AFGHAN SHORT FILM MAKES IT TO THE ACADEMY AWARDS

It is perhaps the first time that an Afghan film which has been shot in Kabul is nominated for an Academy Award for Best Short Subject Film. It is directed by Sam French and produced by Ariel Nasr ."Bazkashi Boys" is story of two friends who are teenagers in Kabul, story about 'dreams' and 'aspirations' of two young kids and the traditional Afghan sport of 'Bazakashi '. It gives a message of  "hope"for Afghanistan a war-torn country !!!!

Academy Award Predictions for 2013

MY ACADEMY AWARD PREDICTIONS FOR 2013

I am quite a movie buff and has been enjoying the Academy and Golden Globes my entire life!Here are my predictions for this year;
Please add your comments !

Best Picture
For sure " Argo" Academy members will compensate up to some extent for not nominating Ben Affleck in best director category.

Best Actor
Daniel Day Lewis will hopefully win his third Oscar for portraying Abraham Lincoln , superbly. Other fine performance was by Joaquin Pheonix .

Best Actress
Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linning Playbook. A good performance as a troubled widow or Jessica Chastain as an agent in Zero Dark Thirty. Tough fight among two aspiring actresses!

Best supporting Actress
Sally Field as the mesmerizing Mary Todd Lincoln.

Best Supporting Actor
I guess it's a tight race between Christoph Waltz in Django Unchained and Tommy Lee Jones in Lincoln.

Best Director
Ang Lee for Life of Pie or Steven Spielberg for Lincoln. Academy members like movies about historic figures so Spielburg may have an edge.

Animated Feature Film
Wreck it Ralph most probably!

Adapted Screenplay
Argo but Life of Pie may come close due to the immense popularity of the book.

Orignal Screenplay
Zero Dark Thirty about the Bin Laden hunt !

3 rd annual youth art exhibition

The 3 rd youth art exhibition will be held on feb 16 th 2013 at the Alexandria Ballroom ,Dearborn Inn between 12:30 and 3:30 pm. 10 prizes will be awarded by a panel of judges . This is a quite unique and large art exhibition which will exhibit almost 230 art projects including paintings , sketches, sculptures and photographs . About 180 young artists between the ages of 5 to 20 will participate in the one day exhibition . This is the first year when 4 local schools will also participate as a group namely Huda School , Crescent Academy , Detroit Country Day and Al - Ikhlas Detroit Charter School and also group of students from Bloomfield Hills School district  will participate .
" I organize this exhibition every year to promote the artistic talents of our youth and to in courage them " , stated Almas Akhtar the event organizer and main sponsor . There is no registration fees for students residing in the state of Michigan . This year  the event has been widely promoted by MMCC and Miindia through their websites . This event is designed to promote artistic expression and creativity amongst youth in the Muslim community and their peers from other faith and ethnic traditions .  It is unique in the large number of Michigan Muslim youth that are involved . This year  kids belonging to many different faiths and many different cultural backgrounds will also participate in the exhibition . Over 400 people from students , their families , art critics and teachers are expected to attend this event at Dearborn Inn

Just a mother" s touch

JUST A MOM'S TOUCH................

Few days back I read an amazing story which brought tearsto my eyes.It was about a single mother who gave birth to two twin boys in New Hampshire who were born premature ,about 12 weeks early .One of them died in a few days ,The other one whom she named Nick was less than 2 ilbs fought hard to survive and was finally sent home after spending 4 weeks in the NICU. The kid looked fine but had develpomental delays. He was almost 6 years old but was unable to speak .The mother was CEO of a fortune five hundred company ,took her son to the best doctors in the country but nothing helped. She spent hours with him reading books ,playing games ,teaching him to say words . She enrolled him in a special school for kids with disabilities.She hired some special speech coaches for her son. One day in the afternoon as she was laying with her son reading him a book he said "mom" ..............the mother started to cry ..........."it's all I wanted" .She quit her job started working in the special school where her Nick used to go!
He is 12 years old now can say a few more words but says "mom" very clearly when ever he sees his mom!!!!!!!!!

my Detroit Story

It was a surreal feeling to read my name,my husbands and our parents in the first Dream House restored by ICAN and NN in the city of Detroit . I moved to Detroit two decades ago, my husband was a fellow at DMC Harper Hospital that time , I myself enrolled in Wayne State University ; studied art history for two semesters . Enjoyed walks to DIA from the art building and made new friends in the campus. We attended the memorable Lata Mangeshkar concert at Fox theatre in 1995. We enjoyed dinning at TJ" s , Whitney's and Mario's . It was fun watching the Macy" s Thanksgiving Day Parade in November, checking out cars at the Auto Show and enjoying Arts Beats and Eats in summer. I have some beautiful memories of this beautiful city like visiting Belle Isle, Greek Toen , Mexican Town and travelling to Canada via the Detroit / Windsor Tunnel.
Today I was so happy to give back to this beautiful city my first home in United States .
DREAM : Detroit Revival Engaging American Muslims
This is my immigrant story, my Detroit story !!