American Sikh
Born in DC, Vishwajit Singh cut his hair, searched for identity, and eventually became Captain America in a turban — a cartoonist challenging what an American can look like.
2023
10 min
RYAN WESTRA, VISHAVJIT SINGH
Satinder "Bicky" Singh
Sikhlens, A DOPPELGANGER PRODUCTION, Showo
Synopsis
Vishwajit Singh was born in Washington, DC and grew up questioning where he fit in. He cut his hair as a young man, navigating identity in a country that rarely left space for a face like his. He found his way back to himself through art, becoming a cartoonist whose characters wear turbans and beards, creating images that hadn't existed before in mainstream American culture. His alter ego, Captain America in a turban, was born from a simple conviction: that the most quintessential American superhero should be able to look like anyone.
The film follows Vishwajit through the streets of New York as he approaches strangers in his Captain America costume and asks them direct questions about identity, appearance, and what it means to be American. The reactions are genuine, ranging from confusion to warmth to real engagement, and they reveal just how narrow our collective image of an American can still be. His cartoons, his activism, and his willingness to be visible in an unexpected way are all acts of the same argument: that representation matters, and that changing a culture's image of itself starts one unexpected encounter at a time.
Film Credits
- Director
- RYAN WESTRA, VISHAVJIT SINGH
- Executive Producer
- Satinder "Bicky" Singh
- Producer
- VISHAVJIT SINGH
- Produced By
- Sikhlens, A DOPPELGANGER PRODUCTION, Showo
- Editor
- Ryan Westra
- Cinematography
- Daljeet Singh
- Graphics & Animation
- Animation Director: SEAN ZWAN, Animation Producer: NICK CAMPBELL, Art Director: SEAN ZWAN, Visual Development Artist: NATHAN MULROY, For Studio Showoff - Production Manager: NICK CAMPBELL, Supervising Producers: IVAN DIXON & SEAN ZWAN, Concept Artist: SEAN ZWAN, Additional Concepts By: IVAN DIXON, Animation Editor: NICK CAMPBELL, Character Designer: SEAN ZWAN, Character Production Designer: PATRICK CRAWLEY, Additional Character Design: CHARLOTTE BIRD-WEBER, Background Artists: NICHOLAS MASTELLO, PATRICK CRAWLEY, SEAN ZWAN, Storyboard Artists: IVAN EVANS, SEAN ZWAN, PATRICK CRAWLEY, Animation Supervisor: WZRDLORE, Compositor: NICK CAMPBELL, Animators: CHARLOTTE BIRD-WEBER, DARCY WOODBRIDGE, SEAN ZWAN, MILO GLUTH, JALE SOYSAL, SCOTT COLLOPY, DEBRINA SETIAWAN, JESSICA HUNT, ELLA MOFFATT
- Music
- RIVER NASON
- Sound
- Audio Post Production: ONE THOUSAND BIRDS, Sound Design & Mix: JACKIE! ZHOU, TORIN GELLAR, Audio Exec. Producer: GUIN FREHLING, Location Sound: GABRIEL LINKIEWICZ
- Runtime
- 10 min
- Festival Screenings
- Sikhlens Arts and Film Festivals