANT TO BE A DESI online at Bravo!

I Want To Be A Desi is now available online.  The complete film can be viewed at Bravo!

Desi returns to San Diego

San Diego Asian Film Festival loves Desi. After showing I Want To Be A Desi 2 almost exactly two years ago, the venerable SDAFF is unspooling I Want To Be A Desi on October 22 & 26 before the feature, Big In Bollywood. These screenings cap a busy month with Desi playing in screens in Toronto (FILMI) and Barrie.

Mr. Dasgupta (Jazz Mann) elated

Raj (David Yee) not so elated

Bride #2 (Tara Joshi) and Raj (David Yee) celebrate an addition to their young family

Desi invades southern Ontario in October

In October, I Want To Be A Desi hits southern Ontario in back-to-back screenings, first at the FILMI Toronto South Asian Film Festival then the Barrie Film Festival.

FILMI hosts the film on Saturday, October 1 at 4:00 pm at the Revue Cinema in west-end Toronto. Two weeks later north of Toronto, Desi hits the Barrie Film Festival Short Film Showcase & Awards Night on Saturday, October 15th at 6:30 pm.
The FILMI screening marks the second time Desi hits hometown screens. In July, The Mississauga Independent Film Festival played the comedy and awarded it Honourable Mention as best short.

MIFF opens tonight, Desi on Saturday

Mr. Dasgupta (Jazz Mann) is dressed up for tonight's MIFF gala

The Mississauga Independent Film Fest opens tonight at 7:00pm with a formal gala at the Art Gallery of Mississauga. The festival which runs until July 24, 2011, will screen I Want To Be A Desi at noon on Saturday, July 23 at the AMC Winston Churchill 24 (2081 Winston Park Drive, Oakville). Tickets are $8. Click here for the full MIFF schedule. Following this screening, Desi returns to American screens. Stay tuned, yaar.

DESI is MIFF'd on July 23

Roger/Raj (David Yee) tries to be a "desi" in Mississauga

Next stop on the festival tour for I Want To Be A Desi is just west of Toronto, at the Mississauga Independent Film Fest.

The comedy appears as part of the Short Program A starting at noon on Saturday, July 23 at the AMC Winston Churchill 24 (2081 Winston Park Drive, Oakville). Tickets are $8. Click here for the full MIFF schedule.

Following this screening, Desi returns to American screens. Stay tuned, yaar.

I Want To Be A Desi...In Short on May 11

I Want To Be A Desi will have its Canadian broadcast premiere on Bravo!FACT's new show, In Short, at 10:00 pm ET/7:00 pm PT, Wednesday May 11, 2011 on Bravo! Since Desi is presently touring the North American festival circuit, only an excerpt will be aired.

The theme of the May 11 episode is Envy and Kindness. Launching at the beginning of May 2011, In Short is the only Canadian TV destination in an easily accessible time slot dedicated to short films. Eight new one-hour specials featuring Canadian short films will air over eight consecutive weeks. The shorts have all been produced with funds awarded by Bell Media's Bravo!FACT (Foundation to Assist Canadian Talent).

Each episode is based on one of the seven deadly sins and their accompanying virtues: pride/humility, envy/kindness, lust/chastity, greed/charity, wrath/patience, sloth/diligence and gluttony/temperance. Renowned film critic Richard Crouse hosts all eight In Short episodes, serving as a guide for the viewer.

Desi plays Hamilton

I Want To Be A Desi plays The Hamilton Film Festival on Wednesday, November 3 at the 7:00pm Comedy Shorts program. Come out and have a hilarious time. Tickets and directions: http://www.hamiltonfilmfestival.com/

Pal Uncle (Jazz Mann) welcomes you to The Hamilton Film Festival

I Want To Be A Desi wins at Grand River Film Festival

I Want To Be A Desi captured second-place in the BMO SHORT Shorts Competition held at the fourth Grand River Film Festival.

"The acting was excellent, the editing thoughtful, and the use of music very clever," announced one of the judges, Phillip Bast, a Kitchener filmmaker and journalist. "I Want To Be A Desi is a delightful film, a comic social investigation into multicultural identity for second generation Canadians in large urban centres, particularly the Greater Toronto Area."

Fellow judge and Toronto filmmaker, Benjamin Rousse, added that Desi is "a solid film with no weaknesses in any area of film production. Writer/director Allan Tong demonstrates a firm grasp of the art of filmmaking."

Things are looking up for "desi" Roger (David Yee)

Allan was on hand at The Museum in downtown Kitchener, ON last night to receive the award from the festival and awards sponsor BMO. The presentation was part of GRFF's annual Chairman's Gala and Festival Launch taking place at The Museum in Kitchener. I Want To Be A Desi and other finalists' films were was shown on a silent loop in the resplendent open-air lobby of the The Museum.

The judges praised Desi for its witty writing, assured direction and smart cinematography, and for addressing the issue of identity in modern Canada. I Want To Be A Desi will appear in a program devoted to the BMO SHORT Shorts on Saturday, October 23, 1:00 p.m. at the Galt Little Theatre in Cambridge, next to Kitchener-Waterloo. The screening will be the World Premiere of I Want To Be A Desi. Click here for schedule and tickets. Waterloo Record article about GRFF.

I WANT TO BE A DESI completed

Production of the short film, I Want To Be A Desi, has ended and the completed film has been delivered to broadcaster, Bravo. The six-minute comedy will play the festival circuit for the next 12 months before Bravo broadcasts it across Canada.

In the film, a young man of multiracial origin, Roger (David Yee), doesn't know who he is, and so hires a suspicious Indo-Canadian (Jazz Mann, see below) to teach him to become a 'desi' in one day. That includes choosing a beautiful bride who can cook a perfectly circular roti. But is it that easy to step into someone else's skin?


The film was shot over two days in December in North York. DP Daniel Grant shot the film on the Red camera while Rose Legace acted as the Production Designer. Baun Mah edited the film, while Danijel Margetic completed the online edit in addition to his producer's duties. The film was made by Balkan Films and the executive producers are Michael McNamara and Judy Holm.

The film was a pleasure to shoot, according to director Allan Tong. "The film was a pleasure to shoot," he recalls today, extending his thanks to a hard-working and dedicated crew.


Bravo and the Toronto Arts Council invested in this six-minute production. Special thanks also go to ACTRA for its TIP program, and the CFTPA. (Click here for the cast and crew list.) Check back for regular updates as Desi during its festival run.

T R A I L E R