It was the nation’s first fatal post-9/11 hate crime.

That event, said Los Angeles filmmaker Kavi Raz, inspired his movie, “The Gold bangles Bracelet,” which premieres Saturday at the Cinequest film festival in San Jose.

“The events of 9/11 were tragic enough for our nation,” Raz said. “What moved me thereafter was the killing of an innocent man who happened to be a Sikh but who was mistaken for an Arab. I found a lot of irony in that.”

The film portrays a Sikh immigrant family in America with a daughter about to marry a family friend. As they prepare for the wedding, terrorists strike the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

The family becomes a target of people seeking revenge for the attacks, many of whom make no distinction between Sikhs, Arabs and other people of the Middle East and South Asia.

Several other events provided fodder for Raz’s movie, including the August 2002 killing of a taxi driver in San Francisco — Sukhpal Singh Sodhi, Balbir Singh Sodhi’s brother.

It is a scene in the beginning of the film.

Another, very personal event, inspired Raz’s movie.

“Several months after 9/11, I got a knock on my door,” he said. It was the FBI.

“They questioned me about the people visiting my house. These were my relatives.

“I asked why was I being questioned. They said, ‘we had complaints from the neighbors that there were strange people visiting this house.’”

Raz, who is Sikh, lives in Granada Hills, an affluent and educated area. But tiffany and co that did not protect him from prejudice, he said.

The challenges and prejudices faced by newcomers to the country, and how they endure, are a central theme of the film.

“The Sikh family in the movie is an American family who just happen to be Sikh,” Raz said. “The film has a very American soul.”

Reach Tom Lochner at 510-262-2760 or tlochner@cctimes.com.

IF YOU GO

– WHAT: “The Gold Bracelet”

– WHERE: California Theatre, 345 South 1st St., San Jose.

– WHEN: 8:30 p.m. Saturday and 12:30 p.m. Sunday

– ADMISSION: $9

SYDNEY, Oct 16 AAP – NSW police believe they have smashed a multimillion dollar drug ring after the arrest of four men.

Strike Force Flemington detectives arrested a 27-year-old man at a Hornsby unit, in Tiffany and co Sydney’s north, and a 37-year-old man at an inner-city casino about 8am (AEDT) on Friday.

Two others were also arrested on Friday after raids on four homes in Wyoming and Kincumber, on the NSW central coast, which uncovered about 200 cannabis plants, police said.

It’s alleged about 180 kilograms of cannabis was harvested over the past five months with an estimated value of $1.8 million.

Police say the sophisticated multimillion dollar drug syndicate was involved in the manufacture and supply of cannabis.

No charges have yet been laid christmas gift against the four men.

AAP bzs/wjf/cjb 16-10 1137

“We had pretty good information as to where it was,” said Attleboro Police Detective tiffany and co James Cote.

The detective said that working with state police and the FBI, he learned that the safe was buried in a wooded area behind a home at 62 Root Road. An Attleboro District Court judge issued a search warrant, and Detective Cote said he and other law enforcement authorities went to the home with an excavator early yesterday morning.

About eight feet into the ground, the excavator revealed the safe, Detective Cote said. He said the safe was damaged.

He said he believes it was the safe stolen in June from E.A. Dion Inc. Among the items stolen were 27 New York Giants Super Bowl rings worth more than $170,000.

“They did their best to cut it up,” Detective Cote said.

The investigation led to nearby Petersham last month, when David Nassor, 40, was arrested at his home at 60 Monson Turnpike Road as police carried out a search warrant there. He was charged with receiving stolen property worth more than $250.

Investigators searching his house found a New York Giants Super Bowl ring, gold ingots and other items that were reported stolen in the E.A. Dion burglary, in which thieves apparently entered by cutting a hole in the roof and left with a safe. As part of their work, investigators also went to Pennsylvania, where they found some of the stolen property.

In January, authorities found 27 Giants Super Bowl rings worth more than $170,000 in a safe-deposit box at a Saugus bank. A 22-year-old woman who rented the box was charged with receiving stolen property and was one of three people arrested on a single day in January in connection with the case, The Associated Press reported in January. One of those arrested was Sean D. Murphy, 44, of Lynn, who law enforcement officials believe is the ringleader of a group called the Lynn Breakers, The Boston Globe reported in January. Mr. Murphy was previously convicted of theft of jewelry and prescription pills in a Pennsylvania case.

Detective Cote said a male at the Root Road residence was questioned by authorities and was cooperative. No charges were filed, but Detective Cote said the investigation is continuing. The residence at 62 Root Road is registered to Thomas P. White and Allison T. Comeau-White, according to the Worcester County Registry of Deeds. A phone message left at the residence yesterday was not immediately returned.