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Acclaimed Indian actress Nandita Das makes her writing and directorial debut in a new film, Firaaq, part of this week’s Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles. Das, who has played controversial roles in Deepa Mehta’s films, Fire and Earth, spent the past two years making a film that also stirs up controversy. Firaaq is a fictitious series of intertwining vignettes from the lives of Hindu and Muslim communities in the immediate aftermath of the devastating Gujarat riots in 2002. The riots were an organized effort supported by the state government, and claimed the lives of more than 2000 Indian Muslims. Firaaq is an Urdu word meaning both ‘separation’ and ‘quest.’ The film, which stars some relative unknowns, also features veteran Bollywood stars Naseerudin Shah and Deepti Naval, and has screened at festivals around the world. It now comes to Southern California by way of the 7th Annual Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles. The festival starts on Tuesday and goes through Sunday, at the Arclight Hollywood on the corner of Sunset and Vine. The festival honors actor Anil Kapoor, from the film Slumdog Millionaire, and also showcases a number of politically conscious films. Screening information is available at www.indianfilmfestival.org. Firaaq is showing on Wednesday April 22nd at 9 pm. I spoke recently with the writer and director Nandita Das while she was on travel in Istanbul for a screening of her film.

GUEST: Actress Nandita Das, writer and director of Firaaq. More information is available at www.firaaqthefilm.com.