From Africa to India: A Film on Sidi Music in the Indian Ocean Diaspora

FILM AT KALA GHODA ARTS FESTIVAL 2026

Introduction by Ethnomusicologist Amy Catlin-Jairazbhoy, and Journalist, Gordon Whiting

February 1st  2026, 5.00 PM

Sidis descend from Africans who sailed across the Indian Ocean to the west coast of India over many centuries. This documentary explores the expressions of their Indian and African cultural heritage, through the music and dance of African-Indians across Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, and Gujarat.

Amy Catlin-Jairazbhoy, Adjunct Professor, Ethnomusicology, Herb Alpert School of Music, UCLA

Amy Catlin-Jairazbhoy is an ethnomusicologist whose research, writing, teaching, curatorial work, and multimedia publications center on community development and the preservation of minority musical traditions, particularly in diasporic contexts. Her publications include Sidi Sufis: African Indian Mystics of Gujarat, and the Sidis and Scholars: Essays on African Indians. *

Gordon J Whiting

Gordon J. Whiting is cofounder and publisher of Newsjunkie.net, an innovative news journal and database that covers the news business itself. He has worked primarily behind the scenes in radio, music and film, for acclaimed companies like American Zoetrope, The Saul Zaentz Company, and Fantasy Records.