SCREENINGS CUM DISCUSSION – PUNE

Sunday Monday, October 28 - 29, 2007, at the Main Auditorium, Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) campus, Law College Road, Pune 411 004
Open Space, the civil society outreach initiative of the Centre for Communication and Development Studies (CCDS), Pune, in collaboration with the Film and Television Institute of India, invites you to a 2-day programme of documentary film screenings and an interactive talk and discussion with noted independent documentary filmmaker Amar Kanwar. The talk will outline the role of independent documentary filmmaking in India as a media advocacy tool for social change.
Amar Kanwar lives and works in New Delhi, India. Emerging from the Indian subcontinent, his films are complex, contemporary narratives that connect intimate personal spheres of existence to larger socio-political processes. Kanwar’s work explores the politics of power, violence, sexuality and justice.
Amar Kanwar is the recipient of several awards and honours: the 1st Edvard Munch Award for Contemporary Art from Norway, an Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts, Maine College of Art, USA , the MacArthur Fellowship in India, the Golden Gate Award (San Francisco International Film Festival); Golden Conch (Mumbai International Film Festival ); The First Prize (Torino International Film Festival, Italy); Jury’s Award (Film South Asia, Nepal) among others.
PROGRAMME SCHEDULE
Sunday, October 28, 2007, 6.00pm to 9.00pm, at the Main Auditorium, Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Law College Road, Pune
Screening of THE LIGHTNING TESTIMONIES
Dir: Amar Kanwar, Duration: 1 hour, 56 min, 2007
The Lightning Testimonies reflects upon a history of conflict in the Indian subcontinent through experiences of sexual violence. As the film explores this violence, there emerge multiple submerged narratives, sometimes in people, images and memories, and at other times in objects from nature and everyday life that stand as silent but surviving witnesses. In all narratives the body becomes central - as a site of honour, hatred and humiliation and also of dignity and protest.
As the stories unfold, women from different times and regions come forward. The film speaks to them directly, trying to understand how such violence is resisted, remembered and recorded by individuals and communities.
The screening will be followed by an informal discussion with the filmmaker
Monday, October 29, 2007, 2.00pm to 7.00pm, at the Main Auditorium, Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Law College Road, Pune
Screening of a selection of Amar Kanwar’s films followed by a talk cum discussion with the filmmaker
2.10pm
A Season Outside
Dir: Amar Kanwar, Duration: 30 min, 1997
There is perhaps, no border outpost in the world quite like Wagah, where this film begins its exploration. A Season Outside is a personal and philosophical journey through past generations, conflicting positions, borders and time zones.
3.00pm
A Night of Prophecy
Dir: Amar Kanwar, Duration: 77 min, 2002
Is it possible to understand the passage of time through poetry? And if that were so even for one special moment then would it be possible to see the future? The film travels in the states of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Nagaland and Kashmir trying to understand the past, the severity of conflict and the cycles of change. Through poetry you suddenly see where each and all the territories are heading, where you belong and where to intervene, if you want to.
4.30pm
The Many Faces of Madness
Dir: Amar Kanwar, Duration: 19 min, 2000
A short film that emerges from the reality of ecological destruction and the appropriation of the commons in India.
5.00pm
Henningsvaer
Dir: Amar Kanwar, Duration: 15 min, 2006
Henningsvaer is about being in exile and the thin line that can exist between paradise and prison. Filmed entirely through glass, this film is located on the famous cod fishing island of Henningsvaer in Norway in the Arctic Circle.
5.30pm to 6.30pm
Presentation by the filmmaker outlining the importance of the documentary film as a media advocacy tool for social change followed by an open discussion
ENTRY FREE ON A FIRST-COME-FIRST-SERVED-BASIS ONLY
DAY & DATE: Sunday – Monday, October 28th & 29th
TIME: October 28th 6.00pm to 9.00pm
October 29th 2.00pm to 7.00pm
VENUE: Main Auditorium, Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) campus, Law College Road, Pune 411 004