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Disambiguating links to Bay View High School (disambiguation) (link changed to Bay View High School (Milwaukee, WI)) using DisamAssist.

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{{short description|Indian-American film director (born 1978)}}
{{BLP sources|date=December 2016}}
{{EngvarB|date=April 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2013}}
{{Infobox candidate
| name = Amar Singh Kaleka
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| image = File:Kaleka.jpg
| caption = Amardeep Kaleka (2014, age 35).
| imagesize =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1978|7|12}}
| birth_place = [[Patiala]], [[Punjab, India]]
| occupation = [[Filmmaker]]
| spouse =
| nationality = [[Indian American]]
| children = 2
| website = http://www.neverendinglight.com
}}
'''Amardeep Singh Kaleka''' (born 12 July 1978) is an Indian-American film director who won a [[regional Emmy Award]] for his direction of the [[short film]] ''[[Jacob's Turn]]'' in 2010 and another one for Esperanza (2014). Following his father's death in the [[Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting]] in 2012, Kaleka became involved in politics, supporting [[gun control]], progressive economic reform, and the peace agenda. During the summer of 2014, he ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic primary for the [[United States House of Representatives]] in {{ushr|WI|1}}, losing to [[Rob Zerban]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ballotpedia.org/Amar_Kaleka|title=Ballotpedia: Amar Kaleka|access-date=2015-11-12}}</ref>

==Biography==
Kaleka was born in [[Patiala]], [[Punjab, India|Punjab]]. His family came to the United States when he was a child.<ref name=indiawest>{{cite web|url=http://www.indiawest.com/news/14742-kaleka-formally-announces-congressional-bid-against-ryan.html |title=Kaleka Formally Announces Congressional Bid Against Ryan |work=India West |date=5 November 2013 |access-date=2013-11-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131114090448/http://www.indiawest.com/news/14742-kaleka-formally-announces-congressional-bid-against-ryan.html |archive-date=14 November 2013 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> In 1982, as dangerous tension began to mount in the area over the [[Khalistan]] movement, Amar's father, Satwant Singh Kaleka, decided to leave the country with his wife, Satpal, and their two young sons, Pardeep and Amardeep.{{citation needed|date=December 2016}}

In 1982, at age 4, Kaleka and his family moved to Germantown, Wisconsin, to live with their paternal uncle, Dr. J.S. Kaleka. When the family realized their ability to survive in America was largely dictated by two people working , mother and father, they made a plan. Satpal, the mother, who was a simple farmer like her husband Satwant, was asked to learn English quickly despite her 8th grade education. In order to go to school full-time in the states, Satpal and Satwant made one of the largest sacrifices: their two sons. Amardeep (4) and Pardeep (6), returned to India by themselves to live at the Kaleka family household in the old city of Patiala with their maternal aunt, Dr. Jaswinder Kaur Kaleka, Ph.D.{{citation needed|date=December 2016}}

[[File:AmarMomBro.png|thumb|Kaleka (lower right, age 3) with brother and mother (1982).]]
After a year , Satpal passed her TOEFL Exam and found a union job at Eagle Knitting. Satwant also found a job, at a family run independent gas station, whereby he manned the register and filled the coolers. He did this for more than 12 hours a day to make sure there was enough money to build a life in America. When Satpal left her factory union job, she took the bus to Satwant to help out and give him a break.<ref>{{Cite web|title=kaleka-for-congress |url=http://www.votekaleka.org/#!bio/cysp |date=2015-02-21 |access-date=2015-10-28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150221041825/http://www.votekaleka.org/#!bio/cysp |archive-date=2015-02-21 }}</ref>

When Amardeep and Pardeep came back to the United States for school, their family moved to the North West side of Milwaukee. This area had been termed "Little Beirut" by locals, and came complete with drive-by shootings, armed robberies, and a severe economic depression. Amar grew up very poor, having to accept food from "free lunch programs" while his parents rented apartments from government subsidized housing.{{citation needed|date=December 2016}}

=== High School Career - Bay View High School ===
[[File:Amar High School Senior pic.JPG|thumb|Kaleka class picture (1996, age 17).]]
Kaleka attended [[Bay View High School (Milwaukee, WI)|Bay View High School]] in the [[Bay View, Milwaukee|Bay View]] neighborhood of [[Milwaukee]], [[Wisconsin]], graduating in 1996. While he attended Bay View, he became the student government class president of 1996, as well as ranking 9th in Chess in the state, founding the World Culture's Club, and playing varsity basketball, soccer, and baseball.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Bay View Oracle 1996|last = Bay View High School|publisher = Bay View High School Oracle Staff|year = 1996|location = Milwaukee, WI}}</ref> He went on to become the Milwaukee High School Baseball Player of the Year, as he went undefeated as a [[pitcher]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=MWSB&p_theme=mwsb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB829BB24294FE0&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM |title=Bay View's Kaleka stays undefeated|first=Joe|last=Shinners |newspaper=[[Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]]|date=19 May 1996 |access-date=30 October 2013}} {{subscription required|date=October 2013}}</ref> He also won a silver medal of merit for perfect attendance through all four years in school. Ultimately, Amardeep was awarded a merit based scholarship to Marquette University - the Presidential Leadership Scholarship.{{citation needed|date=December 2016}}

=== Undergraduate College Career - Marquette University ===
Kaleka was accepted into the Marquette University TRIO program - Student Support Services.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Student Support Services Program|url = http://www2.ed.gov/programs/triostudsupp/index.html|website = www2.ed.gov|date = 2015-09-17|access-date = 2015-10-28}}</ref> He also continued to play Baseball and joined the Army ROTC program. After three years in the program, he decided to leave to focus on his academic career. During this time, he was also licensed as a private security person by the state of Wisconsin, working as a second shift supervisor of the newly constructed Midwest Express Center.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Wisconsin DRL - Credential Lookup - Credential Summary Details|url = http://online.drl.wi.gov/LicenseLookup/CredSummaryDetails.aspx?chid=629449|website = online.drl.wi.gov|access-date = 2015-10-28}}</ref>

Kaleka was also a fixture with the Indian Student Association, choreographing and organizing cultural programs on and off campus.{{citation needed|date=December 2016}}

Kaleka graduated from the College of Arts and Sciences at Marquette University in 2001 with majors in Philosophy, Psychology, and Spanish Literature. He minored in Criminology.{{citation needed|date=December 2016}}

From 1998 through 2001, he worked as a peer counselor for the Marquette University TRIO program, helping first generation incoming freshmen deal with the transition from high school to college.{{citation needed|date=December 2016}}

==== The Handbook of Therapeutic Imagery Techniques ====
Before graduation, Kaleka was published by his professor Anees Sheikh in the book entitled, Handbook of Therapeutic Imagery Techniques under the Hypnobehavioral Approaches. Kaleka contributed to the Neurolinguistic Programming portion of the book:<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url = http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1004144690;jsessionid=286AB1B6A0342E55157DCCD03129B267.prodny_store03-6?ean=9780895032072#productInfoTabs|title = Handbook of Therapeutic Imagery Techniques|website = Barnes and Noble}}</ref>

<blockquote>''The Handbook of Therapeutic Imagery Techniques'' consists primarily of a description of a multitude of imagery techniques. These approaches have been loosely grouped into four major categories: hypno-behavioral, cognitive-behavioral, psychodynamic/humanistic and humanistic/transpersonal.<ref name=":0" /></blockquote>

=== ''Freedom's Price'' (2000) ===
In 2000, Amar raised funds from his community to put together his first [[feature film]], ''Freedom's Price''. The film followed the lives of teens living through the struggles of the inner city in the 90s.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.bizapedia.com/wi/FREEDOMS-PRICE-LLC.html|title = Freedom's Price LLC}}</ref>

=== Teaching ===
Kaleka began teaching at NOVA Middle/High School, a charter school with the Milwaukee Public School system. He taught high school English Literature, History, and Health in his first year, while he coached chess, and assisted basketball. He also became the Safe and Sound site coordinator. In his second year, he taught geology and astronomy in the middle school while continuing to coach chess.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.novahs.org/|title = NOVA Middle and High School}}</ref>

=== Graduate School Career - Savannah College of Art and Design ===
[[File:KalekaGradSchool.jpg|thumb|SCAD photo (2007, age 28).]]
In September 2004, Amar entered an [[Master of Fine Arts|M.F.A.]] program at the [[Savannah College of Art & Design]], focusing on film and television production.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.scad.edu/|title = Savannah College of Art and Design}}</ref>

In addition to his studies, Amar played flag football and was the founder and first president of the Savannah Film Collective, a student-run film group. Amar directed over twenty short film projects including the following list:

* ''Grass Between My Lips'' (2008) - Winner of the Remy Award at the [[Houston International Film Festival]]<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1490679/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_4|title = IMDB - Grass Between My Lips}}</ref>
* ''Love Letter'' (2008) - Made for Project Greenlight: Finalist submission.<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1490747/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_5|title = IMDB - Love Letter}}</ref>
* ''We The People'' (2008)<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1433040/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_8|title = IMDB - We The People}}</ref>
* ''Binding Faith'' (2007)<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1433040/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_8|title = IMDB - Binding Faith}}</ref>

Kaleka was the cinematographer and editor of many more films during his time at SCAD including the following list:

* Threads (2005)<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1965236/?ref_=nm_flmg_cin_9|title = IMDB - Threads (2005)}}</ref>
* Employee of the Month (2005)<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1490649/?ref_=nm_flmg_cin_8|title = IMDB - Employee of the Month}}</ref>

Kaleka graduated with a MFA in Film and Television production in 2009 with the submission of his thesis entitled: ''Crouching India, Hidden China: A Glimpse Into the Global Entertainment Marketplace''.

An excerpt of the thesis reads:

<blockquote>For many reasons Hollywood has enjoyed a century of dominance in the worldwide film industry. Though it continues to thrive, trends and technologies are threatening the comfortable position that Hollywood has been accustomed to holding. Production and markets outside of California are continually growing, and studios are beginning to respond to the cultural shift. While Hollywood has organization and experience on its side, international entertainment industries are training their slingshots on the American Goliath.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://ecollections.scad.edu/iii/cpro/CollectionViewPage.external?lang=eng&sp=1000005&suite=def|title = Crouching India, Hidden China: A Glimpse Into the Global Entertainment Marketplace|publisher = Savannah College of Art and Design}}</ref></blockquote>

=== Baby Blues, also known as Cradle Will Fall (2008) ===
Before he finished school, he was hired to co-direct his first feature film, Baby Blues, which had a $1.1 Million dollar budget. The executive producer was Andy Meyer from Fried Green Tomatoes and The Breakfast Club. The other director, Lars Jacobson was the writer of the project, while Kaleka edited the film. Both, Kaleka Jacobson produced the project and found distribution.<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0972359/?ref_=nm_flmg_edt_17|title = IMDB - Baby Blues Film (2008)}}</ref>

The summary of Baby Blues is the following:

<blockquote>On a secluded family farm, a mother suffers a psychotic break due to postpartum depression, forcing the eldest son to protect his siblings from the mother they have always known and loved.{{citation needed|date=December 2016}}</blockquote>

The film went on to run for a week in theaters,<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=babyblues.htm|title = Box Office Numbers for 1 Week Run}}</ref> and then sold on DVD for many years gaining some critical acclaim with horror film fans.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.beyondhollywood.com/cradle-will-fall-aka-baby-blues-2008-movie-review/|title = Cradle Will Fall (aka Baby Blues, 2008) Movie Review}}</ref>

=== Neverending Light Productions ===
In 2009, Kaleka founded Neverending Light Productions with partner Jared Bonshire. Originally, the offices ran out of Atlanta, but expanded quickly to Orlando.{{citation needed|date=December 2016}}

===Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting===
{{see also|Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting}}
Kaleka's father, Satwant Kaleka Singh, was president and founder of the [[Gurdwara]] of Wisconsin, located in [[Oak Creek, Wisconsin]]. On 5 August 2012, Kaleka's father and five others were killed in a mass shooting at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://fox6now.com/2012/08/06/son-of-president-founder-of-temple-killed-says-father-was-a-hero/ |title=Son of president, founder of temple killed says father was a hero |publisher=FOX6Now.com |date=6 August 2012 |access-date=2013-10-30}}</ref> In the aftermath of the shooting, Kaleka became interested in politics, supporting [[gun control]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://fox6now.com/2014/04/05/amar-kaleka-candidate-for-congress-says-gun-control-issue-is-personal/|title=Amar Kaleka, candidate for Congress, says gun control issue is personal|work=FOX6Now.com|access-date=2016-03-21}}</ref> and new legislation to reduce [[hate crime]]s.<ref name=oakcreek>{{cite web|last=Schaaf |first=Mark |url=http://oakcreek.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/son-of-slain-temple-president-to-challenge-paul-ryan |title=Son of Slain Sikh Temple President to Challenge Paul Ryan - Government - Oak Creek, WI Patch |publisher=Oakcreek.patch.com |date=14 October 2013 |access-date=2013-10-30}}</ref> Kaleka criticized [[President of the United States|President]] [[Barack Obama]], who visited the sites of other [[mass shooting]]s, but not the Sikh Temple.<ref name="journaltimes">{{cite web|first = Dinesh|last = Ramde|agency = [[Associated Press]]|url = http://journaltimes.com/news/local/son-of-slain-sikh-to-challenge-ryan/article_d288892c-34f8-11e3-b690-0019bb2963f4.html|title = Son of slain Sikh to challenge Ryan|publisher = Journaltimes.com|date = 14 October 2013|access-date = 2013-10-30}}</ref>

As a member of the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]], Kaleka ran for the [[United States House of Representatives]] in {{ushr|WI|1}} in the [[United States House of Representatives elections in Wisconsin, 2014|2014 election]], challenging [[incumbent]] [[Paul Ryan]].<ref name=oakcreek/> He faced [[Rob Zerban]], who lost to Ryan in the [[United States House of Representatives elections in Wisconsin, 2012|2012 elections]] and in the [[United States House of Representatives elections in Wisconsin, 2014|2014 elections]], in the Democratic primary. On 12 August 2014, Kaleka lost to Zerban, getting 22% of the vote.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indiawest.com/news/global_indian/amardeep-kaleka-loses-primary-in-wisconsin-congressional-race/article_04a44514-27e6-11e4-89b9-0019bb2963f4.html|title=Amardeep Kaleka Loses Primary in Wisconsin Congressional Race|work=India West|access-date=2016-03-21}}</ref>

===Alleged domestic violence===
In 2015, two restraining orders were filed against Kaleka, one by his wife (Dilpreet Brar) and one by a woman, Laurie Knapp, with whom he had been having an extramarital affair. According to court record testimony made by Mr. Kaleka's wife and obtained by news agency WISN, a previous temporary restraining order was filed in late 2014, after his wife called 911. The domestic violence investigation is ongoing. Kaleka's parental rights were terminated in July 2019 as part of his divorce with Dilpreet Brar.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wisn.com/news/court-records-restraining-orders-filed-against-sikh-temple-spokesman/34207954|title=Court records: Restraining orders filed against Amardeep Kaleka|date=1 March 2015|work=WISN|access-date=2016-03-21}}</ref><ref>https://wcca.wicourts.gov/caseSearchResults.do?recordsPerPage=25&partyName.firstName=Amardeep&partyName.lastName=Kaleka&partyName.businessName=&partyName.middleName=&partyName.showMissingMiddleNames=true&&countyNo=0&caseNo.caseNo=&rss=1#</ref>

==See also==
*[[Sirius (2013 film)|Sirius]] ([[2013 in film|2013]])

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==

{{Empty section|date=October 2017}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20131020134406/http://www.votekaleka.com/ Campaign website]
*{{Twitter}}
*{{IMDb name|nm2394430}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaleka, Amar}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:1978 births]]
[[Category:Indian emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:American Sikhs]]
[[Category:Wisconsin Democrats]]
[[Category:People from Patiala]]
[[Category:Filmmakers from Milwaukee]]
[[Category:American gun control activists]]
[[Category:American film directors of Indian descent]]
[[Category:Bay View High School alumni]]

Amar Kaleka - Revision history

>Rodw: Disambiguating links to Bay View High School (disambiguation) (link changed to Bay View High School (Milwaukee, WI)) using DisamAssist.