In the summer of 2003 more than 200 documentary and short filmmakers from across came together in a Campaign Against Censorship. Out of this solidarity came an act of resistance, Vikalp – Films for Freedom, an alternative festival of documentary films organized by filmmakers in Feb 2004 in , and which has now spun off in many directions.

Delhi Film Archive (DFA) has come out of this process, as an autonomous platform that supports free expression and fearless listening. 3 Screens has been organized at the India Social Forum, New Delhi, in the belief that censorship violates the essential rights of citizens, and since public opinion is an important part of our struggle, we believe it is essential to energise it through discussion, publication, and above all, a strong screening culture.

DFA locates itself amongst the many struggles against censorship that have been bravely (and quietly) waged around us for so many years, and which continue to be fought all around us. We are aware that the best way to guard our rights as citizens is to speak clearly, speak honestly and speak from all corners of the country, and the world.

3 DFA is an archive of documentary films, as well as of materials that stimulate a collective response to censorship and the control of ideas. It is involved in promoting the dissemination of documentary and short films, and creating a screening culture where open access and the diversity of ideas and images is celebrated. It is also involved in raising awareness on the ways in which the censorship regime is used to contain the right to freedom of expression.

DFA seeks to intervene in this situation by generating discussion on the politics and aesthetics of filmmaking. It is voluntarily run by filmmakers with the support of all those who believe in free speech, and is independent of any state body or institutional funding.

CONTACT us: [email protected] visit our WEBSITE and archive of films: www.delhifilmarchive.org sign up for a MAILING LIST of events at: http://groups-beta.google.com/group/delhifilmarchive read our BLOG: http://delhifilmarchive.blogspot.com

4 The festival features four sections:

New Images – 35 recent films by Indian filmmakers (and a few International films that are about Indians).

Other Worlds Are Breathing – 22 films shown at World Social Forum, Brazil 2005.

Working Lives – 22 films in an international package of films on Labour in the time of globalisation

Director’s Cut – 10 films by invited Indian documentary filmmakers, who also show a film each of their choice 3 screens. 3 days. 99 films.

5 new images new new images new 3 Men and a Bulb

DIR: PANKAJ RISHI KUMAR 74 MIN / 2006 / (ENGLISH SUBTITLES)

This is a story of 3 men who earn a livelihood from their gharat (watermill) in the foothills of the Himalayas in Uttaranchal, India. The life led by these men is meager, having access neither to electricity, nor employment that brings regular income. Farming is very arduous, as supply of water is scarce. It is the story of Rawat, Satya and young Harish. The three men’s personal hopes, Pankaj graduated from FTII in 1992 where anxieties and dreams is set against the rustic life in the mountains. he specialised in Film Editing. His first The narrative traverses their changing relationship with self and each other, documentary, ‘Kumar Talkies’, was an offering exciting insights into human nature. examination of the consciousness-shaping role of a local cinema theatre. The film was screened at 40 festivals and won Best Film, prod: Pankaj Rishi Kumar, T Madhavi. editors: Pankaj Rishi Kumar, Shreyas Beltangdy (Associate). L’alternative Barcelona; Special Jury at sound: Narendra Mishra, Pankaj Rishi Kumar, Pritam Das. music: Sourav Kumar. camera: Pankaj Rishi Kumar. Zanzibar and Indian National award for Best Sound. His other films are ‘Pather Chujaeri’, ’The Vote’ and ‘Gharat’. He was an Asia Society fellow at Harvard University in 2003. He is currently working on a documentary on women boxers in India. [email protected] 8 images 1000 Days and a Dream

DIR: P BABURAJ, C SARATCHANDRAN 77 MIN / 2006 / AND ENGLISH

The film ‘1000 Days & A Dream’ documents the poignant moments in the four and a half years of anti Coca-Cola struggle in Plachimada, . The film captures the spirit of the anti Coca-Cola struggle, traces the history of the struggle and discusses the several issues raised by it. The film shares the dreams and sorrows of some of it’s active participants.

directed by: P Baburaj & C Saratchandran. edited by: Ajithkumar B & C Saratchandran. camera: Ajith, Sarat & Joji. P Baburaj and C Saratchandran have been music: Chandran V. narration: Nilanjana Biswas. associated with Alternative Communications Forum (ALCOM), a filmmakers’ collective involved in producing videos and films on various issues. Their Chaliyar… The Final Struggle, received a Special Mention in the MIFF 2000 and a Bronze Tree Award in Vatavaran 2002.. Their other films include Kanavu (Dream), ‘The Bitter Drink’ and ‘Only An Axe Away’. [email protected] 9 new AFSPA, 1958

DIR: HAOBAM PABAN KUMAR 77 MIN / 2006 / ENGLISH / MANIPURI

Th. Manorama Devi a 32-year-old lady was picked by the forces of the 17th Assam Rifles from her home on 11th July, 2004 issuing an arrest-memo. Her dead body was later found near a hillock under suspicious circumstances. People largely believe that she was raped and later shot. People throughout the state started holding protest and agitations against the excesses of the security forces and Armed Forces Special Power Act, 1958. This film is a diary of events, which took place in Manipur from the day Th. Manorama Devi died, till a youth dies setting himself on fire in protest against the AFSPA, 1958. Haobam Paban Kumar has worked as an assistant with the noted Manipuri director prod: Haobam Paban Kumar, Bachaspatimayum Sunzu. camera: Saikhom Ratan. editor: Sankha. Aribam Syam Sharma from 1996-2002, in making documentaries & feature films. A Bsc from Mysore University, Karnataka, he also has PG Diploma in Direction & Screen playwriting, 2005 from the SRFTI, Kolkata. His films include ‘Orchids And Manipur’ and ‘A Cry in the Dark’ [email protected] 10 images Amerika Amerika

DIR: K P SASI 4 MIN 30 SEC / ENGLISH, TAMIL K.P.Sasi started as a cartoonist during the seventies and began making documentaries Based on Kamaan Singh Dhami’s anti-war song ‘American War Paar Da! in the early eighties. His notable (Check Out the American War!)’, the music video is a satirical but severe documentaries include Living in Fear, In the indictment of America’s role in escalating world conflict. Originally written Name of Medicine, We Who Make History, following the post 9/11 bombing of Afghanistan by the USA, and developed to A Valley Refuses to Die, The Wings of Kokkrebellur and Redefining Peace. These address the occupation of Iraq, the song comments on various aspects of the films are used by various activist groups to American empire – its stockpile of nuclear bombs, its cozy relations with strengthen struggles. Sasi’s feature films fanatical and dictatorial regimes, and in fact, the very notion of American peace include Ilayum Mullum, Ek Alag Mausam and Shh…Silence Please. His awards and liberty. The song is set to the tune of the popular Sinhalese song include the Best Film Award at the ‘Surangini’ and has English lyrics and a catchy chorus in Tamil. Dancing International Rural Film Festival , France, sometimes on Bush’s shoulder, sometimes on the roof of Washington’s White the Special Jury Prize at the International House, and sometimes in a colourful parade of children protesting against war, Environment Film Festival, Turkey, Bronze Award at Global Video Festival, dancer Malavika Tara Mohanan embodies the indomitable spirit of resistance Copenhagen, Best Film Award at Enfest and and satire. B Jayashree, Bangalore’s well-known theatre director and playback Best Film and Best Director awards at the singer, has sung the song, while activist and singer, Sumathi, has been part of Swaralaya International Film Festival. the conceptualization and music production. [email protected] 11 new Bare

DIR: SANTANA ISSAR 11 MIN / 2006 / ENGLISH

A daughters’ search to find meaning, if any, in her relationship with her alcoholic father. In the piecing together of home videos shot by her parents nearly two decades earlier; and through a string of conversations with her father, mother, and sister; a daughter looks to understand the impact of her father’s alcoholism on each of their lives. The sister’s refusal to include him in her life; the mother’s belief that her daughters should reach out to their father despite her own refusal to see him; the father’s moment of honest introspection. In talking to them, the questions she is struggling with come to the fore: should she stand behind him, drawing only on her memories of what a wonderful father he was? Or should she move on… and build her life without him? Santana graduated in Economics from St Stephen’s College in 2005. Thereafter editors: Santana Issar, Pankaj Rishi Kumar. sound: Pritam Das. she has worked for a news channel and as assistant director on a few corporate films. This is her first documentary film. [email protected] 12 images Bhal Khabar Good News

DIR: ALTAF MAZID 17 MIN 21 SEC / 2005 / ASSAMESE (ENGLISH SUBTITLES)

A writer looks for a bit of good news in the days of the Assam Movement (1979-85), when the youth had sunk to the lowest depths of degradation, and Altaf is a critic turned filmmaker. civilized emotions seemed to be wiped completely out of existence. Everywhere He is believer of pure cinema but as the only lust and cowardly violence prevailed. Newspapers had chilling pages of World usually does not entertain pure depressing stories and to read them was to be overcome by an even greater things, his films make little or no money. His first film Jibon (Life) has won feeling of horror and helplessness. Finally the writer discovers a small piece of the best director’s prize in the Seventh news in a morning paper that gives him hope, as it brings him tales of inspiring Pyongyang Film Festival of Non-Aligned and people who survive the troubled times by piously and devoutly reading their Developing Countries. Lakhtokiat Golam holy scriptures. (Closed-door-and-stuff-inside-the magazine Syndrome) was able to attract wide range of critical appraisal. Other works include: prod: Zabeen Ahmed. camera: Jyoti Prasad Das & Altaf Mazid. editing: Altaf Mazid & Debankar Borgohain. Our Common Future (2002). sound & Music: Debankar Borgohain. narrator: Saurav Kumar Chaliha. The Joy of Giving (2004), Las Vegasat (In Las Vegas, 2004), [email protected] 13 new Bhangon Erosion

DIR: SOURAV SARANGI 60 MIN / 2006 / BENGALI (ENGLISH SUBTITLED)

In the state of West Bengal, India, river banks along Ganga and Padma are getting eroded at an unprecedented pace. More than six hundred thousand people have become homeless and helpless. Over six hundred square kms of land is gone… and along with it, the culture, history, an age old bond between soil, water and man. Unfortunately the roles played by the authorities have Sourav (born in 1964) graduated from the Presidency College, Kolkata and then joined been most dubious… to say the least. Is this erosion natural or manmade? the Film & Television Institute This documentary seeks answers for a few things never questioned before. of India, as a student in the editing department. Since then he has been producer: Sourav Sarangi. camera: Sourav Sarangi, Ajoy Roy, Bikramjit Gupta. active in the field of film making in editing: Sourav Sarangi, Partha Pratim Moitra. various capacities. His ever-observant eyes and sensibilities have enabled him to express both in fiction and non-fiction genres. He is also well known for his abilities to teach in various film schools and workshops. [email protected] 14 images Bullshit

DIR: PEÅ HOLMQUIST AND SUZANNE KHARDALIAN 73 MIN / 2005 / ENGLISH

Her opponents call her ‘The Green Killer’. They gave her ‘The Bullshit Award’ for sustaining poverty. TIME says she is a hero of our times – an icon for youngsters all over the world. The filmmakers follow Vandana Shiva, Indian activist and physicist, from her organic farm at the foot of the Himalayas to institutions of power all over the world. Here Vandana Shiva does battle with her toughest opponents like Monsanto and Coca-Cola. The filmmakers describe Monsanto from the inside and arrange what proves a shaking meeting between Vandana Shiva and Barun Mitra, liberal think-tank, lobbyist and fierce PeÅ and Suzanne are Swedish independent filmmakers who have directed critic of Vandana Shiva – and the man who gave her the ‘Bullshit Prize’. more than 50 documentaries, among them A film on globalisation and the issues of patenting, genetic engineering, several award-winning films, like Gaza bio-piracy, indigenous knowledge and farmers’ suicide. Ghetto, Back to Ararat, Unsafe Ground, Her Armenian Prince, From Opium to camera: Thomas Lindén, PeÅ Holmquist, Su Lekh, Bertram Verhaag. editing: Lisa Ekberg. Chrysanthemums, My Dad the Inspector sound: Jean Noel Yven, Toby Trotter, Jonatan Karlsson. sound mix: Fabrice Chantome. and I Hate Dogs – the last survivor. music: Tuomas Kantelinen, Indian Ocean, Rupi Mahindroo. [email protected] www.peaholmquist.com 15 new Calcutta Pride March 2004

DIR: TEJAL SHAH 12 MIN / 2004 / HINDI & BENGALI (SUBTITLED IN ENGLISH)

Homosexuality remains criminalised in India under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code [IPC]. In June 1999 a small group of hijras, kothis and gay men walked down the streets of Calcutta calling it a ‘friendship walk’‚ a walk to assert the rights of sexuality and gender minorities. This was a landmark event in the history of the LGBT movement in India. On June 27, 2004, the second pride march was held in Calcutta. There were participants from West Bengal, Delhi, Bombay, Srilanka and Thailand to name a few. This short documentary tries to bring to surface, the role of the media in the representation of the LGBT community, issues of visibility and invisibility and the various points of view that people hold on the pride march. There are interviews with onlookers, participants, police, plainclothes intelligence agents and supporters. Tejal is a visual artist working and living in Bombay, India. Her video and installation works have exhibited widely in India and Camera: Tejal Shah & Natasha Mendonca. Editing: Tejal Shah. abroad. She is the co-founder and curator of Inviewers: Tejal Shah & Georgina Maddox. Voiceover Inputs: Sheba Tejani. Larzish, International Film Festival of Sexuality & Gender Plurality, India. [email protected] 16 images

17 AFSPA, 1958 new

18 Continuous Journey images Continuous Journey

DIR: ALI KAZIMI 87 MIN / 2004 / ENGLISH, PUNJABI (ENGLISH SUBTITLES) Ali is one of Canada’s leading documentary filmmakers. In 2005 his film Runaway In 1914, the Komagata Maru, a ship carrying 376 immigrants from British Grooms won The Donald Brittain Award, India, was turned away by Canada. The consequences were felt throughout the highest award for a television the British Empire. Continuous Journey is a compelling and eye-opening documentary. He was recently named investigation into the past and present ramifications of this incident. Best Documentarian in Toronto by NOW Magazine. Born and raised in India, he More than history film, Continuous Journey is a provocative, moving, and graduated from Delhi University in 1983, multilayered essay that interweaves photographs, newsreels, home movies and and studied film production at York official documents to unravel a complex and little-known story. University, Toronto. His films have won over thirty awards and honours, including Prod: Ali Kazimi. Writer: Ali Kazimi. Editors: Graeme Ball & Ali Kazimi. Best Director & Best Political Film, Hot Docs Sound: Sunil Khanna & David Adkin. Music Director & Sound Designer: Phil Strong. 1995; The Golden Gate Award, San Fran Int. FF, 1995; Silver Conch & Critics’ Award, Mumbai Int. FF; Gold Plaque, Chicago Int. FF; Most Innovative Canadian Documentary Award, DOXA 2005. Kazimi currently lives in Toronto, where he teaches at York University. [email protected] 19 new Delhi-Mumbai-Delhi

DIR: SABA DEWAN 63 MIN / 2006 / HINDI (WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES)

Riya dances in the beer bars of Mumbai to make a living. The documentary follows her from her home in Delhi, to Mumbai where hundreds of working class girls come in search of work and a future. Riya’s future is unpredictable Saba did her masters in Film & TV and the present is marked with its own difficulties. The police harass her family production from the Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia, New in Delhi, there is constant pressure from her agent in Mumbai to attract more Delhi in 1987, and since has been making tips, and the work itself is demanding. However, there are other girls to have independent documentaries. Her work has fun with, there is money to dress well and then there are men… This is an focused on gender, labour and sexuality. intimate portrait of the everyday in the life of the girls, their agents and their She is currently working on a film on tawaif (courtesan) art and sexuality under a neighbourhoods. Shot in the backdrop of the Governments’ fellowship from the India Foundation of the controversial move to ban girls from dancing in beer bars, it interweaves stories Arts. Her films include ‘Sita’s Family’ 2002; of gender, labour, sexuality and popular culture within an increasingly ‘Bundelkhand Express’ 1999; ‘Barf’ (Snow) 1997; ‘Khel’ (The Play) 1994; ‘Nasoor’ globalised economy. (Festering Wound) 1991; ‘Dharmayudha’ (The Holy War), 1989; ‘Invisible Hands, prod: Rahul Roy. cam: Rahul Roy. sound: Asheesh Pandya & Sunder. editor: Anupama Chandra. Unheard Voices’ 1988. [email protected] [email protected] 20 images Fistful of Steel

DIR: LEENA RANI NARZARY, NIDHI BAL SINGH, SABIR HAQUE 26 MINS / 2006 / HINDI WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

The film aims to study the new developments that are being planned in the Leena is Associate Producer with NDTV, where she works for the political satire Eastern Yamuna River bed and documents the consequent displacement of ‘Gustaki Maaf’.She likes to work on moving peasants. The film seeks to critique the notion of development, which always social issues. means concrete construction and the nullification of the concept of National Nidhi is a freelance filmmaker. Her last project was Science Safari for National Capital Territory through pulling more resources into Delhi than diverting Geographic and alltimefilms, New Delhi. them. The film centres around the various ecological misbalances due to such She conducts visual communication construction on the Yamuna river bank. Five power stations, massive structures workshops for differently challenged like the akshardham temple, Delhi Secretariat and all other legal but illegal Children with Shri Ram school and supported schools. constructions of the river bank; open up a Pandora box of what ails the Sabir is a documentary filmmaker whose development policies. last film as an editor was Capital Water - the 24x7 story, which was adjudged the A STUDENT FILM best film in Water & Life II Development Film Festival 2006. He teaches film and video production in Mahe Manipal, Dubai Campus. [email protected] 21 new Gaon ke Naon Theatre, Mor Noan Habib My village is theatre, my name is Habib

DIR: SANJAY MAHARISHI & SUDHANVA DESHPANDE 73 MIN / 2005 / HINDI AND CHHATTISGARHI (ENGLISH SUBTITLES) Sanjay has been working in the field of They criss-cross the country by road and by rail, living out of suitcases and documentary since 1990 as a director, trunks, singing, dancing, performing. Naya Theatre (New Theatre) is a producer and cinematographer. Since then he has shot more than 150 films as a professional theatre company founded in 1959, and composed of rural actors cinematographer. He is interested in issues from Chhattisgarh. The company is led by Habib Tanvir — actor, writer, around development, education and the director, singer, poet, designer, teacher. Shot over two years, the film takes the arts. He organises filmmaking workshops with children and adult learners. Sanjay viewer to the villages the actors come from in Chhattisgarh. The film lives and works in Delhi. documents what happened in 2003 when Habib Tanvir and the actors of Naya Sudhanva is an actor, playwright and Theatre came under attack from Right for performing the anti- director with Jana Natya Manch, and untouchability farce ‘Ponga Pandit’. The film records the making of the play works as editor in Leftword Books. He writes regularly on theatre and cinema and ‘Zahareeli Hawa’ (Poisoned Air), Tanvir’s translation of Rahul Varma’s English is a commentator on www.znet.org. He has play ‘Bhopal’ on the Union Carbide gas tragedy of 1984. taught at various institutions including the National Institute of Design Ahmedabad and Prod: Sanjay Maharishi & Sudhanva Deshpande. Camera: Sanjay Maharishi. A.J.K. Mass Communication Research Sound Post Prod: Asheesh Pandya. Editor: Sanjay Maharishi. Centre Jamia Milia Islamia, Delhi. [email protected] 22 images Health Matters

DIR: SHIKHA JHINGAN 60 MIN / 2005 / ENGLISH

Economic reforms since the 1990’s led to unprecedented changes in the Indian Shikha is an independent documentary health care system. Health Matters takes a panoramic look at health care in film-maker based in Delhi. She graduated India through the everyday experiences of patients in both public and private from Mass Communication Research hospitals, covering a range of rural and urban locations. Stories of a retired Centre, Jamia Millia University in 1986 and from the University of Wisconsin- mill worker, a domestic help and a daily wage labourer are woven together with Milwaukee, Department of Film, School of fictional explorations, prosthetic bodies and narrative text. As market forces Fine Arts in 1991. She is a founder member and medical tourists start driving the ‘health industry’, words like healing and of Media-storm, an independent women’s accountability acquire new meanings… film making collective formed in Delhi in 1986. Some of her work includes ‘The Hidden Story’ (co-dir); ‘Prisoner of camera: Sabeena Gadihoke. editing: Shikha Jhingan / Jaltson A.C. music: Sandeep Chatterjee. Gender’ (co-dir), winner of the Silver Panda sound: C. Subramanian / Pankaj Bhakuni. post production sound: Asheesh Pandya. award at the International Television documentary festival held in Chengdu 1991; and ‘Born to Sing’ 2001, shown at Kara International Film Festival, 2004 and Tasveer Film Festival Seattle, 2005. [email protected] 23 new Kaya Poochhe Maya Se Journeyings & Conversations

DIR: ARVIND SINHA 88 MIN / 2003 / HINDI WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

The film is about the many faces and facets of Howrah Station, one of the world’s biggest and busiest ‘happenings’ on rails. Since the station stands on the Ganges, it cannot be seen separately from the dirty, slithering, holy river. The film is also about the varied creatures who exist on the banks of the river. But human lives, especially if they are concentrated in and around a hoary, proverbial river, cannot be seen only in a realistic dimension. It is difficult to escape the philosophical/spiritual/emotional journey of both the rail traveller and the filmmaker. As a result, the film works at various levels, constantly shifting between the physical and the illusory; between the predictable and Arvind is one of the leading documentary filmmakers of India. the absurd; between the realistic or neo-realistic and the vaguely surrealistic. Winner of eight National Awards (President’s Awards), he has also won some Script, Production and Direction: Arvind Sinha. Camera: Ranjan Palit. of the topmost and most prestigious awards Editor: Amitabh Chakraborty. Sound: Anup Mukhopadhyaya. in the world (Leipzig, Bilbao, New York and Japan) for his films. [email protected] 24 images Kinjal

DIR: VAANI ARORA 13 MIN / 2005 / HINDI (ENGLISH SUBTITLES)

Kinjal is a short non-fiction film about a young school going, ‘employed’ girl in a working class environment. Raising issues of gender and ‘aspiration’, the director has used an improvisational film technique to make a reflexive piece of cinema that constantly refers to its own making.

camera: Chinmayi Arakali. additional camera: Kinjal Bharat Bhai Waghela, Vaani Arora, Vasu Dixit. sound: Vasu Dixit. editing: Vaani Arora.

A STUDENT FILM

Vaani has studied Film and Communication Design at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. She has been doing her own productions and works with the Discovery Channel as a free lance producer. contact: [email protected] 25 new Kitte Mil Ve Mahi Where the Twain Shall Meet

DIR: AJAY BHARDWAJ 72 MIN / 2005 / (ENGLISH SUBTITLES)

Located largely in the Doaba region of Punjab in India, which is dotted with shrines of Sufi saints and mystics. It opens a window onto the Dalit’s aspirations to carve out their own cultural space through religion, politics and the arts. By exploring a unique bonding between Sufism and Dalits this film brings to life a spiritual universe that is healing as well as emancipatory.

producer: Ajay Bhardwaj. camera: Ajay Bhardwaj. editor:Shachindra Bisht.

Ajay is a Delhi based documentary filmmaker. From 1990 – 96 he directed and produced a diverse range of television programmes. ‘Ek Minute Ka Maun’ (A Minute of Silence) 1997 was his first independent documentary, and since then he has been making documentaries. [email protected] 26 images Many People Many Desires

DIR: T JAYASHREE 45 MINS / 2005 / ENGLISH (WITH SUBTITLES)

Through personal narratives, Many People Many Desires explores the place of a gay, lesbian, , or a transgendered person in Indian civil society. Legal discrimination against sexual minorities operates through the criminal and civil law systems, under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code – a law imposed under British colonial rule criminalizing homosexual behaviour. (A law that remains in the Indian statute books although it has long since been removed from the British statute book.) Cutting across class, gender, language and caste, T. Jayashree, has produced, directed and the film tells the stories of gay/bisexual/lesbian persons living in the city of written for Television, Radio, feature and Independent documentaries. Her credits Bangalore. It aims to mobilize debate and discussion and generate support include among others, ‘Annapurna’ (co-dir, from within and outside the sexual minority communities. 1995), ‘A Woman’s Place’ (Prod, 1998), ‘Agni Varsha’ (Screenplay, 2002), ‘A Human prod: Sangama. camera: Avijit Mukul Kishore. editor: Jabeen Merchant. sound: Girjashankar Vohra. Question’ (Dir, 2005). ‘Many people Many desires’ won the Best Documentary, New York International Independent Film & Video Festival, 2005. She lives in Bangalore, India. [email protected] 27 new Mindless Mining – the Tragedy of Kudremukh

DIR: SHEKAR DATTATRI 12 MIN / 2003 / ENGLISH & (WITH SUBTITLES)

At the heart of the stunning Kudremukh National Park in south India is a huge iron ore mine that has stripped the hills bare for over 20 years. Every year, heavy monsoon rains wash the loose soil from the mined slopes into the Bhadra River, leading to siltation on a massive scale. Floods caused by this siltation leave a thick sludge of iron ore on the fields of farmers cultivating Shekar is an award winning wildlife and along the banks of the Bhadra, greatly reducing the fertility of the soil. conservation filmmaker based in Chennai, whose films have aired worldwide on ‘Mindless Mining’, was made as a campaign film and played a major role in international television channels. Moving turning the tide of public and political opinion against the continuation of away from television documentaries, he has mining in this fragile ecosystem. It was submitted as evidence to the Supreme devoted the last five years to producing conservation films targeted specifically at Court in a case against the mining in Oct 2002, and the Supreme Court decision makers in and out of government. ordered the closure of the iron ore mining operation in Kudremukh. In 2004 he won a Rolex Award for Enterprise for his work in conservation prod: Shekar Dattatri. writer: Shekar Dattatri. consulting editor : Vishnukrishnaa. narration : PC Ramakrishna. filmmaking. www.shekardattatri.com 28 images

Natak Jari Hai 29 Nalini by Day, Nancy by Night new

30 images Nalini by Day, Nancy by Night

DIR: SONALI GULATI 26 MIN / 2006 / ENGLISH

Nalini by Day, Nancy by Night is a documentary on outsourcing of American jobs to India. Told from the perspective of an Indian living in the U.S., the film journeys into India’s call centers, where telemarketers acquire American names and accents to service the telephone-support industry of the U.S. The film Sonali is currently an Assistant Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University’s incorporates animation, live action, and archival footage to explore the Department of Photography & Film. complexities of globalisation, capitalism, and identity. She has an MFA in Film & Media Arts from Temple University, a BA in Critical Social prod / camera / writer / editor / sound / animation: Sonali Gulati. Music: Jay Krishnan. Thought from Mount Holyoke College and completed her schooling at Modern School Vasant Vihar, New Delhi. She has made several short films that have screened at over a hundred film festivals worldwide. This is her first documentary film and has won several awards including the Director’s Choice Award from the Black Maria Film Festival. [email protected] 31 new Natak Jari Hai The Play Goes On

DIR: LALIT VACHANI 84 MIN / 2005 / HINDI, ENGLISH (WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES) Lalit studied at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi What does it mean to perform socialist ‘agit-prop’ theatre in India in a University and at the Annenberg School for globalised era of increasing intolerance and inequality? Natak Jari Hai is a Communication at the University of Pennsylvania in the US. He was visiting documentary about JANAM (The People’s Theatre Front), the little theatre lecturer at the Mass Communication group that never stopped performing in the face of dramatic political Research Centre, Delhi from 1990-92 and transformation and personal tragedy. The film explores the motivations and 1996-98 and visiting scholar at the Center ideals of the JANAM actors and their vision of resistance and change as they for Media, Culture and History at New York University in 1999. His previous perform their ‘People’s Theatre’ in diverse parts of India. It brings to life the documentary films have been on the star- world of socialist theatre through the words of JANAM’s members, and system and the social worlds within the through a reflective portrayal of the group’s greatest tragedy – the assassination film industry (The Academy, 1995; The Starmaker, 1997) and on the of its convenor Safdar Hashmi in 1989. indoctrination, ideology and the politics of Hindutva propagated by the Hindu camera: Mrinal Desai. sound: Asheesh Pandya. additional editing: Sameera Jain. fundamentalist organization, the RSS (The editing, additional camera, production: Lalit Vachani. Boy in the Branch, 1993; The Men in the Tree, 2002). [email protected] 32 images Notes from the Crematorium

DIR: AMUDHAN RP 36 MIN / 2005 / TAMIL (WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES)

The film introduces viewers to the world of undertakers, a community that is only remembered in the event of death. They know everything about caring for the dead and treat the dead as their own. They fulfill an important social need, but are among the lowest in the caste hierarchy. They have problems, needs and expectations, but nobody is interested, apart from the dead. Amudhan RP was born in 1971 and is based in Madurai. Along with local youth, he producer: Marupakkam. camera & editing: Amudhan RP. associate editor: P Madhavan. founded Marupakkam, a media activism group that is involved with making documentaries, and organising regular screenings, film festivals and media workshops in and around Madurai. He has been making documentaries since 1997. His prominent films include ‘Theeviravadigal’, and ‘Shit’, which won the best film award at the One Billion Eyes film festival, 2005 and the National Jury Award at MIFF 2006. [email protected] 33 new One Day from a Hangman’s Life

DIR: JOSHY JOSEPH 83 MINS / 2005 / BENGALI, HINDI (WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES)

After many years, an execution took place in India in 2004 in Kolkata. The strong media focus on the hangman had created the kind of anticipation that attended public executions in medieval Europe. The daily cover stories in the media were mostly invented stories, as they had no direct access to the convict at the Alipore Central Jail. The hangman, who is a gifted story-teller, came to Joshy has made around twenty their rescue. So my film is a long story and I trespassed into everything in this Documentaries and one Feature Film – process for touching the moment of truth. Imaginary Line. Four of the documentaries won National Awards in consecutive years –for ‘Sarang – Symphony in Cacophony’ prod: Suvendu Chatterjee and Benny A.J. camera: Razak Kottakkal. writer/screenplay: Joshy Joseph. (Best Promotional Film, 1999), ‘Sentence of editors: Sumit Ghosh. music: Frank Frenzy. Silence’ (Best Family Welfare Film, 2000), ‘And the Bamboo Blooms’ (Best Environmental Film, 2001) and ‘Wearing the Face’ (Best Investigative Film, 2002). Presently working as a Film Maker in Films Division at Kolkata making films centered around North East. [email protected] 34 images One Show Less

DIR: NAYANTARA C KOTIAN 19 MIN / 2005 / HINDI

This student production concerns itself with the closure of low-priced single screen cinemas and what this will mean to the working classes of India. It focuses on one theatre, Usha Talkies, whose spirited employees and raucous, seat-breaking public make it one of a kind. As the ticket seller puts it, this cinema is meant for the masses – if this theatre shuts down as well, the question raised is ‘are the masses to be deprived of the incomparable experience of watching cinema on the big screen?’ Through a series of evocative arguments put forth by the employees of Usha Talkies, a vivid portrait is painted of a unique way of life, which might soon become extinct.

camera : Ruchi pugalia. sound: Akhila Krishnan. editing: Nayantara Kotian. Nayantara is a final year student of Film production: Nayantara Kotian. faculty guide: Milindo Taid. and Video Communication, National Institute of Design, India. Her previous A STUDENT FILM student work includes Crossed destinies (fiction, 15 min) [email protected] 35 new Printed Rainbow

DIR: GITANJALI RAO 13 MIN / 2006 / ENGLISH

A big city. A tiny apartment. There, in solitude, an old woman and her cat rummage through their collection of match-boxes. The printed labels open into a myriad of exotic worlds. Together they explore these magical worlds, where beauty, imagination and wonder triumph over the insignificance Gitanjali graduated from Sir JJ Inst. of Applied Art, Mumbai, India, in 1994, of their existence. and learnt animation at Ram Mohan Biographics, Mumbai. She works as a animation: Gitanjali Rao. sound: Rajivan Ayyappan. sound mix: Sreejesh Nair, Shajith Koyeri. freelance animator for advertisements, shorts, channel Ids, and as an illustrator for children’s books. Her animation films include ‘Orange’ (4 min / 2002) Printed Rainbow has been widely screened at film-festivals, and has won many awards including Golden Conch for best animation film, MIFF 2006; Kodak Discovery for best short film; Young Critic’s award for best short film; and the Rail D’Or for best short film, all at the Critic’s week, Cannes 2006 [email protected] 36 images

37 Printed Rainbow new

38 Bhangon (Erosion) images River Taming Mantras

DIR: SANJAY BARNELA, VASANT SABHERWAL 35 MIN / 2004 / ENGLISH & HINDI (WITH SUBTITLES)

Large parts of eastern India are subject to annual flooding. Over the last 50 Sanjay and Vasant are founder members of the Delhi-based production team Moving years the government has built kilometres of embankments in an attempt to Images. They have made documentaries on tame the rivers of the region. Despite the massive expenditure, flooding has a diverse range of issues including only increased. 16% of Bihar is now permanently waterlogged, a direct pastoralists of the Himalayas, women in panchayati raj, politics of water, wildlife consequence of the construction of embankments. The film explores the conservation and environmental technological, economic and political rationale that underlies the adoption of degradation, apart from filming a few high such flood control measures, and argues that these attempts to control rivers altitude climbing expeditions in the are unlikely to succeed. On the other hand, the vast sums spent on the building Himalayas. ‘Hunting Down Water’ won the award for Best Documentary at Festival du and maintenance of these embankments provide endless opportunities for the film de Strasbourg 2004, and Best Direction siphoning of funds. Flood relief is a milk cow no one wants to see go dry. at the Festival du Cinema de Paris 2004. It also won the award for Best Editing at prod: Moving Images. camera : Sanjay Barnela. writer: Vasant Sabherwal. editor: Anjali Khosla. Miami International short film festival 2004. sound: Sanjay Barnela, Vasant Sabherwal. music: Amit, Asheem, Rahul. It was nominated for awards at the Earthvision Environmental film festival, Tokyo, 2005. [email protected] 39 new She Write

DIR: ANJALI MONTEIRO & K.P. JAYASANKAR 55 MIN / 2005 / TAMIL (WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES)

She Write weaves together the narratives and work of four Tamil women poets. Salma negotiates subversive expression within the tightly circumscribed space Anjali is Professor, and Jayasankar is allotted to a woman in a small town. For Kuttirevathi, solitude is a crucial Professor and Chair, Centre for Media and creative space from where her work resonates. The fact that women poets are Cultural Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences. Jointly they have won thirteen exploring themes such as desire and sexuality has been opposed by some Tamil national and international awards for their film lyricists, who have gone on record with threats of death and violence. This films. These include the Prix Futura Berlin has been resisted by a collective of poets and artists called Anangu (Woman). 1995 Asia Prize for Identity - The Malathy Maitri’s poems explore feminine power and spaces. Sukirtharani writes Construction of Selfhood and the Best documentary award at the IV Three of desire and longing, celebrating the body and feminine empowerment. The Continents International Festival of film traverses these diverse modes of resistance, through images and sounds Documentaries 2005, Venezuela, for that evoke the universal experiences of pain, anger, desire and transcendence. SheWrite. They are researchers in the area of media and cultural studies and have published their work. They also serve as camera & graphics: K. P. Jayasankar. editing & audio mixing: K.P. Jayasankar & Anjali Monteiro. visiting faculty to several leading media and location sound: Elangovan R. music composed and arranged by: S.L. Vaidyanathan. design institutions across India. [email protected] [email protected] 40 images Smarana – Remembering Lost Children Smarana – Thrigirani biddala kosam

DIR: C VANAJA 31 MIN / 2004 / ENGLISH & TELUGU WITH (ENGLISH SUBTITLES)

This is a film on the agony of mothers who lost their children in the ongoing naxalite movement in Andhra Pradesh. About a dozen mothers who are essentially non-political and do not necessarily believe in their deceased children’s politics, talk about their memories, the trauma, repression they have C Vanaja, Journalist, Filmmaker and TV undergone both physically and emotionally when their children were away from presenter, is the recipient of first Ramnath Goenka Award for excellence in Journalism home fighting for the ‘cause’. Mothers were randomly interviewed from two (Uncovering India Invisible) for the year regions where the movement is intense – Uddanam area of Srikakulam district 2005. Trained in mass communications, and Jangoan area of Warangal district. gained experience for over 12 years across all media – print, broadcast, electronic and camera: Chowdary, Raju, Kiran, Srikanth and Surendra. editing and post production: TVSA Chowdary, & Kishore. web – both in English and Telugu. Had the distinction of being one of the first anchor reporters in Telugu on social and political issues. [email protected] vanajac.blogspot.com 41 new Tales from the Margins

DIR: KAVITA JOSHI 23 MIN / 2006 / MANIPURI WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES / WORLD PREMIERE

Twelve women strip themselves naked on the streets of Manipur, in protest… For five years a young woman has been on a fast-to-death demanding justice; she is kept under arrest and is forcibly nose-fed. Other women have lost their Kavita is an independent documentary sanity fighting for justice for their children killed in custody. Manipur is a state filmmaker based in Delhi. Her first film, ‘Some Roots Grow Upwards’ (2002/52min) in India’s North-East region, riven for decades by insurgency and violence. explored the work of acclaimed Manipuri Shielded by undemocratic laws, the Indian government has attempted to crush theatre director, Ratan Thiyam, and won the insurgency through its military might. Yet, little is heard about Manipur the Best Film at the UGC-CEC awards India. and its troubles across the nation’s landscape. This is a place that mainland ‘Tales from the Margins’ (2006/23min) and ‘Untitled:3 Narratives’ (2005/17min) are a India has marginalised; that the world has forgotten. The film travels to this twin project on women and the conflict strife-torn corner of India to seek out tales of uncommon courage in the face of situation in Manipur. The latter has won the despair. To document the anger and anguish of Manipuri women; and to Best Film on Human Rights, UGC-CEC awards India; and the III Best Film at chronicle their extraordinary protests. VIBGYOR Kerala. Apart from filmmaking, Kavita designs and conducts workshops in prod: Kavita Joshi. camera: Sunayana Singh. sound: Asheesh Pandya. editing: Mahadeb Shi. filmmaking. [email protected] http://kavitajoshi.blogspot.com 42 images Temporary Loss of Consciousness

DIR: MONICA BHASIN 35 MIN / 2005 / ENGLISH (WITH SUBTITLES)

‘Temporary loss of consciousness’ alludes to the recurring displacement of populations in the Indian subcontinent from the time of Partition (1947) to Monica worked as an editor for several the present. The film explores the ideas of borders, boundaries, limits and documentary films before graduating from the Department of Film Video & New forbidden spaces that generate vast expanses of wastelands of human emotion Media, School of the Art Institute of and action. Treated as a poetic essay the film traces these ideas through the Chicago, USA in 2004. She is previously a voices of those that live in exile in the Indian subcontinent. It has been shot in graduate of the AJK Mass Communication New Delhi and the borders of India and Pakistan, and India and Bangladesh. Research Center, Jamia Millia Islamia (1992) New Delhi. Her work as Editor The film constructs meaning through juxtaposition of several elements like includes ‘Present Imperfect Future Tense’, found footage of Independence/Partition, constructed narratives spoken in the ‘Born at Home’, ‘In the Eye of the Fish’, respective languages of the affected populace and abstractions of abandoned ‘Some Roots Grow Upwards’, and spaces or spaces of refuge. ‘Autumn’s Final Country’. The film has screened at the Indo American Art Council Film Festival in New York 2005, prod / camera / sound / editing: Monica Bhasin. Mumbai International Film Festival 2006 and Signs 2006. [email protected] 43 new The Great Indian School Show

DIR: AVINASH DESHPANDE 53 MIN / 2005 / MARATHI (WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES)

At the outset, it is a school like any other school. Except that a closer look could startle you. Closed Circuit Television cameras, 185 of them, cover every square inch of the school premises. School children grow up under the watchful gaze of these cameras. Is this a sign of our times? The concept of Discipline could easily be misrepresented, misinterpreted. Schoolboy mischief Avinash is a freelance filmmaker and could be subverted into major misdemeanor. Memories of school life would scriptwriter. He studied Film Direction at probably be interspersed with TV monitors, watchful cameras in classrooms the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, where he has been a faculty member and crackling sound-boxes. What about the teachers? How do they deal with in both the Film and the Television wings. this situation? And yet, we haven’t even scratched the surface of the plethora of Recently, he has started a private Film possible hidden agendas behind creating this strange circumstance. Nothing training school called takes time getting used to. Not even 185 cameras perpetually trained on you. Framework Academy Of Cinema And Television in Pune. His film ‘Dark Times’, is And the number of cameras is increasing even as we contemplate on what this a 30 minute documentary about the plight phenomenon augurs. of cotton farmers who are committing suicide by the hundreds. camera: Setu. Writer: Avinash Deshpande. editors: Rhea Dasgupta. sound: Suresh Rajamani. [email protected] [email protected] 44 images The House on Gulmohar Avenue

DIR: SAMINA MISHRA 30 MIN / 2005 / HINDUSTANI & ENGLISH (WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES)

Sometimes the story of a life is the story of a search to be at home. The House on Gulmohar Avenue traces the personal journey of the filmmaker through the ideas of identity and belonging. The film is set in a part of New Delhi called Okhla, where four generations of the filmmaker’s family have lived. An area Samina is a documentary filmmaker and media practitioner based in New Delhi. Her that is predominantly inhabited by Muslims. An area that is sometimes also work includes Home and Away, a called Mini Pakistan. The filmmaker’s personal history is a hybrid one but she multimedia exhibition using photographs, grew up as a Muslim. Set against a quiet presence of the political context in text, sound and an html presentation to India, the film seeks an honest and deeply personal understanding of what this explore the lives of British Asian children in London. She has directed Stories of means – when is she aware of being Muslim, when does it matter to her and Girlhood, a series of three films on the Girl when is it easier to forget it. Child in India. She has also written and photographed Hina in the Old City, a book camera: Mrinal Desai. editor: Shan Mohammed. location sound: S Subramanian. music: Sawan Dutta. on the Walled City of Delhi for children, and has translated six children’s stories from into English. She is currently working on a film about Pregnancy and Motherhood. [email protected] 45 new The Story of a Golden River

DIR: SOUMITRA DASTIDAR 40 MIN / 2006 / WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES)

Subansiri, the golden river, flows down from the hills of Arunachal Pradesh into the Assam valley. It is believed that the waters of the river once carried gold that was sifted by the people living downstream. The north-eastern part of India houses nearly 31% of the country’s total water resources. The Government of India has commissioned 163 odd dams in the region, of which, the one on Lower Subansiri is even higher than the Sardar Sarovar dam on the Narmada river. The entire north east needs only 1400 mw eletricity whereas the Indian Government is planning to produce 50,000 mw electicity. Why? Where will the power go? What will happen to the hundreds of people who will be displaced as a result of the project? And what about the animals and fish? Where will they go? Soumitra is a documentary film-maker from Kolkata and has been making films on prod: Soumitra Dastidar, Barnali G.Dastidar. camera: Bunty, Kingshuk, Shibsankar. editor: Avinash, Sudarshan. people’s movements since 1999. Soumitra’s script : Madhushree,Soumitra, Uddipana. documentaries include Genocide and After and Our days with Maoist Guerillas. [email protected] 46 images Vande Mataram (The Shit Version)

DIR: AMUDHAN RP 5 MIN / 2005 / HINDI

The music director A. R. Rehman had sung a new version of Vande Mataram on the 50th year of India’s independence. The song became very popular and fit in with the modern, globalised image of India. The filmmaker uses this song as the soundtrack with images of manual scavengers at work in toilets and manholes. The result is poignant, uneasy and uncomfortable. Amudhan RP was born in 1971 and is based in Madurai. Along with local youth, producer: Marupakkam. camera, editing: Amudhan RP. he founded Marupakkam, a media activism group that is involved with making documentaries, organising regular screenings, film festivals and media workshops in and around Madurai. He has been making documentaries since 1997. His prominent films include ‘Theeviravadigal’, and ‘Shit’, which won the best film award at the One Billion Eyes film festival, 2005 and the National Jury Award at MIFF 2006. [email protected] 47 new waiting...

DIR: ATUL GUPTA & SHABNAM ARA 39 MINS / 2005 / KASHMIRI (ENGLISH SUBTITLES)

This is a story of missing people, boys and men who were picked up by security forces and then simply disappeared. Sandwiched between India and Pakistan, Kashmir is a battleground for both. Since the men are missing, not declared Atul has specialized in digital post dead, their wives are not widows but ‘half widows’. The ‘half widows’ need production and has edited over 200 extraordinary courage in living. Personally they live with the memories of their documentaries & television programs since love. They have to suddenly switch from being the woman in the veil at home 1990. Presently runs Delhi Biscope to a bread-earner. As the years have gone by, many have learnt to live with their Company which produces films on issues of education, social concerns and development. hopes while others are still caught in conflicts with their in-laws, the state, [email protected] religion and everyday livelihood. These women are survivors of a cruel period [email protected] in the history of this ‘paradise on earth’. Shabnam has done a Masters Degree in Human rights, International Humanitarian prod: Atul Gupta. camera: Anurag Singh. editing: Atul Gupta. sound : Asheesh Pandya. Law & Refugee Law (Jamia Milla Islamia), music: Shahwar Gauhar Nukeem. a Certificate course in Parliamentary and Constitutional Studies and a one year Diploma in Film Making. She has worked as a freelance journalist in Kashmir since 2002. [email protected] 48 images

49 Delhi-Mumbai-Delhi new

50 The Great Indian School Show images

Signature Film: 3 Screens Film Festival Baat ek Bat ki

DIR: NANDITA JAIN

Nandita is a graduate of the National A curious bat on a spree of gathering random everyday objects comes up with a strange Institute of Design with a specialisation in “whole” that is more than just “the sum of its parts”…. Animation Film Design. Some of her work includes When Bugwan got Squished, animation: Nandita Jain. music: Suchet Malhotra. 35mm; and Myths About You – a film about evolution and the delicately woven threads of the mystical and empirical on which life balances itself. 51 other worlds are breathing are worlds other other worlds are breathing other worlds

Other Worlds Are Breathing 2005 is an attempt to explore alternatives to neo- liberal, capitalistic globalisation through the medium of films, and brought together in time for the World Social Forum at Porto Allegre, Brazil in 2005.

In order to curate a festival of this kind we had to first define for ourselves the term ‘alternatives,’ one that is really quite broad. After all, the WSF process itself is a search for alternatives. Hence, we have sifted through the different meanings and nuances of the term ‘alternatives’ to focus on that precise subsection that resonates our concern. And our concern is with the politics of change. Thus, this film festival is a search for those actual lived experiences that have attempted to delineate a different world.

While we accept that the other worlds we are dreaming of exist more in the realm of possibilities than in reality, we started the curation process with the belief that they do exist, albeit in bits and pieces. And that today there is an urgent need to draw these pieces together into a mosaic that can help our collective imagination to reflect, conceive and look for ways forward.

54 are breathing

Therefore, Other Worlds are Breathing 2005 presents political, economic, social and cultural alternatives to globalisation through a vast kaleidoscope of experiences and concerns. There are many differences between these films and yet something seems to tie them together - the breath of life, a flow of creative energy. And it is this common thread, impossible to articulate and more often than not, invisible, that we are trying to explore through this Film Festival.

This is a modest beginning, but a beginning nonetheless. We hope that these stories of hope, celebrations of people’s power and determination will ignite our imaginations, and we invite you to join in the debates that this festival attempts to give rise to. With your help, we aim to give Other Worlds are Breathing 2005 a chance to reach out to more people around the world. Thus, more and more people will join in the search for alternatives, bringing the other worlds we are dreaming of a little closer.

Gargi Sen & Aurélie de Lalande, January 2005.

CURATED BY MAGIC LANTERN FOUNDATION, AS PART OF @CULTURE, A COLLECTIVE OF INDIAN ARTISTS, FOR THE WORLD SOCIAL FORUM, 2005, BRAZIL. 55 other worlds a night of prophecy

DIR: AMAR KANWAR

This is a simple film about poetry and witnessing the passage of time. Through poetry emerges the possibility of understanding the past, the severity of conflict and the cycles of change. Through poetry you suddenly see where each and all the territories are heading to, where you belong and where to intervene, if you want to. an evergreen island

77 mins / 2002 / India / [email protected] DIR: AMANDA KING, FABIO CAVADINI

In 1989, the landowners of central Bougainville in Papua New Guinea closed down one of the world’s largest copper mines that was destroying their land. A military blockade was imposed around their island. This is a film about a pacific people who survived for 9 years without assistance from outside.

45 min / 2000 / Australia / [email protected] 56 are breathing el mundo del malek Malek’s World

DIR: NATALIE MUNTERMANN, ANDREA SCHULTENS

cardboard days The Paladines live and work as puppeteers in Ecuador. It is not easy to survive being an artist there. The film DIR: VERÓNICA SOUTO tells the story of Malek’s lucky break: His transforma- tion into a dragon. The film casts disturbing light on the biggest economic and social crisis in Argentina’s history and the ways it 11 min / 2004 / Germany / [email protected] http://www.ladoc.de impacts on broad sectors of the population. It focuses on the lives and labour of the so-called cartoneros, who scavenge the streets and rubbish tips of the richer districts of Buenos Aires in search of cardboard, to sell for a pittance. It also serves as a reflection on the remorseless Megalopolis, recycling alternative lifestyles and economic inequity.

51 min / 2003 / Argentina / [email protected] 57 other worlds juchitán queer paradise

DIR: PATRICIO HENRIQUEZ

Located near the border with Guatemala, the Mexican town of Juchitán is home to the Zapotec Indians, who have shown remarkable tolerance towards homosexuals. karen education surviving According to a legend, God gave Vicente Ferrer, the patron saint of Juchitán, a bagful of queers. Everywhere DIR: SCOTT O’ BRIEN, SAW EH DO WAH he travelled – Colombia, Central America, Guatemala – he left behind a homosexual. In Juchitán, however, his This film focuses upon the realities of Karen villagers bag came undone, and they all fell out at once... who live internally displaced throughout the Karen state

65 min / 2002 / Canada / [email protected], of Burma. It specifically examines how Karen people http://www.macumbaintrnational.com organize their schools even as they struggle to survive the Burmese military junta’s genocidal activities against them. This film has been created by Karen people and represents Karen perspectives on the socio-political context in which they find themselves.

30 min / 2003 / [email protected] 58 are breathing money

DIR: ISAAC ISITAN Two years ago, thousands of people in Turkey and nazrah: a muslim woman’s Argentina took to the streets and attacked the banks when their life savings evaporated overnight. How could these relatively wealthy countries possibly go bankrupt perspective in less than a decade? With this question in mind, Isitan DIR: FARAH NOUSHEEN takes us to Turkey, Argentina and the US in a moving portrait of citizens who have lost everything. Faced with Nazrah is an intimate look at a diverse group of Muslim a lack of money, people began to initiate credit and women living in the Pacific Northwest in the USA. barter systems and to develop local parallel economies. The women discuss their views on Islam, current 65 min / 2003 / Canada / [email protected] http://www.lesproductionsisca.ca political events and how they reflect on the image of Islam in the West. They also talk about the difficulty of achieving equality within the Muslim community while fighting stereotypical portrayals of Muslim women in the US media.

55 min / 2003 / USA / [email protected] http://www.arabfilm.com 59 other worlds peace one day

DIR: JEREMY GILLEY

It is the story of one man’s attempt to persuade the global community via the to officially pretty dyana sanction a global ceasefire day. This film charts a DIR: BORIS MITIC remarkable 5-year journey, showing the viewer how an individual genuinely can make a difference. An intimate look at Gypsy refugees in a Belgrade suburb 80 min / 2004 / UK / [email protected] http://www.peaceoneday.org who make a living by transforming Citroen 2CV and Dyana cars into Mad Max-like recycling vehicles, which they use to collect cardboard, bottles and scrap metal. These modern horses mean freedom, hope and style for their crafty owners. Even the car batteries are used as power generators in order to get some light, watch TV and recharge mobiles! An alchemist’s dream come true! But the police do not always find these strange vehicles funny.

45 min / 2003 / Serbia / [email protected] http://www.dribblingpictures.com 60 are breathing

61 other worlds

62 are breathing rumble in mumbai

DIR: JAWAD METNI

red butterflies where two The film documents the last World Social Forum held in Mumbai, India, in January 2004. Over 100,000 springs merge people attended the forum, all looking to build solidar- ity and a better world. In keeping with the spirit of the DIR: GAUKHAR SYDYKOVA, DILIA RUZIEVA forum, the film provides a platform for marginalized voices to air their grievances. It is also full of high-calibre In the border mountain village of Achy-Kaindy, 64-year- critiques of neo-liberalism and damning indictments of old Janyl pursues the tradition of making felt carpets the ill effects of globalization. into which she creatively incorporates national motifs. She never relied on anyone, least of all on the govern- 58 min / 2004 / USA / [email protected] http://www.pinhole.com ment and modern industrial technologies. After the break-up of the Soviet-Union, Janyl became famous in Europe and the director of her own workshop. Yet she didn’t change her lifestyle or her independent anti-patriarchal views.

14 min / 2002 / Kyrgyzstan / [email protected] [email protected] 63 other worlds the legends of madiba

DIR: HELEN HENSHAW

The experiences of Nelson Mandela’s favourite perform- the art of viye diba – the ers demonstrate the vital role that music plays in the face of racism and oppression. The magnetic Canadian/ intelligent hand South African performer Lorraine Klaasen indroduces us to the five remarkable ladies including her mother, DIR: CLAUDINE POMMIER Tandie Klaasen. We learn about their music and their experiences during the disruptive years of apartheid. Viye Diba, a Senegalese artist living in Dakar, says that We see how important music is in the life of South he is not an African artist, but a modern artist living in Africa and how correct Mandela was when he said the Africa. His work has evolved from small format paint- legends have a real ‘hunger to sing’. ings to increasingly large metaphorical installations. Whether exploring the mysteries of communication, or 45 min / 2003 / Canada / [email protected] in the use of raw and recycled materials, his work raises environmental and socio-political questions and also explores the vital role of Art.

52 min / 2003 / Canada / [email protected] http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/4808/ 64 are breathing the rockstar and the mullahs

DIR: RUHI HAMID / ANGUS MACQUEEN

“Why can’t spirituality be expressed in a pop song?” asks Salman Ahmad, Pakistan’s most famous pop musician and the lead singer of Junoon. Salman is Muslim and the lijjat sisterhood very concerned about Pakistan’s growing religious intolerance that condemns music as obscene. His quest DIR: KADAMBARI CHINTAMANI / AJIT OOMEN takes him across Pakistan into the Islamic schools, and eventually to Peshawar, where the local government has More than four decades ago, seven women in a lower banned the playing of music in public. middle class suburb of Mumbai began a journey towards self-reliance. Today, more than 42,000 others have 50 min / 2003 / UK / [email protected] http:// joined them in this 3000-million-Rupee grassroots level www.octoberfilms.co.uk movement called the Shri Mahila Griha Udyog’ Lijjat Papad. The film looks at what it means to be part of this sisterhood through the eyes of four key protagonists, their colleagues and their families.

30 min / 2003 / India / [email protected] http://www.psbt.org 65 other worlds the take

DIRECTOR: AVI LEWIS

In suburban Buenos Aires, Argentina, thirty unem- ployed auto-parts workers walk into their idle factory, roll out sleeping mats and refuse to leave. All they want is to re-start the silent machines. But this simple act – thirst The Take – has the power to turn the globalization debate on its head. What shines through in the film is DIR: ALAN SNITOW / DEBORAH KAUFMAN the workers’ demand for dignity and the searing injus- tice of dignity denied. Is water a basic human right for all people? Or is it a commodity to be bought, sold, and traded in the global 87 min / 2004 / Canada / [email protected] http://www.nfb.ca/thetake/ marketplace? ‘Thirst’ tells the stories of communities in Bolivia, India, and the United States that are asking these fundamental questions culminating in the events that took place at the 2003 Third World Water Forum in Kyoto, Japan.

62 min / 2004 / USA / [email protected] 66 are breathing venezuela bolivariana: people and struggle of the traje: women and weaving fourth world war

in guatemala DIR: MARCELO ANDRADE ARREAZA.

DIR: PHOEBE HART The film examines the Bolivarian revolution of Venezuela from the Caracazo riots of 1989 to the Traje looks at the transmission of culture and identity massive actions that brought revolutionary president via weaving and the wearing of traje in Guatemala. Traje Hugo Chávez back to power, 48 hours after a US-led refers to the customary clothing of the 28 existing military coup in 2002. It also shows how the people Mayan language groups strewn across Mexico, exercise what is called in the popular movement Guatemala and Belize. It is made and worn almost ‘Revolution within the Revolution’. exclusively by women, who are the guardians of the The film focuses on how the Bolivarian revolution tradition. Today, the pressures of changing values, global transcends the national frontiers of Venezuela and economies, and racial discrimination are threatening the contributes to the fight against neoliberal capitalism. Mayan weaving practice, but there is resistance. 76 min / 2004 / Venezuela / [email protected] [email protected] 10 min / 2004 / Australia / [email protected] http://www.hartflicker.com http://www.calleymedia.org 67 other worlds work in progress: at the wsf 2004

DIR: PAROMITA VOHRA

The World Social Forum began in Brazil in the year waterworks india: four 2000 as a space for defining alternatives to globalisation, engineers and a manager economic imperialism, war and discrimination. In 2004, it came to Bombay and widened its horizons to include issues of gender, indigenous people’s rights, alternative DIR: PRADIP SAHA sexuality, women and war, caste and racism. For 5 days A film about five unsung people, who have kept the people protested, celebrated alternatives and resistance intricate traditional science of water management alive and sharpened their imagination of a better world with from the modern onslaught. Four of them are engineers diversity and justice at its heart, under a common slogan and one is a water manager. The documentary – Another World Is Possible. This film was created from introduces the viewers to the techniques as well as the video material gathered by student crews to document social management practices governing it. this 5-day event. 59 min / 2004 / India / [email protected] 22 min / 1998 / India / [email protected] http://www.cseindia.org 68 are breathing

69 working lives working working lives working

For some time now it has become evident that the situation of Indian labour has, in some sense, been resistant to ‘normal’ representation. The Indian State, triumphant Capital, the mainstream media and even the trade unions – all seem to be playing out a well rehearsed, and now tired, script of an imaginary battle, a battle whose results have been already foretold.

Once in a while this peaceable rehearsal is disturbed by the sudden irruption of reality, as when the police brutally beat up protesting workers of a multinational company, or when bullets mow down adivasis protesting displacement by mega industrial projects. For a few days disturbing images flit across television screens. But are soon replaced by other, more pertinent issues: big stories of double-digit growth rate, of India as the next FDI destination.

For nearly two decades now, the most visible signs of the public presence of labour – industrial disputes and strikes initiated by workers – have been on a steep decline. Since the 1990s the offensive of capital in the form of lockouts of industrial establishments have regularly outstripped worker strikes. Neither the retreat of labour from the public sphere, nor the triumphalism of capital, is unique to India. This is the story of labour worldwide under globalisation.

72 lives

The films in Working Lives provide an opportunity to witness, up-close the stories of labour and globalisation from across several continents and an occasion to discuss and reflect upon the relationship between media and Labour.

These are a selection of films that enter the inner spaces of people’s struggles, their triumphs and setbacks. They use various narrative approaches to reveal the lies of the propaganda machines of governments and industrial empires, they document strikes, they expose the murder of labour activists, they take a close look at production processes, and they examine the intersection of gender and labour. The films, question, disturb and inspire. Together they unfurl a vibrant panorama of alternative ways of seeing, thinking and acting.

Working Lives is a selection of 22 films from Labour on Screen, an International package of films on labour. The entire package of 37 films will be screened at an International festival of films on Labour, which is being planned as a follow up event. Keep in touch with DFA.

Rahul Roy / Prabhu Mahopatra

73 working 5 factories — workers control in venezuela

DIR: OLIVER RESSLER, DARIO AZZELLINI

The changes in Venezuela’s productive sphere are demonstrated with five large companies: a textile a day’s work, a day’s pay company, an aluminum works, a tomato factory, a cocoa factory, and a paper factory. In all, supported by credits DIR: JONATHAN SKURNIK, KATHY LEICHTER from the government, the workers are struggling for The documentary follows three welfare recipients in different forms of co- or self-management. New York City from 1997 to 2000 as they participate in The protagonists present insights into ways of the largest welfare-to-work program in the nation. alternative organizing and models of workers’ control. When forced to work at city jobs for well below the The portrayal of machine processes could be a metaphor prevailing wage and deprived of the chance to go to for the dream machine of the “Bolivarian process”, and school, these individuals decide to fight back, the hopes and desires it inspires among the workers. demanding programs that will actually help them move 83 min / 2006 / Austria / www.ressler.at off welfare and into jobs.

57 min / 2002 / USA / [email protected] 74 lives blossoms of fire

DIR: MAUREEN GOSLING, ELLEN OSBORNE The legendary women of Juchitán, a city in Oaxaca, breaking walls Mexico, have been described as “guardians of men, distributors of food.” ‘Blossoms of Fire’ shows them in DIR: NIR NADER, VIDEO 48 all their brightly colored, opinionated glory as they run their own businesses, embroider their signature fiery Video 48 is a group of alternative filmmakers focusing blossoms on clothing, and comment with angry humor on the situation of Arabs inside Israel. When Israel on articles in the foreign press that flippantly and began walling itself off from the Palestinians of the West inaccurately depict them as a promiscuous matriarchy. Bank, Mike Alewitz, who paints colourful murals, from The people interviewed in this film share a strong work L.A. to Baghdad, asked the Workers Advice Center ethic and a fierce independent streak rooted in Zapotec (WAC) to help him find a site in an Arab village. WAC culture. The film explores not only the powerful women chose Kufr Qara, where workers picked a promising wall but also the region’s progressive politics, manifested in at the football stadium. They told Alewitz that they the unusual tolerance of homosexuality. wanted “a mural that would help them explain to other workers why joining a union is important.” 72 min / 2000 / Mexico Canada / www.maureengosling.com 47 min / 2004 / Israel / [email protected] / www.hanitzotz.com/video48/breaking- walls.htm 75 working csr promises responsibility

DIR: EMANUEL DANESCH

How are a Sudanese refugee and a Kurdish farmer connected to the responsibility of Austrian companies? Two big Austrian companies promise responsibility. Two situations contradict this; on the one hand how little two Austrian companies (OMV and VA Tech Hydro) value Corporate Social Responsibility. And on class dismissed the other, it reveals what remains of the company’s promise to responsibility at the end of the chain of DIR: LORETTA ALPER, PEPI LEISTYNA influence where the actions of the companies make an impact: in a village located in the flooding area of a Based on the forthcoming book by Pepi Leistyna, Class barrage in South-Eastern Turkey and in a village in an Dismissed navigates the steady stream of narrow working exploration field in Southern Sudan. Theory versus class representations from American television’s reality. This film shows the contradiction. beginnings to today’s sitcoms, reality shows, police dramas, and daytime talk shows. 68 min / 2006 / Austria / www.danesch.at

62 min / USA / 2005 / [email protected], [email protected] 76 lives friend or foe dance with farm workers DIR: LABOUR NEWS PRODUCTION, SEOUL When Korean Telecommunication initiated a structural DIR: WU WENGUANG adjustment plan in 2000, non-regular workers became the main target for their so-called downsizing. Although A documentary about a very unconventional the targeted workers launched their own new union, performance: the project involved not only actors and eventually 7,000 workers were fired. Their struggle dancers, but also 30 Beijing farm workers from the continued for 517 days. They finally lost partly due to poorer regions of Sichuan province. The rehearsals and the oppression by the police and the betrayal by regular the performance took place in a former textile factory workers. Friend or Foe is a detailed document of their that could soon be torn down as part of Beijing’s rapid struggle which exposes the serious situation imposed by modernisation. The migrant farm workers, are the globalization on workers being compelled to accept non- supporting pillars of this modernisation as also of this regular status; and provides a critical analysis of the performance. The 30 workers on building sites in weakness of the current labour movement. Beijing had at first the sole wish to be paid 30 yen a day. It was only some time later that they found themselves 23 min 40 sec (excerpt) / 2003 / Korea / www.euromayday.org standing ‘centre stage’.

90 min / 2001 / / [email protected] 77 working hammer and flame

DIR: VAUGHAN PILIKAN

A vision into the ship breaking yards of Gujarat, where in an unending cycle, the greatest of manmade mardi gras: made in china titans are taken apart piece by piece, using the simplest of tools. DIR: DAVID REDMON

10 mins/ 2004 / UK / [email protected] Millions of Americans have attended the New Orleans Mardi Gras celebration. Hidden behind the celebration are the sweatshop workers, mostly women and teenagers who produce the millions of beads that are thrown out to the crowds during the celebration. This film counter- points the party with the lives of the workers who make the beads. In illuminating interviews we learn about the method of production that is now employing large numbers of Chinese workers as well as the ideology of the owners.

71 min / 2005 / USA / [email protected] 78 lives

79 working

80 lives murdered coca-cola unionists in colombia

DIR: BAERBEL SCHOENAFINGER

Each year around 100 unionists are killed in Colombia, in a context where trans-national corporations like Coca-Cola and Nestlé play an important role. In order to show the linkage between these corporations, the paramilitaries and the Colombian state, one exemplary case is investigated: On December 5th 1996, paramilitaries entered the Coca-Cola bottling plant in mexican holiday innworkers the north-eastern part of Colombia, and killed Isidro Gil. The film reconstructs this and embeds it in the DIR: MICHAEL MOORE history of the region Urabá, where between 1995 and 1998 all social movements – an effective left-wing party Mexican Holiday Inn workers risk being deported from and the unions have been literally exterminated. the U.S.A. for creating a union. 59 min / 2004 / Germany / www.kanalb.de 12 min (excerpt fr. “The Awful Truth”) / 2004-05 / USA / www.euromayday.org 81 working plan of regeneration

DIR: WANG HSIU-LING, LO SHIN-CHIEH

Despite being hailed once as one of the top ten state- new penelope owned enterprises in Taiwan, The China Shipbuilding Corp had suffered great losses for years. At the end of DIR: GEORGII DZALAEV 2001, the Government ordered the company to start – The Plan of Regeneration. 254 of the employees were Economic depression and political chaos force Tajik forcefully dismissed. The Union failed to protect the men to become migrant laborers, working in unsafe workers. To make things worse, the Company breached conditions and with inconsistent pay. Tajik women the government’s order, deciding to dismiss further 70 attempt to keep their families alive, and, in some cases, employees. After 6 months of negotiation, 62 of them enter polygamous marriages to feed themselves and their got their job back, a new page in the history of Taiwan’s families. Often, these women relate to Penelope, the Labour Movement. wife of the mythical hero Odysseus, who waits many years for her husband to return. The men working 109 min / 2004 / Taiwan / [email protected] abroad and the women left behind face the same fate: hard work and human rights abuses.

25 min 48 sec / 2006 / Tajikistan / [email protected], [email protected] 82 lives railroad of hope DIR: NING YING santa’s workshop Every year during August and September, thousands of agricultural workers leave Sichuan by train for a trip of DIR: LOTTA EKELUND, KRISTINA BJURLING more than 3,000 kms, lasting three days and two nights, towards China’s far west: Xinjiang Autonomous Region, Workers tell us about long working hours, low wages where endless cotton fields are awaiting the harvest. and dangerous work places. Those who protest or try to For most of the workers it’s the first time away from organise trade unions risk imprisonment. Santa’s their villages, as well as their first ride on a train. The Workshop takes you to the real world of China’s toy aim of Railroad of Hope was to cast a light on the factories. Low labour costs attract more and more relatively new phenomenon of internal migrations in companies to China. Today more than 75% of our toys China. The result is a documentary in which, probably are made in China. But this industry takes its toll on for the first time ever, we can listen to Chinese peasants the workers and on the environment. The European from poor interior regions speaking openly and sincerely buyers blame bad conditions on the Chinese suppliers. about their lives. But they say that competition gives them no option. Who should we believe? And what can you do to bring 56 min / 2001 / China / [email protected] about a fairer and more humane toy trade?

33 min / 2004 / Sweden / [email protected] 83 working tale of an immigrant

DIR: BERNADETTE FELBER

I tell the “Mexican dream” of those people who are arriving in México D.F. in hope of a better future. This the big avenues dream is rarely realised. The situation is difficult – there is no infrastructure nor an efficient system of education DIR: COLECTIVO PRESENTE to reduce increasing criminality and the growth of The documentary deals with the social consequences of “gangs”. A large percentage cannot read and write the Chilean military dictatorship. In September 2003 Spanish. Sixty percent are living in extreme poverty, the country is experiencing all sorts of commemoration conditions which motivate towards an illegal emigration events and demonstrations as well as rising poverty and to the USA, which becomes a game of death… the selling off of the public sectors by the protagonists The capital México D.F. is transforming herself into an of the film. The neo-liberal system, which was installed incredible conglomerate. It is a “living” society where by the military junta, is regarded as a second wave of within chaos and poverty can be found creativity and repression after the political one. The documentary the joy to live day by day. contextualises the conjunctions between dictatorship, 8 min / 2001 / Mexico Austria / www.ifoi.at/felber economic restructuring and the democratic attempts.

76 min / 2004 / Chile Germany / [email protected] 84 lives who will sing a lullaby...

DIR: NINA RUDIK

we are workers, or not? Masha’s father and Katya’s grandfather are on paternity leave. They are among the few, the very few (46 to be DIR: MIRYE KIM exact), men from Kiev who dared to use their right to take parental leave. Challenging their traditional role as From the 1990s, the flexibility of the labour market breadwinners, overcoming social stigma, and became apparent in Korea, which resulted in a lot of encouraging their wives to realise themselves outside of non-regular workers and so-called special employment the home, Masha’s father and Katya’s grandfather do workers, of which the latter are not even legally not think of themselves as heroes or dependants. recognized as workers. One group of such workers are Instead, they are pleased that — with their own courage truck drivers in the construction industry who have to and support from family members and friends — suffer under bad working conditions and low wages personal choice can prevail for them and their wives because they don’t have any right to organize. over traditional gender roles. This is a story of the three-year struggle by these workers, who never lost their self-confidence and belief 28 min 32 sec / 2006 / Ukraine / [email protected] / [email protected] in labour liberation.

60 min / 2003 / Korea / [email protected] / miraedocu@yahoo s.co.kr 85 working working man’s death

DIR: MICHAEL GLAWOGGER

Is heavy manual labour disappearing or is it just becoming invisible? Where can we still find it in the zapatistas compilacion IX: 21 st century? The film follows the trail of the HEROES in the illegal mines of the Ukraine, sniffs out GHOST collective work in resistance among the sulphur workers in , finds itself face to face with LIONS at a slaughterhouse in Nigeria, DIR: PROMEDIOS DE COMUNICACIÓN COMUNITARIA A.C. mingles with BROTHERS as they cut a huge oil tanker in Pakistan and joins Chinese steel workers in hoping The communities of Zona Norte show how they daily for a glorious FUTURE. Meanwhile, the future is now push and experience their autonomy. Their production in Germany, where a major smelting plant of bygone as well as the educational and health care system are days has been converted into a bright and shiny being organised collectively. In this manner the fight leisure park. against oblivion and marginalisation proceeds. The film shows the efforts of the communities in resistance to 122 min / 2005 / Austria / www.workingmansdeath.com keep their cultural identity despite surviving under hard conditions.

18 min / 2000 / Chiapas/Mexico / [email protected] 86 lives

Working Lives comes in collaboration with:

normale, Austria, which screens socio-economic and political documentaries (www.normale.at) globale, Germany, offers critical perspectives on globalization, merging film-festival with political gathering (www.globale-filmfestival.de) labor B, Germany, active in the intersections between global labor and media activism, organizes the programme »labormov[i]e« at the Globale (www.laborB.org)

The Labour on Screen package includes 15 other films listed overleaf. 87 labour a decent factory above the din of ballad of builders

DIR: THOMAS BALMÈS sewing machines DIR: GARGI SEN, SUJIT GHOSH, RANJAN DE

When Swedish cell-phone giant Nokia DIR: SURABHI SHARMA In India, construction continues to be sends a team of “ethics experts” to the the common foundation of growth and Chinese factory that supplies their This film documents the exploitative civilisation. Yet, the construction parts, the result is a comedy of manners working conditions of women workers workers, over 20 million in number, as culture and gender clash with the in the garment industry in Bangalore. continue to eke out a miserable living bottom line. Maddeningly, the experts This Industry is largely geared towards where even the basic necessities for seem less concerned about the big exporting to big Brands in the West. dignified living are denied to them. picture than minor details, and the The amount of foreign exchange earned In 1985 a unique process for drafting a Nokia executives are mainly interested from garment export in Bangalore comprehensive legislation was begun by in preserving the image of Scandinavia. exceeded that of the IT industry until organisations of construction workers. And when interviewed, the factory 2001. And yet, the workers toil with Workers from all over India, with help workers claim only to want better extremely low wages and in an from legal experts, participated in the lunches. Factory’s bemused tone belies atmosphere of fear and intimidation. drafting of a Bill that could ensure its larger message of the impossibility of social justice to construction workers. ethics without common ground. 38 min / 2001 / India / [email protected] But the Bill was never passed.

79 min / 2005 / Finland / [email protected] 60 min / 1993 / India / [email protected]

88 on screen before the flood bundelkhand express jari mari: of cloth and

DIR: YAN YU, LI YIFAN DIR: SABA DEWAN other stories

Fengjie, a city with a thousand-year-long Bundelkhand Express is a labour train. DIR: SURABHI SHARMA history on the Yangtze River, represents It picks up hundreds of children and Chinese cultural heritage. Despite this, adults deserting the impoverished Jari Mari is a sprawling slum colony Chinese government decided to flood districts of southern Uttar Pradesh, adjacent to Mumbai’s Chhatrapati the city, move the locals out and build India in search of work. Some of these Shivaji International airport. Its narrow the biggest dam in the world here. people are heading towards lanes house hundreds of small Before the Flood captures the neighbouring Mirzapur – the capital of sweatshops where women and men hopelessness of local inhabitants facing carpet production in India. The work, without the right to organise. bureaucracy and corrupt power. It documentary connects the stories of Their existence is on the edge – their celebrates the beauty of Fengjie, “the these children and their parents with illegal dwellings could be demolished town of poetry”, but calls attention to the carpet economy. Traditional craft any time by the airport authorities, and the irreversible destructive processes and global capital, meticulous craftsmen jobs have to be found anew everyday. started by Chinese government and and non-artisan exporters tied together This film explores the lives of the their engineering experiments... by a thin and fine thread, woven into a people of Jari Mari, and records the nightmare. many changes in the nature and 150 min / 2005 / China organisation of Mumbai’s workforce 72 Min / 1999 / India / [email protected] over the past two decades.

74 min / 2001 / India / [email protected]

89 labour meanwhile lunchtime occupation: mill tales of the night comes worker fairies

DIR: KARIN BRANDBAUER DIR: ANAND PATWARDHAN DIR: SHOHINI GHOSH

Austria in the 1930ties. The story of a Textile mills were once the backbone of Five sex-workers – four women and one sociological study of a small Austrian Bombay’s economy and provided the man – along with the filmmaker/ town suffering from economic decline city its working class culture. Today, narrator embark on a journey of and the rise of Nazi ideology. foreign investment and rising real-estate storytelling. Tales of the Night Fairies Following this study the people face prices have made selling mill lands more explores the power of collective their unemployment either with profitable than running mills. Mill organizing and resistance while unbrokeness, resignation, despair or ‘sickness’ is now an epidemic. reflecting upon contemporary debates apathy. Occupation: Mill worker records the around sex-work. The simultaneously inspirational action of workers who, expansive and labyrinthine city of 94 min /1987/ Austria / [email protected] / after a four-year lockout, forcibly Calcutta forms the backdrop for the Austrian Television ORF. occupied The New Great Eastern Mill. personal and musical journeys of storytelling 22 min / 1996 / India / [email protected] 74 min / 2003 / India / [email protected]

90 on screen the city beautiful the fire within the take

DIR: RAHUL ROY DIR: SHRIPRAKASH DIR: AVI LEWIS

Sunder Nagri (the beautiful city) is a The Fire Within draws a painful The Take is a political thriller that turns small working class colony on the portrait of the transformation of the the globalization debate on its head. margins of India’s capital city, Delhi. land of the Tana Bhagats, a sect of the The film follows Argentina’s radical new Most families residing here come from a Oraon tribe who were believers of non- movement of occupied businesses: community of weavers. The last ten violence and Gandhian philosophy, to a groups of workers who are claiming the years have seen a gradual disintegration land witnessing violent maoist country’s bankrupt workplaces and of the handloom tradition of this movement today. They owned this coal running them without bosses. community under the globalisation rich land till the British dispossessed regime. The families have to cope with them. Since 19th century, the railways 87 min / 2004 / Canada / www.thetake.org change as well as reinvent themselves to were introduced and the extraction of eke out a living. This is the story of two coal began in a big way. 25 years after families struggling to make sense of a Independence, the Coal industry was world, which keeps pushing them to the nationalised and the situation margins. worsened, as the Mafia and corrupt bureaucrats ushered in an era of violent 78 min / 2003 / India / [email protected] culture. From being owners of land the indigenous people are forced to turn into coal stealers in the eyes of the law.

57 min / 2002 / India / [email protected] 91 labour there are women in we buy, who pays? west of tracks: rust, russian villages... DIRS: LOTTA EKELUND, KRISTINA BJURLING remnants, rails

DIR: PAVEL KOSTOMAROV, ANTOIN KATTIN A documentary about Western DIR: WANG BING companies producing clothes and shoes In this film, two women, a mother and in developing countries. The film visits The Tie Xi district in Shenyang in her daughter, demonstrate that poverty factories in India and talks to suppliers, northeast China was established during in Russia is increasingly a women’s labourers, NGOs and farmers who give the Japanese occupation and phenomenon. Luba and Alesya live in a their point of view. transformed into a highly populated Russian village: the population consists industrial area. This unusually long- of male drunkards, with few or no 25 min / 2002 / Sweden / [email protected] form documentary, takes us on a tour of exceptions, and exhausted women. Luba this now decaying area, spreads over and Alesya are milkmaids at a state farm nine hours and three parts entitled Rust, – a profession that is underpaid and Remnants, and Rails. Factories and towns perceived as too strenuous for most become ruins, people are buffeted by people. But Luba and Alesya, who are change, and time ebbs away. raising children and fleeing domestic An extraordinary documentary that puts violence, have little choice. They have the realities facing Chinese society into no one to rely on in their small, isolated stark relief, through an exclusive and village except themselves. extended exploration of the region.

27 min 33 sec / 2006 / Russia / [email protected] 545 min / 2003 / China / [email protected] [email protected] 92 on screen

93 director’s cut director’s director’s cut director’s Other worlds are breathing, and as documentary filmmakers, we have been privileged to witness those breaths – the long thoughtful intake, the quickened compulsive ones, the slow exhaling of ideas that disperse into a seemingly amorphous audience. Images and sounds drawn from many worlds have come together as documentary films that inform, reflect and challenge. There is a landscape of documentary films in India and it is a landscape that abounds in diversity. Director’s Cut is a first attempt to explore this diversity, reflect on the journeys that made this diversity possible, and contemplate a future.

The Delhi Film Archive set upon the difficult task of selecting 15 documentary filmmakers from across India, because we see this is as a way of initiating a dialogue about our work. Documentary films are about dialogue – about issues, people, every day life. They are also about ways of looking and ways of creating art. And so, what better way is there to talk about them than to talk around them. Director’s Cut will make it possible to centre this dialogue around questions that emerge in the course of our work – whether we are making a film about communalism or about a life led in the early days of Indian cinema. We recognise that this dialogue needs to continue. Five invited filmmakers – Mani Kaul, Nilita Vachani, Ranjan Palit, Reena Mohan and Ruchir Joshi – have been unable to come for the festival. And so, we plan to continue this conversation every year with a new set of filmmakers. 96 cut The set of filmmakers selected this year represent the diversity of documentary filmmaking in India. These filmmakers have engaged rigorously with the documentary form over a period of time and their work has been closely connected to the development of documentary filmmaking in India.

Anand Patwardhan’s films have contributed to key debates not just on communalism and nationhood but also on what documentaries can achieve. Deepa Dhanraj’s Something Like a War was one of the earliest feminist voices in documentary films in India. It inspired an entire generation of feminist filmmakers to engage with the construction of women’s images.

Many of these films can be considered milestones of the documentary film movement in the country and have pushed the boundaries of the discussion – both in terms of the polemic and in practice. Manjira Datta’s Sacrifice of Babulal Bhuiyan was an early attempt to find an autonomous language for documentary films, a language that could encompass both politics and aesthetics. This search for lyricism in political filmmaking continues, and can be seen in the work of Amar Kanwar. Moving away from ‘reality’ filmmaking, Amar Kanwar has tried to search for a more interpretative form that can be both compelling art and a powerful political statement. 97 director’s The dominant domain of documentary filmmaking, the activist film, has been contributed to by many filmmakers, and on many issues. The work of K P Sasi represents a long term engagement with this kind of filmmaking. But this has also found new – and dispersed – voices in many parts of the country. Instead of being dependent on the ‘outsider’ who will speak for a ‘community’. Meghnath and Biju Toppo represent this strand of filmmaking. They speak from within the indigineous people’s movement and their work constantly challenges development paradigms.

Several documentary filmmakers in India are concerned with form as an important element of their filmmaking. Madhushree Dutta’s work is characterised by a multiplicity of narratives and varied histories, and an attempt to weave together theatrical form and installation art as part of documentary filmmaking. Paromita Vohra’s work reflects a desire to create art that people can engage with and enjoy. Stylish and flamboyant, Unlimited Girls looked at feminism in a new, conversational way and even in her later films, she continues to search for meaning not just in what is said but how it is said. Vipin Vijay’s films are highly experimental in their form, with documentary ‘reality’ finding little or no space. Instead, there are very strong images and accentuated sounds that communicate in a more expressionist manner. 98 cut The skill and vision of technical crew is a significant part of the documentary film landscape in India. Camerapersons like Ranjan Palit and editors like Reena Mohan have played an important part in shaping many of the films made by the directors on this list. They have also gone on to make their own films. Reena Mohan’s Kamlabai is memorable for the intimate personal space that the filmmaker created in her conversations with Kamlabai, a space in which she was very much present, although never visible in front of the camera.

R V Ramani is another cameraman-director whose work stands out in its attempt to experiment with the camera, almost like a paintbrush. He has also fearlessly experimented with technology and has told stories with ease using a variety of formats, including VHS.

The role of the documentary film is to create and reflect dissent. And dissent presupposes the presence of multiple visions. Just as we believe that there has to be room for multiplicity in society, so too there has to be room for multiplicity in our art.

Director’s Cut is Delhi Film Archives’ presentation of multiplicity at work.

99 director’s Amar Kanwar

A Season Outside

30 MIN/ 1998 / ENGLISH Amar was born in 1964 and lives and There is perhaps no border outpost in the world quite like Wagah, where this works from New Delhi. His films have been film begins its exploration. An outpost where every evening people are drawn about issues of violence, politics, ecology and sexuality. Some of his notable works to a thin white line… and probably… anyone in the eye of a conflict could find include The Many Faces of Madness themselves here. (2000), King of Dreams (2001), Baphlimali 173, (2001), A Night of Prophecy (2002), direction & script: Amar Kanwar. camera: Dilip Varma. editing: Sameera Jain. sound: Uma Shankar. To Remember (2003) and Henningsvaer research consultant: Dilip Simeon. music: Susmit Sen. (2006). He is the recipient of the Edvard Munch Award for Contemporary Art from Norway, the Golden Gate Award at the San Francisco International Film Festival; the Golden Conch at Mumbai International Film Festival; the First Prize at the Torino International Film Festival. Italy; and the Grand Prix at EnviroFilm, Slovak Republic. He has exhibited at Whitney Museum, New York (2006), Sydney Biennale (2006) and Documenta XI (2002). 100 cut amar’s choice

Unedited footage from Manipur

UNEDITED FOOTAGE / 30 MIN / 2004

“The second film that I wish to show is raw and partially cut footage from the protests against the Armed Forces Special Powers Act in Manipur following the rape and murder of Manorama in 2004. The disrobing protest as well as Irom Sharmila’s hunger strike for the last 6 years are incredible illustrations of non violent protest against an armed opposition. These are struggles that inspire us to carry on as activists and filmmakers. We are passing through a period of intense violence against peoples’ struggles in different parts of India. We are also witnessing an increasing number of people, especially ‘non professionals’ taking to the camera and documenting the events that take place in daily life. I want to bring attention to these processes of ‘shooting’. Now is the time for every one to pick up the small digital camera and shoot in just the same way as we all picked up the pen and wrote.” Amar Kanwar

101 director’s Anand Patwardhan

In the Name of God / Ram ke Naam

75 MIN / 1991 / ENGLISH & HINDI

Independent India has been a secular state since 1947. But now, as religious Born in 1950, Anand studied English fundamentalism grips much of India’s population, the greatest danger to the Literature, Sociology and Communications. He has participated in several peoples’ nation’s extremely strained social fabric may come from Hindu fundamentalists movements against all unsustainable, unjust who seek to redefine India as a Hindu nation. In The Name Of God focusses on “development” and against nuclear the campaign waged by the militant Vishwa Hindu Parishad to destroy a 16th weapons, militarism and jingoism. His films century mosque in Ayodhya said to have been built by Babar, the first Mughal include Waves of Revolution (1974), Prisoners of Conscience (1978), Bombay our Emperor of India. Filmed prior to the mosque’s demolition, In The Name Of City (1985), In Memory of Friends (1990), God examines the motivations which would ultimately lead to the drastic Father, Son and Holy War (1995) and War actions of the Hindu militants, as well as the efforts of secular Indians to and Peace/Jang aur Aman (2002). He has won several awards including the National combat the religious hatred that has seized India in the name of God. Award for Best Documentary, Special Jury Prize at Cinema du Reel, Citizen’s Prize at Camera / Editing: Anand Patwardhan. Sound: Pervez Merwanji. Production and Editing Assistance: Paromita Yamagata, International Critics Prize Vohra, Pervez Merwanji, Narinder Singh, Simantini Dhuru, Jabeen Merchant, Shashi Mehta. (FIPRESCI) at the Sydney Film Festival and the Silver Conch at the Zanzibar International Film Festival. 102 cut anand’s choice

Autumn’s Final Country

SONIA JABBAR 66 MIN / 2003 / ENGLISH & HINDI WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Autumn’s Final Country was originally recorded as a testimony for the South Asia Court of Women in Dhaka, 2003. Her four subjects were from disparate backgrounds but were all cruelly impacted by religious or political conflict. Indu is an English teacher who fled her comfortable family home in Srinagar when religious violence flared. Zarina was brought from Bangladesh to Kashmir by a family friend, only to be sold as a young bride who quickly became the virtual slave of a two-wife family. Shahnaz was abducted as a young girl, raped by Kashmiri guerillas, only to be “saved” and raped by the Indian police who turned her into an informant. And finally Anju, a young Hindu adolescent living in a refugee camp in Jammu, who fled her family home along the Pakistani border when its army shelled her village in attempts to destroy a nearby Indian army outpost.

Anand quotes from a review to explain why he would like to show the film: “The effect is not just to make you ache with sadness at what these women have undergone. Its real value lies in its shattering of the myths and nationalistic notions constructed over the years by the respective governments of Pakistan and India and the non-state actors engaged in the conflict in Kashmir” (Beena Sarwar, The News, Pakistan). 103 director’s

104 cut

105 A Season Outside director’s Deepa Dhanraj

Something Like a War Born in 1953 Deepa has shared a close 53 MINUTES / 1991 / HINDI, MARWARI WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES relationship with the women’s movement in India. Her ‘Something Like a War‘ was one Something Like a War examines India’s national Family Planning programme of the earliest feminist voices in from the perspective of women, who are its primary targets. The film traces the documentary films in India. Deepa’s other notable films include: ‘Kya Hua Iss Shehar history of the family planning programme and exposes the cynicism, Ko’ -What has happened to this City? corruption and brutality, which characterize its implementation. (1986), ‘The Legacy of Malthus’ (1994). It also questions the ethics of internationally funded contraceptive research, Her films have been screened regularly in which use Indian women as guinea pigs. As the women discuss their status, film festivals in India and abroad. The Mumbai International Film Festival, Festival sexuality, fertility control and health, it is clear that their perceptions are in International Du Film Documentaire - Nyon, conflict with the programme. Switzerland, International Short Film Festival -Leipzig, Germany, Festival of South-Asian Women Directors - Sakhi, New Camera: Navroze Contractor. Sound: Dileep Subramaniam. Editor: Haida Paul. York and Tampere Film Festival - Finland. Workshop Facilitator: Abha Bhaiya. Director: Deepa Dhanraj. Deepa has been the recipient of several Produced by: D&N Productions with Equal Media for Television, U.K awards that include the Swiss Television Award (1992) and the Best long Documentary award at Films De Femmes - Creteil, France (1993). 106 cut deepa’s choice

A Certain Liberation

YASMINE KABIR 37 MINUTES / 2003 / BANGLA WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Gurudasi Mondol gave herself up to madness in 1971, during the Liberation War of Bangladesh, as she watched her entire family being killed by the collaborators of the occupying forces. Thirty years later, Gurudasi continues to roam the streets of Kopilmoni, a small-town in rural Bangladesh, in quest of all she has lost; snatching at will from strangers and breaking into spaces normally reserved for men. She is unafraid of authority and scorns it. In her madness, she has found a strategy for survival. In Kopilmoni, Gurudasi has attained near legendary status. Through her indomitable presence, she has kept alive the spirit of the Liberation War.

“Gurdasi Mondal who has survived appalling violence and watching her negotiate her world is indescribably moving. By shooting it herself the filmmaker has created an intense and intimate conversation between them. The video is as much about their emotional relationship as it is about Gurdasi Mondals ‘story’.” Deepa Dhanraj

107 director’s K P Sasi

The Source of Life for Sale

70 MIN / 2004 / MALAYALAM AND HINDI WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES Sasi started as a cartoonist during the A documentary on the impact of privatisation of water bodies in India and the seventies and began making documentaries subsequent struggles of the local people against the sale of rivers in Periyar, in the early eighties. His notable documentaries include Living in Malampuzha, Attappadi, Sheonath, Kelo, Ganga Canal and the River Linking Fear, In the Name of Medicine, We Who Project and the protest of the local people against the impact of Coca - Cola Make History, A Valley Refuses to Die, production in Plachimada and Mehdiganj. The film is being used by various The Wings of Kokkrebellur and Redefining groups struggling against water privatisation in India. Peace. These films are used by various activist groups to strengthen struggles. Sasi’s feature films include Ilayum Mullum, director: K P Sasi. music: Santhosh Nair. editing: Aditya Kunigal. camera: Sajan Kalathil / Sunil Kupperi. Ek Alag Mausam and Shh…Silence Please. voice-over: Nilanjana Biswas. asst. director: Viju Varma. produced by: Vikas Adhyayan Kendra. His awards include the Best Film Award at the International Rural Film Festival, France, the Special Jury Prize at the International Environment Film Festival, Turkey, the Bronze Award at the Global Video Festival, Copenhagen, the Best Film Award at Enfest and the Best Film and Best Director awards at the Swaralaya International Film Festival. 108 cut sasi’s choice

Voices from Baliapal

RANJAN PALIT AND VASUDHA JOSHI 43 MIN / 1988 / ORIYA WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Voices from Balliapal protests about a missile testing range in Orissa, India. “This is our land, our sea... we will die rather than lose this place” was the cry raised by 70,000 people in Baliapal when the Indian government announced its decision to locate a missile testing range there in August 1984. Since then a remarkable non- violent struggle has been taking place.

“Significant struggles in history should not be forgotten. Well made documentaries made on such struggles can inspire people even today. The film has played a role not just in strengthening the struggle against the Baliapal Missile Test Range but also various other struggles against destructive development in India. This was perhaps one of the first films to question the defence interests in India. The film may be two decades old, but the need to screen such films has only increased.” KP Sasi

109 director’sSomething Like a War

110 cut

111 Seven Islands and a Metro director’s Madhushree Dutta

Seven Islands and a Metro

100 MIN / 2006 / ENGLISH, HINDI, URDU, MARATHI & BOMBAYIA

A frayed rug round his shoulders, My father came down the Sahyadris And stood at your doorstep, With only his labour in his hands. Madhusree is an alumni of National School “MUMBAI” BY NARAYAN SURVE of Drama, New Delhi. She has been making non-fiction films since 1993. Gender, This film is a tale of the cities of Bom Bahia / Bombay / Mumbai – the identity and marginalisation are her chosen multilingual Bombay, the Bombay of intolerance, the Bombay of closed mills, areas of work. Some of her notable films of popular culture, sprawling slums and real estate onslaughts, the metropolis include I Live in Behrampada (1993), Memories of Fear (1994), Scribbles on Akka of numerous ghettos, the El Dorado. Structured around imaginary debates (2000) and Made in India (2002). Many of between Ismat Chugtai and Sadat Hasan Manto, the two legendary writers who her films have won awards, including the lived in this metropolis, the film weaves a tapestry of fiction, cinema vérité, art Filmfare Award and the National Award for best documentary, and are also being objects, found footage, sound installation and literary texts. taught as texts in academic and media & film institutions. She is also the founder and Actors: Harish Khanna, Vibha Chibbar. Camera: Avijit Mukul Kishore. Editing: Reena Mohan, executive director of Majlis, a centre for Shyamal Karmakar. Dialogue: Sara Rai. : Boby John. Music: Arjun Sen. multi-disciplinary art initiatives and rights discourse. 112 cut madhushree’s choice

The Boy in the Branch

LALIT VACHANI 26 MINUTES / 1993 / ENGLISH SUBTITLES

“This is a film about the indoctrination of young Hindu boys by a branch of the RSS, the foremost Hindu fundamentalist organisation in India. The film was actually conceptualised and shot before the Babri Masjid demolition changed the social fabric of India forever. What surprises me about the film is its non-polemic form which, with its easy aesthetics grows into a terribly unsettling narrative – one that would eventually lead to the demolition. I believe that the film started a new genre in political film narrative in India. But it never got its due because our expectations from political films was rather narrow and didactive in those days. I hope the inclusion of this film in the India Social Forum film festival will help put in perspective both the history of fundamentalism and the history of resistance in filmmaking in India.” Madhushree Dutta

113 director’s Manjira Datta

Sacrifice of Babulal Bhuiya

63 MIN / 1988 / ORIYA WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Sacrifice of Babulal Bhuiya is a portrait of the community of the undead and an

investigation into the murder of Babulal Bhuiya, a casual worker, who was Manjira’s documentary films shot over two killed in 1981 by the industrial security guards of the coal washery. The film decades have attempted to portray some of concentrates on different versions of the story of the killing by many witnesses. the startling visual images and the world of The many meanings of this death are understood through the martyr’s characters such as Babulal Bhuiya, Savitri , Basanti. Manjira has always attempted to memorial day. The ceremony of the Shaheed Diwas is used as an event to penetrate into the innermost seams of this discuss problems,and the kinds of oppression affecting the people of this area society be it caste, labour, gender, politics, called Mailagora or ‘the place of dirt’. the rural world or the environment in a moving, involved manner. Her notable films cinematography: Ranjan Palit. sound: Umesh. Editing: Reena Mohan. Script, Producer, Director: Manjira Datta. include Raaste Bandh Hain Subh, Portraits from a Dream Show, Seeds of Plenty, Seeds of Sorrow and Rishte. These have been screened in several film festivals and have also won national and international awards. 114 cut manjira’s choice

The Farm

JONATHAN STACK AND LIZ GARBUS 96 MINUTES / 1995 / ENGLISH

The Farm has been shot in a penitentiary in Louisana where ‘lifers’ are housed. Significantly, this remote, arid landscape has a very high percentage of black inmates, only 15% of whom come out alive. The film is a tour de force as the understated cinematography and sometimes startling close-ups relentlessly reveal the development of the system of prisons, police organisations, adminstrative and legal hierarchies for social control. It is an excellent example of a documentary film which graphically illustrates the growth of a disciplinary society in one of the largest democracies. The quiet intimacy of the filmmakers with some of the ‘lifers’ yield their unbearable pain and suffering.

“For me, this film amongst others, has been a source of inspiration, as yet again a documentary film successfully reveals the dark, hidden side of an inhuman, systematic control by the modern state at its efficient best – justice – a developing unrelenting manmade force which threatens our everyday existence.” Manjira Datta

115 director’s Meghnath & Biju Toppo

Meghnath is a social activist who for the Development Flows from the Barrel of the Gun last 25 years has worked closely with the Adivasis. As a film maker he has tried to 54 MIN / 2004 document the voice of those section of people who remain unheard. The film focuses upon the human rights violation of the indigenous people in Biju is one of the first Adivasi filmmakers India. It documents state violence upon the people affected by development who have effectively used the camera to counter the misrepresentation of his projects in the country. The film explores the relationship between violence community by the ‘mainstream’ media. His and the new economic policy and globalisation. films have received national and international recognition. direction: Biju Toppo, Meghnath. camera: Biju Toppo. editing: V G Raja Ashok. Meghnath and Biju are the founder script: Meghnath. production: AKHRA. members of AKHRA, an organization working in the field of culture and communication. Together they have made several notable films that include Unknown Martyrs, Yet Another Accident, Where Ants are Fighting Elephants and Development Flows from the Barrel of the Gun that won the Star Best Documentary Film Award at VATAVARAN 2005. Biju’s latest film, Kora Rajee, was awarded the Silver Conch (National) at MIFF 2006. 116 cut meghnath & biju’s choice

Naata

ANJALI MONTEIRO AND K.P.JAYASANKAR 45 MINUTES / 2004 / ENGLISH

Naata is about Bhau Korde and Waqar Khan, two activists and friends, who have been working with neighbourhood peace committees in Dharavi, Mumbai, reputedly, the largest ‘slum’ in Asia. Naata juxtaposes the multi-layered narrative on Dharavi and the ‘stories’ of the filmmakers, thereby attempting to foreground a critical and active viewership.

“Naata has a strong anti communal narrative and is extremely relevant to the times we are living in. The film mounts a passionate attack on the ideology and politics of communal hatred.” Meghnath & Biju Topo

117 director’s Paromita Vohra

Q2P

54 MIN / 2006 / ENGLISH & HINDI Paromita is a filmmaker and writer. Her films as director include Q2P, Where’s Who is dreaming up the global city? Q2P peers through the dream of Mumbai Sandra? Work In Progress: At the WSF as a future Shanghai and finds…public toilets… not enough of them. 2004, Cosmopolis: Two Tales of a City (Award at Indo-British Digital Film Festival), As this film observes who has to queue to pee, we begin to understand the Unlimited Girls (Women’s News Award, imagination of gender that underlies the city’s shape and the constantly WFFIS, South Korea), A Woman’s Place, A shifting boundaries between public and private space. We meet whimsical Short Film About Time and Annapurna: Goddess of Food. She is the writer of the people with novel ideas of social change, which thrive with mixed results. We features Khamosh Pani (Best Screenplay, learn of small acts of survival that people in the city’s bottom half cobble Kara Film Festival, Golden Leopard, Locarno together. In the Museum of Toilets, at a night concert, in a New Delhi Film Festival), Promises to Keep (under “international toilet”, in a Bombay slum, we hear the silence that surrounds production), Kumari Shobha (in development) and the documentaries A Few toilets and sense how similar it is to the silence that surrounds inequality. Things I Know About Her (Silver Conch, MIFF 2002 and National Award for Best producer: PUKAR. director: Paromita Vohra. camera: Ajay Noronha. editing: Jabeen Merchant. sound: Anita Film, 2003), If You Pause and Skin Deep. Kushwaha, Samina Mishra. animation: Shilpa Ranade. music: Tarun Shahani, Nirav Gandhi. narrator: Tuhinaa Vohra. She lives in Bombay where she also teaches scriptwriting as visiting faculty at the Sophial Polytechnic. 118 cut paromita’s choice

And I Make Short Films

S.N.S.SASTRY 16 MIN /1968 / ENGLISH

An impressionistic portrayal of short film making by a short filmmaker. The film explores the process, ideas and the context of documentary filmmaking in India at the time – art or documentation of reality. The views expressed in the film are sometimes bitter, often humorous, at times satirical but seldom complimentary.

“I find this film remarkable for its fierceness, its humour and the ability to turn a recurring personal experience into a strong political statement. Its conversational, playful style belies a palpable anger at the feudal minded compartmentalisation of art or politics and of the polite and ponderous way in which these things are often discussed. I think it’s also a style that hasn’t quite been handed down enough in documentary. Discovering this film, made by a man who worked for Films Division all his life, revealed to me that the history of documentary filmmaking in India is more complicated than the way it’s told; that independence is a matter of spirit, not location.” Paromita Vohra

119 director’s

Q2P 120 cut

Video Game 121 director’s R V Ramani

Brahma Vishnu Shiva

19 MIN / 1998 / NO DIALOGUES

Toshikazu Kanai, a Japanese sculptor, tries working with sand as the medium, near the waterfront on a beach. A film happens, revealing the process of Ramani, studied filmmaking from Film and creation, sustenance and destruction, all happening at the same time. TV Institute of India, Pune. He is one of the few filmmakers in India, who has Photographed, Edited, Directed and Produced by R.V.Ramani established a style of his own, making independent impressionistic documentaries which have found recognition both in India and abroad. His notable films include Saa (1991), One Two Three Four (1995), Nee Engey (2003), Aura (2006) and City Stories (2006). His retrospectives have been presented in important international film festivals. He has also been associated in many short films, documentaries and feature films as cinematographer, many of which have won national and international acclaim. 122 cut ramani’s choice

Portraits of Belonging: Bhai Mian

SAMEERA JAIN 30 MIN / 1998 / URDU AND HINDI WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Bhai Mian is a kite maker who lives in the last historic Delhi – Shahjahanabad, the city built by Mughal emperor Shahjahan in the 17th century. The film is a portrait of the man in his context, a man whose ordinariness barely conceals his imagination and resilience. He has turned a favourite pastime into a serious profession and continuously adapts his craft to new tastes. Like many others of the Muslim minority community in India, Bhai Mian’s life is a struggle against all odds.

“This is one of my favorite films. It made me feel proud of being a documentary filmmaker! I am choosing Sameera’s film for this festival basically because it is in direct contrast to my film Brahma Vishnu Shiva. Bhai Mian has an exceptional structure and flow. It’s like an intricately woven tapestry. The central character Bhai Mian, the kite maker, emerges wonderfully through the multiple crisscross layers Sameera weaves in. Also, there is this first person narrative of the filmmaker meeting Bhai Mian, which makes it all personal.” R.V. Ramani

123 director’s Vipin Vijay

Video Game

30 MIN / 2005 / ENGLISH

A complex video journey on a MOTORCAR, that incorporates mythic themes of searching, the need for being, for love, for a home and for a promise of a Vipin, 30, studied filmmaking at Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute of India, different future. It also serves as a map of current cultural desires, dreams and Calcutta in 2000 and went on as a research fears. It begins its Fetch-Decode-Execute cycle as the subject enters the fellow at the British Film Institute, London “suburbs of hell”, the psycho-geographical zone in transition where the soft with a Charles Wallace Arts Award. His technologies of the interior (the body) and the hard technologies of the exterior films have been shown widely in India and abroad and have won the National Jury (the environment) are thrown together in collision and almost surgically cut Award at MIFF 2002, Best Director, Kerala each other up. State Award, IDPA Award 2002, John Abraham National Awards (2005 & 2006) camera & direction: Vipin Vijay. editing: Debkamal Ganguly. sound design: Debkamal Ganguly, Vipin Vijay. and National Winner- Cinematography- script: Debkamal Ganguly, Vipin Vijay. producer: Rajiv Mehrotra. Kodak competition. At present he is working on his feature project titled the Legend of the Holy Net Potato with support from the Hubert Bals Film Fund from the Rotterdam International Film Festival, The . 124 cut vipin’s choice

F for Fake

ORSON WELLES 88 MIN / 1972 / ENGLISH

“Trickery. Deceit. Magic. In Orson Welles’s free form documentary F for FAKE, the legendary filmmaker (and self-described character) gleefully engages with the central preoccupation of his career - the tenuous line between truth and illusion, art and lies. Beginning with portraits of the world-renowned art forger Elmyr de Hory and his equally devious biographer, Clifford Irving, Welles embarks on a dizzying cinematic journey that simultaneously expresses and revels in fakery and fakers of all stripes – not the least of whom is Welles himself. The film is an inspired hoax and a searching assessment of the essential deception of Cinema.” Vipan Vijay

125 index of films of index index of films index

3 Men and a Bulb / PANKAJ RISHI KUMAR / 6 Delhi-Mumbai-Delhi / SABA DEWAN / 18 1000 Days and a Dream / P. BABURAJ & C SARATCHANDRAN / 7 Development Flows from the Barrel of the Gun / MEGHNATH & BIJU TOPPO / 114 5 Factories — Workers Control in Venezuela / OLIVER RESSLER, DARIO AZZELLINI / 72 El Mundo del Malek (Malek’s World) / N MUNTERMANN & A SCHULTENS / 55 A Certain Liberation / YASMINE KABIR / 105 F for Fake / ORSON WELLES / 123 A Day’s Work, a Day’s Pay / JONATHAN SKURNIK & KATHY LEICHTER / 72 Fistful of Steel / LEENA RANI NARZARY, NIDHI BAL SINGH, SABIR HAQUE / 19 A Night of Prophecy / AMAR KANWAR / 54 Friend or Foe / LABOUR NEWS PRODUCTION SEOUL / 75 A Season Outside / AMAR KANWAR / 98 Gaon ke naon Theatre, Mor naon Habib / S MAHARISHI & S DESHPANDE / 20 AFSPA, 1958 / HAOBAM PABAN KUMAR / 8 Hammer and Flame / VAUGHAN PILIKAN / 76 Amerika Amerika / K P SASI / 9 Health Matters / SHIKHA JHINGAN / 21 An Evergreen Island / AMANDA KING & FABIO CAVADINI / 54 In the Name of God (Ram ke Naam) / ANAND PATWARDHAN / 100 And I Make Short Films / S.N.S. SASTRY / 117 Juchitan Queer Paradise / PATRICIO HENRIQUEZ / 56 Autumn’s Final Country / SONIA JABBAR / 101 Karen Education Surviving / SCOTT O’ BRIEN & SAW EH DO WAH / 56 Bare / SANTANA ISSAR / 10 Kaya Poochhe Maya Se / ARVIND SINHA / 22 Bhal Khabar (Good News) / ALTAF MAZID / 11 Kinjal / VANI ARORA / 23 Bhangon (Erosion) / SOURAV SARANGI / 12 Kitte Mil Ve Mahi / AJAY BHARADWAJ / 24 Blossoms of Fire / MAUREEN GOSLING, ELLEN OSBORNE / 73 Many People many Desires / T JAYASHREE / 25 Brahma Vishnu Shiva / R V RAMANI / 120 Mardi Gras: Made in China / DAVID REDMON / 76 Breaking Walls / NIR NADER, VIDEO 48 / 73 Mexican Holiday Inn Workers / MICHAEL MOORE / 79 Bullshit / PEA HOLMQUIST / 13 Mindless Mining — the Tragedy of Kudremukh / SHEKAR DATTATRI / 26 Calcutta Pride March 2004 / TEJAL SHAH / 14 Money / ISAAC ISITAN / 57 Cardboard Days / VERÓNICA SOUTO / 55 Murdered Coca Cola Unionists in Colombia / BAERBEL SCHOENAFINGER / 79 Class Dismissed / LORETTA ALPER, PEPI LEISTYNA / 74 Naata / ANJALI MONTEIRO & K.P.JAYASANKAR / 115 Continuous Journey / ALI KAZIMI / 17 Nalini by Day, Nancy by Night / SONALI GULATI / 29 CSR Promises Responsibility / EMANUEL DANESCH / 74 Natak Jari Hai / LALIT VACHANI / 30 Dance With Farm workers / WU WENGUANG / 75 Nazrah: A Muslim Women’s Perspective / FARAH NOUSHEEN / 57 128 of films

New Penelope / GEROGII DZALAEV / 80 The Boy in the Branch / LALIT VACHANI / 111 Notes from the Crematorium / AMUDHAN RP / 31 The Farm / JONATHAN STACK & LIZ GARBUS / 113 One Day from a Hangman’s Life / JOSHY JOSEPH / 32 The Great Indian School Show / AVINASH DESHPANDE / 42 One Show Less / NAYANTARA C KOTIAN / 33 The House on Gulmohar Avenue / SAMINA MISHRA / 43 Peace One Day / JEREMY GILLEY / 58 The Legends of Madiba / HELEN HENSHAW / 62 Plan of Regeneration / WANG HSIU-LING & LO SHIN-CHIEH / 80 The Lijjat Sisterhood / KADAMBARI CHINTAMANI & AJIT OOMEN / 63 Portraits of Belonging: Bhai Mian / SAMEERA JAIN / 121 The Rockstar and the Mullahs / RUHI HAMID & ANGUS MACQUEEN / 63 Pretty Dyana / BORIS MITIC / 58 The Source of Life For Sale / K P SASI / 106 Printed Rainbow / GITANJALI RAO / 34 The Story of a Golden River / SOUMITRA DASTIDAR / 44 Q2P / PAROMITA VOHRA / 116 The Take / AVI LEWIS / 64 Railroad of Hope / NING YING / 81 Thirst / ALAN SNITOW & DEBORAH KAUFMAN / 64 Red Butterflies Where Two Springs Merge / GAUKHAR SYDYKOVA & DILIA RUZIEVA / 61 Traje: Women and Weaving in Guatemala / PHOEBE HART / 65 River Taming Mantras / SANJAY BARNELA & VASANT SABHERWAL / 37 Unedited footage from Manipur / SEVERAL / 99 Rumble in Mumbai / JAWAD METNI / 61 Vande Mataram (The Shit Version) / AMUDHAN R. P. / 45 Sacrifice of Babulal Bhuiya / MANJIRA DATTA / 112 Venezuela Bolivariana: People and Struggle of the Fourth World War / ARREAZA / 65 Santa’s Workshop / LOTTA EKELUND & KRISTINA BJURLING / 81 Video Game / VIPIN VIJAY / 122 Seven Islands and a Metro / MADHUSHREE DUTTA / 110 Voices from Baliapal / RANJAN PALIT & VASUDHA JOSHI / 107 She Write / ANJALI MONEIRO & KP JAYASHANKAR / 38 Waiting / ATUL GUPTA & SHABNAM ARA / 46 Smarana - Remembering Lost Children / C. VANAJA / 39 Waterworks India: Four Engineers and a Manager / PRADIP SAHA / 66 Something Like a War / DEEPA DHANRAJ / 104 We are Workers, or Not? / MIRYE KIM / 83 Tale of an Immigrant / BERNADETTE FELBER / 82 Who Will Sing a Lullaby... / NINA RUDIK / 83 Tales from the Margins / KAVITA JOSHI / 40 Work in Progress: at the WSF 2004 / PAROMITA VOHRA / 66 Temporary Loss of Consciousness / MONICA BHASIN / 41 Working Man’s Death / MICHAEL GLAWOGGER / 84 The Art of Viye Diba — the Intelligent Hand / CLAUDINE POMMIER / 62 Zapatistas Compilacion IX: Collective Work In Resistance / PROMEDIOS DE The Big Avenues / COLECTIVO PRESENTE / 82 COMUNICACIÓN COMUNITARIA A.C. / 84 129 acknowledgements

ITU CHAUDHURI, for generously crafting the 3 Screens poster graphic MONICA NARULA, for sharing her photographs (pages 50, 59, 60, 67, 92) PRAKASH MOORTHY, for sparking off the signature animation SUDHANVA DESHPANDE, for helping with the printing

MUKUL MANGLIK / OLIVER LERONE SCHULTZ / BARBARA WASCHMANN APEEJAY MEDIA INSTITUTE / PAUL MOVIES

DELHI FILM ARCHIVE Amar Kanwar / Anupama Srinivasan / Atul Gupta / Gargi Sen / Gurvinder Singh / Kavita Joshi / Manak Matiyani / Nakul Sood / Nitin K / Rahul Roy / Ranjan De / Raj Baruah / Ranjani Mazumdar / Saba Dewan / Sabeena Gadihoke / Sabina Kidwai / Sameera Jain / Samina Mishra / Sanjay Kak / Sanjay Maharishi / Sanjay Mohan / Santana Issar / Sherna Dastur / Shikha Jhingan / Shohini Ghosh / Shubhradeep Chakravorty / Shuddhabrata Sengupta / Uma Devi / Yousuf Saeed