Movements in Motion: An Indian Film Festival
A week of documentary films and discussions food, music, dance performances
from 10 - 15 January 2004
at the rampART Creative Centre and Social Space (www.rampart.co.nr)
15-17 rampart street, E1 2LA
A week of documentary films and discussions food, music, dance performances
from 10 - 15 January 2004
at the rampART Creative Centre and Social Space (www.rampart.co.nr)
15-17 rampart street, E1 2LA
1. Adivasi (Indigenous peoples) resistance/life - 10 January 2005, Monday
(Doors open 7.30 p.m. for 8 pm screening)
- The bee, the bear, the kuruba -This film provides
insights into the Kurubas' way of life, situating itself with the kurubas
(a tribe) in South Karnataka. An understanding of how 'development' projects create conflicts amongst Adivasis.
- Suits and Savages - An exploration of the World
Bank/Global Environment Facility funded ecodevelopment project carried out in the same region in Karnataka. A closer look at what the Bank thought it was doing and the resistance it met from the Kurubas.
- 5 years on - An update on the situation shown in the previous film.
2. Casteism - 11 January 2005, Tuesday (Doors open 7.30 p.m. for 8 pm screening)
- Lesser Humans - A look into India's caste system through the lives of manual scavengers in Gujarat.
- The die is caste - How violence rooted in caste conflict has led to the emergence of Maoist and Marxist-Leninist groups in the state of Bihar.
3. Women fight back - 12 January 2005, Wednesday (Doors open 7.30
p.m. for 8 pm screening) - Burnt Not Defeated - Attacks on women using acids like sulhuric and hydrochloric acid mean only one thing for those who do survive – debilitating effects, physical and mental. Faced with increasing acid attacks by husbands, neighbours, employers, colleaugues on one hand and indifferent and apathetic Government structures on the other, women in Karnataka decide to fight back.
- When Women Unite - In 1992, women in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh revolt against government supply of liquor to their villages.
The resistance spreads like wildfire. In four months, 800 village shops
have been stormed and shut by angry women. In 12 months, the movement has spread across the state of Andhra Pradhesh. Three years later, the government is compelled to declare state-wide prohibition. It is an account of actual incidents put together through the testimonies of activists, government officials, liquor dons and the women in 22 villages of Nellore district recreating the emotional ! intensity and the tensions of the struggle.
4. The myth of India - 13 January 2005, Wednesday (Doors open 7.30
p.m. for 8 pm screening) - Beyond the construction of India as a once-was colonized country, we hope to show that India as it exists today is infact brutally colonial itself.
- Naga Story, the other side of silence - The Nagas are a 3-million-strong indigenous people who occupy the North-East
frontier of the Indian subcontinent. The Naga political struggle is one of
the oldest nationality movements in South Asia, continuing till present times. The film provides an introduction to the history of the Naga struggle, and documents the human rights abuses suffered by the people in more than 50 years of the existence of Independent India.
- Development at Gun Point - Attempts to 'develop' the nation has inevitably meant displacement of adivasis from their lands and a consequent loss of their identity, livelihoods. Adivasis in Kashipur, Orissa, faced with forced evictions and violence from the state
and the multinational companies, unite to offer fierce resistance. An
ongoing struggle, the adivasis have successfully refused the company
officials and the police forces entry to their lands for the past decade.
The bauxite mining and alumina refinery projec! t remains at the initial survey stage.
5. Urban India - 14 January, Friday
(Doors open 7.30 p.m. for 8 pm screening)
- The tales of Night fairies - Five sexworkers - four women and one man - along with the filmmaker/narrator embark on a journey of storytelling. Tales of the Night Fairies explores the power of collective organizing and resistance while reflecting upon contemporary debates around sexwork. The simultaneously expansive and labyrinthine
city of Calcutta forms the backdrop for the personal and musical journeys of storytelling.
The film screening and discussion will be followed by Kathak dance
performances by Jasmine and group. Indian classical / rap and fusion
music follows.
6. Anti - Nuclear/Militarisation - 15 January, Saturday
(Doors open - 11.30 a.m. for 12 p.m. screening)
- War and Peace - India gets another nuke
bomb and celebrations and explosions of patriotism and nationalist fervour sweep the country. The film is a detail of the militarism wave with implications for India and Pakistan as well as a look at Japan and US - two countries with a shared nuke history.
- Buddha Weeps in Jadugada - India's only uranium mining site is located in Jadugada, an adivasi area in Jharkhand. Buddha weeps in Jadugada attempts a description of the price being paid by the people there to sustain India's nuclear dreams and in turn their attempts to take on the Uranium Corporation India Limited and the entire
Indian nuclear establishment.
7. Fundamentalism - 15 January, Saturday
- In the name of God - IN THE NAME OF GOD focuses on
the campaign waged by the militant Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP - Hindu
fundamentalist group) to destroy a 16th century mosque in Ayodhya said to have been built by Babar, the first Mughal Emperor of India. The VHP claim the mosque was built at the birthsite of the Hindu god Ram after Babar razed an existing Ram temple. They are determined to build a new temple to Ram on the same site. This controversial issue has led to a series of religious riots and finally culminated in the mosque's destruction
in December of 1992. The resulting religious violence immediately spread throughout India and Pakistan leaving more than 5,000 dead, and causing thousands of Indian Muslims to flee their homes. Filmed prior to the mosque's demolition, this film examines the mo! tivations which would ultimately lead to the drastic actions of the Hindu militants, as well as the efforts of secular Indians - many of whom are Hindus - to combat the religious intolerance and hatred that has seized India in the name of God.
- Gujarat, A Laboratory of Hindu Rashtra- Set in the fundamentalist violence unleashed in Gujarat from February 2002 on, this film documents the lives of people in about 14 villages in Anand District, Gujarat, in which the homes and businesses of the Muslims were burnt down, looted, and destroyed. In some of the villages such as Dharmaj, Siswa, Mogri, the Muslims who had been living there for decades have not been allowed to come back. Through interviews with VHP (Hindu fundamentalist group) leaders as well as with ordinary people in Gujarat, the film examines the reasons why Gujarat was a fertile ground for fascism.
- Passengers - Months after the carnage, people still
struggle to find their lives again.
Indian classical / rap and fusion music performances follow film screenings and discussions.
(Doors open 7.30 p.m. for 8 pm screening)
- The bee, the bear, the kuruba -This film provides
insights into the Kurubas' way of life, situating itself with the kurubas
(a tribe) in South Karnataka. An understanding of how 'development' projects create conflicts amongst Adivasis.
- Suits and Savages - An exploration of the World
Bank/Global Environment Facility funded ecodevelopment project carried out in the same region in Karnataka. A closer look at what the Bank thought it was doing and the resistance it met from the Kurubas.
- 5 years on - An update on the situation shown in the previous film.
2. Casteism - 11 January 2005, Tuesday (Doors open 7.30 p.m. for 8 pm screening)
- Lesser Humans - A look into India's caste system through the lives of manual scavengers in Gujarat.
- The die is caste - How violence rooted in caste conflict has led to the emergence of Maoist and Marxist-Leninist groups in the state of Bihar.
3. Women fight back - 12 January 2005, Wednesday (Doors open 7.30
p.m. for 8 pm screening) - Burnt Not Defeated - Attacks on women using acids like sulhuric and hydrochloric acid mean only one thing for those who do survive – debilitating effects, physical and mental. Faced with increasing acid attacks by husbands, neighbours, employers, colleaugues on one hand and indifferent and apathetic Government structures on the other, women in Karnataka decide to fight back.
- When Women Unite - In 1992, women in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh revolt against government supply of liquor to their villages.
The resistance spreads like wildfire. In four months, 800 village shops
have been stormed and shut by angry women. In 12 months, the movement has spread across the state of Andhra Pradhesh. Three years later, the government is compelled to declare state-wide prohibition. It is an account of actual incidents put together through the testimonies of activists, government officials, liquor dons and the women in 22 villages of Nellore district recreating the emotional ! intensity and the tensions of the struggle.
4. The myth of India - 13 January 2005, Wednesday (Doors open 7.30
p.m. for 8 pm screening) - Beyond the construction of India as a once-was colonized country, we hope to show that India as it exists today is infact brutally colonial itself.
- Naga Story, the other side of silence - The Nagas are a 3-million-strong indigenous people who occupy the North-East
frontier of the Indian subcontinent. The Naga political struggle is one of
the oldest nationality movements in South Asia, continuing till present times. The film provides an introduction to the history of the Naga struggle, and documents the human rights abuses suffered by the people in more than 50 years of the existence of Independent India.
- Development at Gun Point - Attempts to 'develop' the nation has inevitably meant displacement of adivasis from their lands and a consequent loss of their identity, livelihoods. Adivasis in Kashipur, Orissa, faced with forced evictions and violence from the state
and the multinational companies, unite to offer fierce resistance. An
ongoing struggle, the adivasis have successfully refused the company
officials and the police forces entry to their lands for the past decade.
The bauxite mining and alumina refinery projec! t remains at the initial survey stage.
5. Urban India - 14 January, Friday
(Doors open 7.30 p.m. for 8 pm screening)
- The tales of Night fairies - Five sexworkers - four women and one man - along with the filmmaker/narrator embark on a journey of storytelling. Tales of the Night Fairies explores the power of collective organizing and resistance while reflecting upon contemporary debates around sexwork. The simultaneously expansive and labyrinthine
city of Calcutta forms the backdrop for the personal and musical journeys of storytelling.
The film screening and discussion will be followed by Kathak dance
performances by Jasmine and group. Indian classical / rap and fusion
music follows.
6. Anti - Nuclear/Militarisation - 15 January, Saturday
(Doors open - 11.30 a.m. for 12 p.m. screening)
- War and Peace - India gets another nuke
bomb and celebrations and explosions of patriotism and nationalist fervour sweep the country. The film is a detail of the militarism wave with implications for India and Pakistan as well as a look at Japan and US - two countries with a shared nuke history.
- Buddha Weeps in Jadugada - India's only uranium mining site is located in Jadugada, an adivasi area in Jharkhand. Buddha weeps in Jadugada attempts a description of the price being paid by the people there to sustain India's nuclear dreams and in turn their attempts to take on the Uranium Corporation India Limited and the entire
Indian nuclear establishment.
7. Fundamentalism - 15 January, Saturday
- In the name of God - IN THE NAME OF GOD focuses on
the campaign waged by the militant Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP - Hindu
fundamentalist group) to destroy a 16th century mosque in Ayodhya said to have been built by Babar, the first Mughal Emperor of India. The VHP claim the mosque was built at the birthsite of the Hindu god Ram after Babar razed an existing Ram temple. They are determined to build a new temple to Ram on the same site. This controversial issue has led to a series of religious riots and finally culminated in the mosque's destruction
in December of 1992. The resulting religious violence immediately spread throughout India and Pakistan leaving more than 5,000 dead, and causing thousands of Indian Muslims to flee their homes. Filmed prior to the mosque's demolition, this film examines the mo! tivations which would ultimately lead to the drastic actions of the Hindu militants, as well as the efforts of secular Indians - many of whom are Hindus - to combat the religious intolerance and hatred that has seized India in the name of God.
- Gujarat, A Laboratory of Hindu Rashtra- Set in the fundamentalist violence unleashed in Gujarat from February 2002 on, this film documents the lives of people in about 14 villages in Anand District, Gujarat, in which the homes and businesses of the Muslims were burnt down, looted, and destroyed. In some of the villages such as Dharmaj, Siswa, Mogri, the Muslims who had been living there for decades have not been allowed to come back. Through interviews with VHP (Hindu fundamentalist group) leaders as well as with ordinary people in Gujarat, the film examines the reasons why Gujarat was a fertile ground for fascism.
- Passengers - Months after the carnage, people still
struggle to find their lives again.
Indian classical / rap and fusion music performances follow film screenings and discussions.
