rampART newsletter with indian film festival programme
rampart | 09.01.2005 22:20 | Free Spaces | Indymedia | London
Download and print the latest rampART newsletter for a programme of this weeks indian activist film festival and a list of coming events during january and february.
some extracts from the newsletter...
MOVEMENTS IN MOTION
10th – 16th January 2005
A FESTIVAL OF INDIAN ACTIVIST FILMS
The rampART is hosting a week long festival of contemporary documentary films from India. Grouped around themes of social and political issues, made by accomplished and dedicated filmmakers, this festival brings to London audiences documentaries that are rarely seen, inside or outside India, with the intention of creating spaces for debate. Disturbing, impassioned, humorous, inspiring and controversial, these films provide a glimpse into some of the most difficult challenges facing Indian society.
FULL PROGRAMME INSIDE....
All films begin at 8pm, except for the midday showing on Saturday 15th. The films will be followed by a public discussion of the issues raised. Entry is free, donations welcome.
On Monday 10th, there’s a screening of Suits And Savages – Why the World Bank Won’t Save the World, an exploration of a Global Environment Facility funded eco-development project carried out in Karnataka and the adverse effects it had on indigenous people there. Plus – Five Years On, an update on the situation in the previous film.
On Tuesday 11th Lesser Humans looks at India's caste system through the lives of manual scavengers in Gujarat and The Die Is Caste examines how violence rooted in caste conflict has led to the emergence of radical left wing groups in Bihar.
On Wednesday 12th - Burnt But Not Defeated follows the efforts of women across Karnataka, who when attacked with acid, choose to challenge patriarchy at various levels. When Women Unite documents the amazing success of women in Andhra Pradesh who campaigned against the government supply of alcohol to their villages.
On Thursday 13th - Is Small Still Beautiful? The age-old way of life for India's tribal people is vanishing fast, together with their land, as the authorities seek to "consolidate" smallholdings. Development At Gun Point highlights the plight of Adivasis (indigenous people) in Orissa who, faced with forced evictions and violence from the state and the multinational companies, unite to offer fierce resistance.
On Friday 14th The Tales Of Night Fairies - Five sexworkers in Calcutta - four women and one man – provide personal and musical stories about collective organization and prostitution.
On Saturday 15th at 12pm, War And Peace - patriotism and nationalist fervour sweep the country as India gets another nuclear bomb. Buddha Weeps In Jadugada describes the price being paid for India’s nuclear dream by adivasis in the country’s only uranium mining site. Passengers tells how in the years after the massacres in Gujarat, ordinary people struggle to regain normality.
Saturday evening from 8pm, In The Name Of God focuses on the Ayodha dispute – in which a 16th century mosque, that some Hindus claimed was built on the birthplace of the god Ram, was destroyed, sparking nationwide riots that claimed thousands of lives. Gujarat, A Laboratory Of Hindu Rashtra- examines how Muslim villagers faced a backlash of violence and hate against a background of political parties using religion to further their aims.
Other events coming up soon...
Sat 5th Feb - Peace News Party An afternoon & evening of music, poetry and magic with acoustic acts, bands, DJ’s, a peace quiz and lots of vegan-friendly nibbles and drinks - to celebrate the new-look Peace News. The lineup includes poets Penny Rimbaud (Crass), Will Holloway and Paradox, singersongwriters Leon Rosselson and The Rub, bands Nayfumble and Walking Wounded & DJs Sexy Rubber Soul and ParadigmX. FREE but donations welcomed! www.peacenews.info
Sat 15th Jan - Adbusters creative meet up Planning and ideas exchange for setting up a london adbusters.
robertbanford@hotmail.com
Sat 22nd Jan - Swallow It III Gated Community Presents: 'Swallow It III': A night of Poetry, Noise and Visuals. Copies of The Polka Dot Ceiling #6-Poetry For The ****ed-on sale on the night. Donation not aggravation.
Sat 29th Jan - The Creative Swing
An incredible night, mixing the art and creativity around the theme of food. There will be food present, probably dancing and definitely being eaten. Tasty food, silly food, world food, creative food, vegan food, organic food, slow food. There will be people talking about food, playing food sounds, viewing food scenes in their mind and on the screen, dressing food up and down, photographing food, recite odes to food and cooking! www.thecreativeswing.com/
13th to 18th Feb - Conscious Fashion Week
A DIY alternative to the posh london fashion week going on at the same time.Featuring a look behind all that glamour and pomp. introducing to less fab issues like environmental damage, sweat shops, child labour, finance, eating disorders with talk/discussions/screenings. Also practical stuff with recycling clothes to diy fashion from head to toe (millining, sewing crocheting, knitting, screenprinting, cobbeling) in workshops and the use of alternative materials like hemp.Last but not least, food and entertainment and reclaim the catwalk! s.e.lconnect@gmail.com
18th - 22rd Feb - Kartoffelkopf, an experimental audience-activated sculpture. Starting from a provided ‘bare base’, visitors are invited to attach objects they have found or created. Inspired by the Mr. Potato Head toy, the object will grow and sprout ‘features’ during the five day event.
kartoffelkopf@ernst-travois.org.uk
MOVEMENTS IN MOTION
10th – 16th January 2005
A FESTIVAL OF INDIAN ACTIVIST FILMS
The rampART is hosting a week long festival of contemporary documentary films from India. Grouped around themes of social and political issues, made by accomplished and dedicated filmmakers, this festival brings to London audiences documentaries that are rarely seen, inside or outside India, with the intention of creating spaces for debate. Disturbing, impassioned, humorous, inspiring and controversial, these films provide a glimpse into some of the most difficult challenges facing Indian society.
FULL PROGRAMME INSIDE....
All films begin at 8pm, except for the midday showing on Saturday 15th. The films will be followed by a public discussion of the issues raised. Entry is free, donations welcome.
On Monday 10th, there’s a screening of Suits And Savages – Why the World Bank Won’t Save the World, an exploration of a Global Environment Facility funded eco-development project carried out in Karnataka and the adverse effects it had on indigenous people there. Plus – Five Years On, an update on the situation in the previous film.
On Tuesday 11th Lesser Humans looks at India's caste system through the lives of manual scavengers in Gujarat and The Die Is Caste examines how violence rooted in caste conflict has led to the emergence of radical left wing groups in Bihar.
On Wednesday 12th - Burnt But Not Defeated follows the efforts of women across Karnataka, who when attacked with acid, choose to challenge patriarchy at various levels. When Women Unite documents the amazing success of women in Andhra Pradesh who campaigned against the government supply of alcohol to their villages.
On Thursday 13th - Is Small Still Beautiful? The age-old way of life for India's tribal people is vanishing fast, together with their land, as the authorities seek to "consolidate" smallholdings. Development At Gun Point highlights the plight of Adivasis (indigenous people) in Orissa who, faced with forced evictions and violence from the state and the multinational companies, unite to offer fierce resistance.
On Friday 14th The Tales Of Night Fairies - Five sexworkers in Calcutta - four women and one man – provide personal and musical stories about collective organization and prostitution.
On Saturday 15th at 12pm, War And Peace - patriotism and nationalist fervour sweep the country as India gets another nuclear bomb. Buddha Weeps In Jadugada describes the price being paid for India’s nuclear dream by adivasis in the country’s only uranium mining site. Passengers tells how in the years after the massacres in Gujarat, ordinary people struggle to regain normality.
Saturday evening from 8pm, In The Name Of God focuses on the Ayodha dispute – in which a 16th century mosque, that some Hindus claimed was built on the birthplace of the god Ram, was destroyed, sparking nationwide riots that claimed thousands of lives. Gujarat, A Laboratory Of Hindu Rashtra- examines how Muslim villagers faced a backlash of violence and hate against a background of political parties using religion to further their aims.
Other events coming up soon...
Sat 5th Feb - Peace News Party An afternoon & evening of music, poetry and magic with acoustic acts, bands, DJ’s, a peace quiz and lots of vegan-friendly nibbles and drinks - to celebrate the new-look Peace News. The lineup includes poets Penny Rimbaud (Crass), Will Holloway and Paradox, singersongwriters Leon Rosselson and The Rub, bands Nayfumble and Walking Wounded & DJs Sexy Rubber Soul and ParadigmX. FREE but donations welcomed! www.peacenews.info
Sat 15th Jan - Adbusters creative meet up Planning and ideas exchange for setting up a london adbusters.
robertbanford@hotmail.com Sat 22nd Jan - Swallow It III Gated Community Presents: 'Swallow It III': A night of Poetry, Noise and Visuals. Copies of The Polka Dot Ceiling #6-Poetry For The ****ed-on sale on the night. Donation not aggravation.
Sat 29th Jan - The Creative Swing
An incredible night, mixing the art and creativity around the theme of food. There will be food present, probably dancing and definitely being eaten. Tasty food, silly food, world food, creative food, vegan food, organic food, slow food. There will be people talking about food, playing food sounds, viewing food scenes in their mind and on the screen, dressing food up and down, photographing food, recite odes to food and cooking! www.thecreativeswing.com/
13th to 18th Feb - Conscious Fashion Week
A DIY alternative to the posh london fashion week going on at the same time.Featuring a look behind all that glamour and pomp. introducing to less fab issues like environmental damage, sweat shops, child labour, finance, eating disorders with talk/discussions/screenings. Also practical stuff with recycling clothes to diy fashion from head to toe (millining, sewing crocheting, knitting, screenprinting, cobbeling) in workshops and the use of alternative materials like hemp.Last but not least, food and entertainment and reclaim the catwalk!
s.e.lconnect@gmail.com 18th - 22rd Feb - Kartoffelkopf, an experimental audience-activated sculpture. Starting from a provided ‘bare base’, visitors are invited to attach objects they have found or created. Inspired by the Mr. Potato Head toy, the object will grow and sprout ‘features’ during the five day event.
kartoffelkopf@ernst-travois.org.uk
rampart
Homepage:
http://www.rampart.co.nr
Comments
Hide the following comment
threats from right wing hindu groups
10.01.2005 02:27
Fortunately, (as is so often the case when attempts are made to censor freespeech) the intimidation appears to have backfired and the festival is not being canceled. Other venues have come foward to offer alternative places to show the film should disruption take place and attendence during the film festival is now expected to be far greater than it would have been if the censorship has not been attended.
However, there is every reason to take the threats seriously and there is certainly a history of censorship and disruption by these groups.
Rakesh Sharma's film 'Final Solution' (which will be screened during the festival) and several other documentaries that investigate the brutal bloodshed in Gujarat in 2002 were banned by India's censorship board (whist the BJP was in power) and faced threats from extremist groups.
"I don't want our society to live in denial and silence about the horror of Gujarat violence. I want to generate a debate through my film. That is the only way we can ensure such events are never repeated," said Rakesh Sharma, a Bombay-based independent documentary filmmaker. "But attempts at political censorship and intimidation by hate groups have deepened in the past five years," he said.
"These documentary filmmakers are biased and want to defame Gujarat," said Jaideep Patel, a leader of the World Hindu Council in Gujarat which had produced it's own film focusing exclusively on Muslims setting fire to a train which left 58 Hindus dead and sparked the retaliatory massacre of thousands of Muslims a few days later. Their film was shown extensively during the election campaign of the BJP which saw the party swept into power.
Ramesh Pimple's film 'Anguish' was banned by India's BJP dominated censorship board on the grounds that the film "depicts violence and reminds the people about the Gujarat riots last year. It shows the government and the police in a bad light. The overall impact of the film is negative as it leads to communal hatred among the communities." His film contains a collection of narratives by survivors about their traumatic experiences. "I have not used any names, I have not named any political parties. I have not shown any gruesome images of burnt bodies and rape victims. Even then the film was banned."
"We are living in intolerant times," said Gauhar Raza, another film maker whose private screenings were disrupted by Hindu extremists in Bombay and Goa. "Democracy offers space for opposition and dissent. Unfortunately that space is shrinking in India because of the right-wing turn in Indian politics."
The UK has not excaped these kind of vigilante attacks by fundamentalist groups. Last week a Birmingham theatre was forced to close a play which depicted sexual violence against women in Sikh temple after crowds of 400 Sikhs attacked police and starting trashing the venue.
If you value free speech and wish to ensure that fascists groups do not disrupt the screenings at the rampART, please do consider attending.
The festival open at 7.30pm monday to friday and from midday on saturday.
Full details can be found on their website www.rampart.co.nr
antifa