Ocean of Pearls (2008)

As a Sikh man with a full beard and turban, AMRIT SINGH is often the target of racial profiling. But when he sees his dreams of becoming Chief of Surgery at a state-of-the-art transplant ... See full summary »

Director:

Sarab Neelam

Writers:

Sarab Neelam (story), V. Prasad (story)

Stars:

Omid Abtahi, Heather McComb, Ron Canada

3 wins.

Cast

Credited cast:
Omid Abtahi	...	Amrit Singh
Heather McComb	...	Susan Clark
Ron Canada	...	Dr. Wiiliam Ballard
Frank Zieger	...	TSA Officer
Navi Rawat	...	Smita Sethi
Ajay Mehta	...	Ravinder Singh
Todd Babcock	...	Dr. Ryan Bristol
Dennis Haskins	...	Dr. Shultz
K.T. Thangavelu
Rena Owen	...	Anna Berisha
Brenda Strong	...	Mary Stewart
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Loren Bass	...	Moderator
Zach Begle	...	David Stewart - Mary's Son
Teri Clark	...	Nurse Receptionist
Don Cochran	...	Doctor

Storyline

As a Sikh man with a full beard and turban, AMRIT SINGH is often the target of racial profiling. But when he sees his dreams of becoming Chief of Surgery at a state-of-the-art transplant center dwindle because of his appearance, Amrit goes against a tradition he's maintained his whole life and cuts his hair. Hiding this decision from his girlfriend and family in Toronto is only the start of a series of compromises Amrit finds himself making as he deals with hospital politics and health care injustices. When his compromises result in the death of a patient, Amrit begins to reexamine the value of the religious traditions he'd turned his back on.

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Plot Keywords:

turban | transplant | toronto | sikh | photography | 

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Taglines:

It is in the collision between the old ways and the new that we find out who we are.

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for brief strong language and thematic elements

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 June 2011 (Canada)

Filming Locations:

Detroit, Michigan, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$750,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Light Post Pictures, Ocean of Pearls, White Hill Production

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

User Reviews

A moving experience

I saw this movie tonight at the Reel World Film Festival in Toronto, expecting another one of those immigrant culture clash cultural pieces in line with the Bollywood-Hollywood/Bhaji on the Beach types that contain poorly developed characters, bad acting, loud political messages and contrived and simplistic plot lines. The fact that it was helmed by a first time director with no previous film experience did not help me in formulating my preconception. Boy was I wrong! Ocean of Pearls is a moving and ultimately redeeming spiritual voyage that intelligently touched upon such topics as faith, assimilation, materialism, family and HMOs in modern secular America, while telling the story of a young Sikh-Canadian doctor who loses his faith in his religion and profession when taking on new job at a private Detroit hospital. Its not as profound (or heady) as an Ingmar Bergman film (and is not intended to be), but for a family drama it carries great weight and is a refreshingly honest portrayal of South Asians in North America.