Political Documentaries: Screening & Interaction
Session # 5
9 Sep; 10 am to 8 pm @ Panuval Book Store
Organised by MARUPAKKAM Film Collective
Screening Schedule
10 am Registration
10:30 Our Family ( Dir Anjali Monteiro & KP Jayasankar; 59 min)
What does it mean to cross that line which sharply divides us on the basis of gender? To free oneself of the socially constructed onus of being male? Is there life beyond a hetero-normative family? Set in Tamilnadu, India, ‘Our Family’ brings together excerpts from Nirvanam, a one person performance, by Pritham K. Chakravarthy and a family of three generations of trans-gendered female subjects.
11:30 Interaction
11:45 The Battle of Bhima Koregaon : an unending journey (Dir: Somnath Waghmare; 49 min)
History speaks about great wars fought, brave warriors and clever kings and emperors. What history doesn't do is justice to the wars, warriors and leaders of the oppressed.
This documentary is about the 500 Mahar soldiers (the untouchables) who offered to fight alongside their countrymen, against the colonisers. Rejected by the ruling class they joined forces with the colonisers and fought in the 'Bhima Koregaon Battle', defeating the Brahminical rule of the Peshwas. Just as history did, so do the media and ruling class today conveniently forget to acknowledge them.
On the 1st of January, every year, 20 lakh (2 million) people gather at Bhima-Koregaon, Pune, Maharashtra to commemorate that battle. No national or local media covers the largest annual gathering in the region. The documentary captures the history of Bhima Koregaon and its relevance to contemporary Dalit issues and politics in the country. It tells the history of the Bahujans through the coverage of the events of this gathering.
12:35 Interaction
1:00 lunch break
2:00 Bottled Life (Dir: Urs Schnell; 90min)
Do you know how to turn ordinary water into a billion-dollar business? In Switzerland there’s a company which has developed the art to perfection – Nestle. This company dominates the global business in bottled water. Swiss journalist Res Gehringer has investigated this money-making phenomenon.
Nestle refused to cooperate, on the pretext that it was “the wrong film at the wrong time”. So Gehringer went on a journey of exploration, researching the story in the USA, Nigeria and Pakistan. His journey into the world of bottled water reveals the schemes and strategies of the most powerful food and Beverage Company on our planet.
3:30 Interaction
3:45 Caravan (Dir: Shazia Khan; 60min)
‘Caravan’ is a documentary that explores the confluence of Islam and India, and the resultant composite cultural integral to India.
Beginning 6th century AD, there have been several carriers of Islam to the sub-continent: Arab traders, territorial invaders, the Mughal emperors and the religious mystic Sufis. In distinct ways, these carries affected and were affected by, the manners and morals of a changing, evolving India, so giving rise to an Indo-Islamic identity, inseparable from present – day India.
4:45 Interaction
5:00 Mahua Memoirs (Dir: Vinod Raja; 88 min)
Saloo, the bard, and Thirku, the Baiga, take us on a journey through the lives of the many Adivasi communities who live in the mountain tracts and forests of the Eastern Ghats across the states of Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Chattisgarh and Jharkhand. As in most indigenous homelands the world over, these regions too are rich in natural resources including minerals, resources that have become the source of their greatest insecurities.
Through their stories and songs, interwoven with the metaphor of Bewar, a form of shifting cultivation practiced by many Adivasis, the film unravels and unfolds both their life visions and their struggles against the merciless mining, particularly over the past two decades, that is consuming their lands and their lives.
6:30 Interaction with Vinod Raja, filmmaker
7:00 Talking Heads (Dir Krzysztof Kieślowski; 14 min)
People of different age, profession and social status answer two simple questions: who they are and what they want from life.
7:30 Interaction
7:45 Feedback Time
Session # 5
9 Sep; 10 am to 8 pm @ Panuval Book Store
Organised by MARUPAKKAM Film Collective
Screening Schedule
10 am Registration
10:30 Our Family ( Dir Anjali Monteiro & KP Jayasankar; 59 min)
What does it mean to cross that line which sharply divides us on the basis of gender? To free oneself of the socially constructed onus of being male? Is there life beyond a hetero-normative family? Set in Tamilnadu, India, ‘Our Family’ brings together excerpts from Nirvanam, a one person performance, by Pritham K. Chakravarthy and a family of three generations of trans-gendered female subjects.
11:30 Interaction
11:45 The Battle of Bhima Koregaon : an unending journey (Dir: Somnath Waghmare; 49 min)
History speaks about great wars fought, brave warriors and clever kings and emperors. What history doesn't do is justice to the wars, warriors and leaders of the oppressed.
This documentary is about the 500 Mahar soldiers (the untouchables) who offered to fight alongside their countrymen, against the colonisers. Rejected by the ruling class they joined forces with the colonisers and fought in the 'Bhima Koregaon Battle', defeating the Brahminical rule of the Peshwas. Just as history did, so do the media and ruling class today conveniently forget to acknowledge them.
On the 1st of January, every year, 20 lakh (2 million) people gather at Bhima-Koregaon, Pune, Maharashtra to commemorate that battle. No national or local media covers the largest annual gathering in the region. The documentary captures the history of Bhima Koregaon and its relevance to contemporary Dalit issues and politics in the country. It tells the history of the Bahujans through the coverage of the events of this gathering.
12:35 Interaction
1:00 lunch break
2:00 Bottled Life (Dir: Urs Schnell; 90min)
Do you know how to turn ordinary water into a billion-dollar business? In Switzerland there’s a company which has developed the art to perfection – Nestle. This company dominates the global business in bottled water. Swiss journalist Res Gehringer has investigated this money-making phenomenon.
Nestle refused to cooperate, on the pretext that it was “the wrong film at the wrong time”. So Gehringer went on a journey of exploration, researching the story in the USA, Nigeria and Pakistan. His journey into the world of bottled water reveals the schemes and strategies of the most powerful food and Beverage Company on our planet.
3:30 Interaction
3:45 Caravan (Dir: Shazia Khan; 60min)
‘Caravan’ is a documentary that explores the confluence of Islam and India, and the resultant composite cultural integral to India.
Beginning 6th century AD, there have been several carriers of Islam to the sub-continent: Arab traders, territorial invaders, the Mughal emperors and the religious mystic Sufis. In distinct ways, these carries affected and were affected by, the manners and morals of a changing, evolving India, so giving rise to an Indo-Islamic identity, inseparable from present – day India.
4:45 Interaction
5:00 Mahua Memoirs (Dir: Vinod Raja; 88 min)
Saloo, the bard, and Thirku, the Baiga, take us on a journey through the lives of the many Adivasi communities who live in the mountain tracts and forests of the Eastern Ghats across the states of Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Chattisgarh and Jharkhand. As in most indigenous homelands the world over, these regions too are rich in natural resources including minerals, resources that have become the source of their greatest insecurities.
Through their stories and songs, interwoven with the metaphor of Bewar, a form of shifting cultivation practiced by many Adivasis, the film unravels and unfolds both their life visions and their struggles against the merciless mining, particularly over the past two decades, that is consuming their lands and their lives.
6:30 Interaction with Vinod Raja, filmmaker
7:00 Talking Heads (Dir Krzysztof Kieślowski; 14 min)
People of different age, profession and social status answer two simple questions: who they are and what they want from life.
7:30 Interaction
7:45 Feedback Time
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