ASIAN WOMEN OF ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS 2003 - FINALISTS

The Asian Women of Achievement Awards applaud and celebrate the commitment, dedication and determination of Asian women to their professional and personal achievements within the commercial, professional, artistic and humanitarian sectors. This year 37 finalists have been selected across seven different Award categories:

ARTS & CULTURE AWARD

For women flourishing in the world of performing arts, management of the arts and creative writing.

DR SARITA MALIK
Sarita has researched and written extensively on race, media and culture. Since completing her doctorate at the British Film Institute in London - incorporating research on the history of black and Asian representation on British television - she has worked for the BBC and as an independent writer and researcher. Her book, Representing Black Britain: Black and Asian images on Television, was published in 2002. It traces the history from 1936 to the present day of British terrestrial television and provides an analysis of shifting institutional contexts, images of race and ethnic minority cultural politics in modern Britain. In 2001, Sarita was appointed Head of Asian Arts Development at Watermans, a cultural flagship venue in London. Her role involves continuous project management, effective partnership working and strategic thinking with key stakeholders about developing pathways for Asian artists, audiences and organisations.

FAREDA KHAN
Fareda played a key role in negotiating the concept and finding funding for Shisha, a national development agency for work by craftspeople and visual artists from the Indian Subcontinent. She has been instrumental in conceiving and delivering high profile projects that require a genuine ability to manoeuvre - Chandrika, an exhibition of silver ornaments of India, was shown in a number of galleries around the UK with linked educational programmes; and ArtSouthAsia, a series of interconnected cultural and educational programmes that brought together, for the first time, the variety of visual cultures and dialects from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka (as part of the Commonwealth Games cultural programme). She also set the first South Asian Residency programme in partnership with the Harris Museum and Art Gallery, and the University of Central Lancashire and Lancashire Council of Mosques.

GURINDER CHADHA
Gurinder began her career as a news reporter for BBC Radio and went on to direct award-winning documentaries for the British Film Institute, BBC and Channel 4. In 1990 she set up her own production company, Umbi Films, and had her first film debut in 1993 with Bhaji on the Beach. After Bhaji she directed a two-part drama for the BBC and continued to work on documentaries. She was invited to join the Sundance Institute's Writer's Lab with a project which resulted in her second feature film, What's Cooking, which won her the award for Best British Director in the London Film Critics' Circle 2001 Awards. Bend It Like Beckham in 2002 has been her most successful film to date - a smash hit grossing over £11m at the UK box office, the most ever for a British financed and British distributed film. She was groundbreaking ten years ago, as the first British Asian woman to direct a feature film, and with Beckham she has achieved a level of commercial and critical success that would be remarkable for any British director of any gender, age or cultural origin.

PUSHPINDER CHOWDHURY & HARVINDER NATH
Pushpinder and Harvinder formed Tongues of Fire, the Asian Women's Film Festival currently in its fifth year. At the heart of this annual event are various cultural and educational activities that celebrate Asian women's contribution to cinema and the arts. Screenings are held at the National Film Theatre and Institute of Contemporary Arts as well as independent cinemas, community organisations, women's group centres and university venues across London and the UK. Their professionalism, commitment and passion for promoting and celebrating Asian women's achievements in culture and arts has resulted in the festival becoming a mainstream event - and still without any major sponsorship involvement. Without Pushpinder and Harvinder Tongues of Fire would not exist and the artistic talents of Asian women would not have such a vibrant showcase.

TANIKA GUPTA
As a child, Tanika performed Tagore dance dramas with her parents' troup 'The Tagoreans' across Europe. She worked as a community worker and in an Asian women's refuge for several years after graduating from Oxford University. She began writing drama in the early 90s with a screenplay for the BBC's Black Screen, two short films and several episodes of the TV adaptation of A Suitable Boy. Her work for radio has been nominated for a number of awards including the Prix Futura and the Sony Radio Awards. In 2000 she was given the John Whiting Award by the Arts Council of Great Britain. Tanika has also worked as a scriptwriter for Eastenders, Grange Hill and The Bill. She was writer-in-residence at the Soho Theatre (1996-98) and penned the award-winning The Waiting Room for the National in 2000.

THE JUDGES

The judging of the Asian Women of Achievement Awards took place on 24th March 2003. The judging panel, headed up by Chairman Baroness Helena Kennedy QC included Angela Lane, director, 3i; Anshu Jain, head of global markets, Deutsche Bank AG London; Professor Azim Nanji, director, Institute of Ismaili Studies; Professor Brian Gazzard, consultant physician, Chelsea & Westminster Hospital; Sir Gulam Noon, chairman, Noon Products; Jonathan Grun, editor, Press Association; John Ormerod, senior partner, Deloitte & Touche; Judith Grahame, chief executive, M & R Saatchi Arts; Baroness Margaret Jay; Marjorie Wallace, chief executive, SANE; Sir Nicholas Montagu, chairman, Inland Revenue; Sir Nicholas Young, chief executive, Red Cross; Sarah Sands, deputy editor, Daily Telegraph; and Stuart Rock, editorial director, Caspian Publishing.

ABOUT THE ASIAN WOMEN OF ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

Now in their fourth year the Awards, founded in 1999, were set up by Pinky Lilani and Munir Samji to recognise all levels of achievement made by Asian women in the UK. They acknowledge and celebrate the individual efforts of Asian women from all over the country and from all walks of life - reflecting the wealth of talent amongst women in the Asian community, most of which goes unrecognised and is not in the public arena.

There are eight Award categories: The Arts & Culture Award, The Social & Humanitarian Award, Business Woman of the Year - Corporate, Entrepreneur of the Year, Media Professional of the Year, Professional of the Year, Young Achiever of the Year and The Chairman's Award.

Click here for finalists in Business.
Click here for finalists in Media & Professional Categories.
Click here for finalists in the Social & Humanitarian category.

Click here to visit the AWA website.