6-10 Dec; multiple venues, Madurai
Organised by MARUPAKKAM
Films from India : Final List
1) We the People
Dir: Samarth Mahajan; 28 min
"We, The People" is a film about protests on Jantar Mantar Road, the erstwhile protest street in Delhi. Through the narratives of three individuals who protested indefinitely at Jantar Mantar Road, the film questions the socio-political reality of India vis a vis the ideals the nation set out with.
2) Unreserved
Dir: Samarth Mahajan; 60 min
The Unreserved is an inquiry into the lives of passengers who use the Unreserved Compartment, the cheapest way to travel across India on the Indian Railways system. The film portrays the passengers’ aspirations, efforts and opinions through conversations and personal stories.
3) Two Flags
Dir: Pankaj Rishikumar; 86 min
'Two Flags' chronicles the life and politics of a quaint French town: Pondicherry (South India). As the 46000 Tamil French people belonging to the Tamil ethnic community, gear up for the French Presidential elections (2017) the film explores the idea of identity, citizenship and home in the post colonial era. Shot between 2012 to 2017, the film is a visual journey through the town, its homes and its people. ‘Two Flags’ is a chronicle of a legacy that is not easily evident, but manages to shine through ordinary events and occasional mishaps, and which brings together this tiny population in celebration, in grief, in anxiety and in serene acceptance.
4) Tin Satyi
Dir: Debalina; 51 min
Tin Satyi…(In Fact…) captures the essence of three different life-stories that are defying the hetero-patriarchal norms of society at every breath. Aimed at understanding philosophies of non-conforming desires, the film also depicts ripples created by these lives in the society.
5) The Tribal Scoop
Dir: Beeswaranjan Pradhan; 53 min
A small town of Sundergarh lying in the interiors of the state of Odisha has never been touched by modern civilization, but is paying for it with the blood of the tribal people living there. A people so backward that they still depend on forests for survival. And even those forests are fast being uprooted to make way for urban life.
In the midst of this cockpit of destruction there's one hope that they are desperately clinging on to- Hockey. The game that was once the only form of entertainment for a people cut off from the rest of the world has now become a weapon with which Sundergarh is trying to claim it's place in a world that never recognized it.
6) We Have Not Come Here to Die
Dir: Deepa Dhanraj; 110 min
On January 17th 2016 a Dalit, Phd research scholar, and activist Rohith Vemula unable to bear the persecution from a partisan University administration and dominant caste Hindu supremacists hung himself in one of the most prestigious universities in India. His suicide note, which argued against the “value of a man being reduced to his immediate identity” galvanized student politics in India. Over the last year thousands of students all over the country have broken the silence around their experiences of caste discrimination in Universities and have started a powerful anti-caste movement. The film attempts to track this historic movement that is changing the conversation on caste in India.
7) Nagapattinam : Waves from the Deep
Dir: Swarnavel Easwaran; 73 min
This documentary looks at the way Tsunami (2004) affected the lives of people in Nagapattinam from the perspectives of the State, NGOs, and the fisher folk. It looks at disaster management and the relief and rehabilitation measures at Nagapattinam, and focuses on the trauma of the people.
8) The Death of Us
Dir: Vani Subramanian; 76 min
The debates on the death penalty today are marked by a cacophony of strident assertions. Going against this tide is The Death of Us - a quiet contemplation on a range of cases in which the death penalty was pronounced, ending in execution, commutation to life sentence, acquittal or even pardon. Speaking only to those who have been on death row or those very closely involved with the cases, we engage in complex conversations on crime and punishment, revenge and justice, popular rhetoric and personal experiences. Only to find ourselves confronting larger ethical and moral questions across time and space.
9) Hora
Dir: Nachi; 24 min
Hora literally meaning a fortune teller in Marati language. It is part of a folk theatre form. Vilas Ghogre, a revolutionary poet metamorphosed the form to predict the political future of the world. Adapting that form in film’s narrative technique too we follow the life of Rupali Jadhav who is an activist singer in Kabir Kala Manch, a cultural political troupe using songs as a means of protest and revolt.
10) S D and His Times
Dir: Kasturi Basu & Mitali Biswas; 114 min
11) Please Mind the Gap
Dir: Mitali Trivedi & Gagandeep Singh; 20 min)
Delhi meets at the metro. The snaking lines of the tube now connect the whole city. Passengers’ board from different places but for a brief moment in time they are all headed in the same direction. We share one such ride with our co-traveller Anshuman, a transman. As the stations pass by we begin to look at the metro space from his perspective. His is the story of reclaiming public space and one’s own self. The doors will open on the quest. Please mind the gap.
12) Koothu
Dir: Sandhya Kumar; 52 min
In many villages in Tamil Nadu, a theatre tradition still links people with a past. Closely connected with religion and caste rituals, koothu brings to life stories about gods, demigods, kings and demons from the Indian epics. A typical koothu performance is an all-night show in which performers wear elaborate make-up, costumes and wooden ornaments, and simultaneously sing, dance and act on stage.
13) The Season in the Mist
Dir: Merajur Rahman Baruah; 36 min
The civil rights movement and the immigration amendment act of the 1960s opened the doors of American society to not just the western European and Protestant populations but also to the people of color from Asia and Africa who are non-Christian. One such community is the Sikhs from India Indeed; there has been lack of knowledge about Sikhs as people, their religion and culture. But the historic 9/11 changed everything for the times to come. In the stroke of the incident, Sikh have become subject to suspicious scrutiny through the cultural lens. They are now mistaken to be Arabs or Muslims thus have become subject of relentless hate crimes pushing the community in the state of lurch and enduring predicament.
14) The Color of My Home
Dir: Sanjay Barnala & Farah Naqvi; 48 min
What happens to people when they are violently displaced? Forced out of their home and ancestral village, buffeted by winds of hate, running for their lives, scattered like human debris in relief camps. Never able to return. How do they rebuild new homes and new lives, with hearts unable to leave the old one behind?
15) Premji – a non unidimensional life
Dir: Neelan; 83 min
A cinematic plunge into the depths of a myriad minded personality, actor on stage and in films, poet, playwright, social reformer and revolutionary, who played a major role in the renaissance movement of Kerala that brought about sweeping changes in the society.
Rest of India : Short fiction
1) Santhana Gopala (Dir: Sandeep Ravindranath; 8 min)
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