[Reader-list] The PUKAR-NGMA SCREENINGS

[Shilpa Phadke]

Dear Friends,

As part of the National Gallery of Modern Art - Mumbai's annual 
exhibition, "Ideas and Images" (September 10th to October 19th 2003) 
PUKAR has organized a screening of  several documentary films on 
Mumbai. Four films will be screened at the NGMA auditorium (dates and 
time given in the schedule below) and eight of them will be kept - in 
a VHS format - on two "video tables" outside the auditorium for 
viewing on the monitor provided.

The curator for the series is PUKAR Associate, film-maker and writer 
Paromita Vohra.

Details:

The PUKAR-NGMA SCREENINGS
Venue: The NGMA Auditorium and its Foyer, NGMA, Kala Ghoda, South Mumbai.
Note: The exhibition is closed on Mondays.

ABOUT THE SCREENINGS

Nothing says Bombay if not movies. The spirit of Bombay has 
fascinated filmmakers for decades and spawned a rich popular culture 
in its film industry. However, there is another, alternative kind of 
art where Bombay is documented and imagined with equal vitality and 
urgency - documentary films. With the coming of video, the melee of 
images, the layers in the cities chaos, the colliding worlds of 
communities, politics, money and culture and the intensity of desire 
and aspirations which are Mumbai have found newer and more varied 
expression in non-fiction films.

This proposed film component of the NGMA annual show presents a range 
of non-fiction films which capture different aspects of life in the 
city - both in overarching narratives of changes in the city as well 
as more detailed portraits of everyday life on the street. Rather 
than merely present a survey of issues, the program aims to 
encapsulate the sights and sounds unique to Bombay.

The program will have two distinct sections - a table of video films 
and a set of screenings in the auditorium.

VIDEO FILM TABLES

The video film tables are predicated on a design of interactive 
viewing - their will be four videos on each table along with a TV, a 
video and an attendant. A card provides a brief synopsis of the 
videos. Visitors can choose which film they want to watch and it will 
be played for them.

The films are chosen to present the richness of the many types of 
people and institutions in the city as well as the quintessential 
spirit of Bombay as the city which never sleeps, where dreams come 
true, many cultures merge and nothing is permanent except change.

AUDITORIUM SCREENINGS

Four films that have been made on an epic scale and originally shot 
on film - 16 mm or 35 mm - will be screened at a weekly screening. 
Filmmakers will be present for interaction with the audiences.

The films look at two themes - Art and Living. While the two films 
under Art explore popular and political culture of this city through 
the forms of cinema and poetry, the films on Living look at how 
notions of development change the contours of the city and observe 
who the shifting map includes and excludes.

Auditorium Screenings

24th September, 2003 -  Fearless-The Hunterwali Story - Riyad Vince Wadia
25th September, 2003 -  Narayan Gangaram Surve - Arun Khoplar
8th October, 2003       -  Bombay - Our City - Anand Patwardhan
10th October, 2003       -  New Empire - Kurush Canteenwala

Video Tables

TABLE 1

Name			Director

Aur Irani Chai		Wilson College Students
Living With the Dead	                      Students of Social 
Communications Media, Sophia Polytechnic
Sambhawami Yuge Yuge	Madhushree Dutta
Phantoms			Tushar Joag

TABLE 2

Name			Director

Occupation Mill Worker	                     Anand Patwardhan
Crystal			Students of Social Communications Media, 
Sophia Polytechnic
Circadian Cycle		Mahesh Mathai
I Ranu Gayen		Shyamal Karmarkar

About the Films:

AUDITORIUM SCREENINGS

1. SEPTEMBER 24, WEDNESDAY, 6 p.m.

FEARLESS - THE HUNTERWALI STORY
62mins/ English language (part Hindi)/ 35mm/1993

A feature documentary on the life and films of stunt queen Fearless 
Nadia and the maverick Wadia Brothers. Using rare archival footage 
from the Wadia Movietone collection and mixing these with interviews 
with Fearless Nadia, John Cawas, Homi Wadia, Nari Ghadiali, Shyam 
Benegal, etc. and with a narration by author Shobha De this 
documentary gives a breezy insight into the pioneering world of 
Indian cinema of the 1930's and 40's.

The film has been widely screened at over 150 festivals including 
London, Berlin, Toronto, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Paris, Amsterdam, San 
Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Sydney, Cape Town etc. The film had 
a theatrical release in Australia and has had television premieres in 
most major countries and territories.

Directed by- Riyad Vinci Wadia

Riyad Vinci Wadia is a filmmaker living in Bombay. His other films 
include Bom-gay and A Mermaid Called Aida.


2. SEPTEMBER 25, Thursday, 6 p.m.

NARAYAN GANGARAM SURVE
45 minutes, Marathi (with English subtitles) 35 mm. / 2003

  This eponymous film aims at depicting the life and poetry of a 
famous Marathi poet, Narayan Gangaram Surve. Surve was a foundling. 
He became an outstanding poet of Marathi. Our film deals with some 
landmark events of his life and a number of his outstanding 
poems.Using an artful play between real interviews and an actor 
playing the poet, and a backdrop of the working class movement of the 
last 40 years, the film attempts to re-invent the rhythms of Narayan 
Surve's poetry forged out of everyday speech of the common men and 
women of Bombay. The film tries to make audible its underlying sounds 
and to make visible the textures of his richly peopled world: mill 
sirens, machine and vehicle sounds, footsteps ringing on deserted 
pavements, hands and feet cracked with toil, faces with deep lines of 
suffering, sounds of giant cranes in the harbour, waves crashing, 
walls with their peeling colours, objects worn out with sweat and 
use, human beings and machines interlocked with each other.

Naranyan Gangaram Surve has won a National Award - the Golden Lotus 
for Best Film, 2003.

Directed by - Arun Khopkar

  Arun Khopkar is a filmmaker working in Bombay, whose films have been 
screened at various festivals and won several awards. His films 
include Figures of Thought, Colours of Absence,Sanchari, Rasikpriya 
and Lokpriya.


3. OCTOBER 8, Wednesday, 6 p.m.

  BOMBAY OUR CITY/ HUMARA SHAHAR
82mins. Colour, 16mm, 1985

This moving verite film follows the travails and triumphs in the 
daily battle for survival of Bombay's slumdwellers, as they face, 
demolitions, monsoons, death and life. The film questions the 
politics of urban development and in an uncompromising and sharply 
juxtapositional style. According to a review in the Sunday Observer - 
"The film holds a mirror to all our deepest prejudices. It is one of 
the most screened Indian documentaries. It has won the National 
Award, Best Non-fiction, India, 1986,  Filmfare Award, Best 
Documentary, India, 1986 and  Special Jury Prize, Cinema du Reel, 
France, 1986

Directed by - Anand Patwardhan

Anand Patwardhan is a pioneering documentary filmmaker living and 
working in Bombay. His films include, Waves of Revolution, Prisoners 
of Conscience, A Time to Rise, Occupation: Mill Worker, In the Name 
of God, Father, Son and Holy War and War and Peace.


4. OCTOBER 10 October, Friday 6 p.m.

NEW EMPIRE
37 minutes, 2002

New Empire is a visually impressionistic, non-fiction film that 
attempts to chronicle personal encounter with new colonialism and the 
accompanying loss of an indigenous way of urban being. The encounter 
is set around a uniquely Bombay-style Irani restaurant, at the 
epicenter of downtown Bombay -New Empire Restaurant and Bakery. The 
restaurant is now a McDonald's. The film explores this change through 
conversations with a group of old friends for whom New Empire was 
once a hang-out.

Directed By Kurush Canteenwala

Kurush Canteenwala was born and raised in Bombay. After his 
graduation form Bombay Univ. he completed his Masters of Fine Arts in 
Cinema from Southern lllinois Univ., US and is currently a Visiting 
Asst Professor of Film Production and Film Aesthetics there. His 
previous work includes "a note with a bang up in the sky", which 
premiered at the Asian American Film Festival in New York City.

VIDEO TABLES:

TABLE I

1. AUR IRANI CHAI
       20 minutes, DV, 2000

Aur Irani Chai is made by a group of undergraduates from Wilson 
College, who were part of the PUKAR Neighbourhood project during 2000 
-2001. As these students photographed and wrote about the varied 
localities they live in - mostly around Wilson College - a smaller 
group adventurously decided to make this documentary about their 
favorite hangout joint; the Irani cafe.

The film converses with Irani cafeŽ owners who studied at Wilson 
college, queries into the specific histories of a couple of famous 
establishments and explores the personal relationships that embodied 
by these spaces. Memories of migrations that make up much of Mumbai's 
collective memory emerge as key moments in the film. Stories about 
grand movements across the sub-continent from within and outside 
India reveal how an exploration of a such a familiar local space can 
dramatically widen one's canvas in very unexpected ways.

Directed by Vikas Sharma, Berson Irani and other students from Wilson College.

2. I SHALL BE RECYCLED AGAIN (Sambhawami Yuge Yuge)
        3.5 minutes, Mini-DV, 2003

A tongue-in-cheek take on Comrade Amitabh Bachchan and his mother in 
folk tales of the city.  A playful short film about our tallest pop 
icon.

Directed by Madhushree Dutta

Madhusree Dutta, is a filmmaker working on areas related to gender, 
identity and marginalization. Her films which have been widely 
screened in festivals around the world are, I Live in Behrampada, 
Memories of Fear, Kya Apko Pata Hai, Sundari: an actor prepares, Ailo 
Bailo Sailo, Scribbles on Akka and Made in India.  She is the 
executive director of Majlis, a centre for multi-cultural initiative 
in India..

3. PHANTOMS
     3.5 minutes, Mini DV, 2003

Moving from a Bombay local to an auction of the filmmaker's personal 
history, this powerfully insistent video attempts to grasp the manner 
in which the emotion of hate operates through some biographical 
instances and to understand its relationship to the politics of hate 
which we see surrounding us today.

Directed by Tushar Joag.

Tushar Joag is an artist living and working in Bombay. He studied at 
the Sir J.J. School of Art, Bombay and  M.S.U. Baroda. He has 
exhibited his work frequently and is a Founder Member of the artists 
initiative Open Circle Arts Trust, Bombay

4. LIVING WITH THE DEAD
       5 minutes, Mini DV,  2001

Gravediggers live on the fringes of society. Like the sweeper who 
cleans the road every morning, the gravedigger, too, goes unnoticed - 
invisible to the naked eye. Who are these people who face death 
everyday for a living? Where do they come from? Are they scared of 
death? Do they believe in the supernatural?The five-minute film takes 
a peek into the lives of gravediggers and talks to them about their 
lives, their work, their beliefs and philosophies.

Directed by  Madhu Bhatia, Pranjali Bhave,Sandhay a Lal, Richa 
Pathak, Smita Polite, Rupa Raman, Sadaf Siddique, T Madhavi, Karishma 
Tandan
(Students at the Social Communications Media Course at Sophia Polytechni)c.


TABLE II


1. OCCUPATION MILL WORKER
      22 mins, Hi-8, 1995

Once Bombay's millworkers were the backbone of its economy. Today as 
real estate prices soar, "mill-sickness" has become an epidemic. The 
film documents an attempt by workers to forcibly occupy and restart a 
closed textile mill after a four year lock-out by management.

Directed by: Anand Patwardhan

Anand Patwardhan is a pioneering documentary filmmaker living and 
working in Bombay. His films include, Waves of Revolution, Prisoners 
of Conscience, A Time to Rise, Bombay- Our City, In the Name of God, 
Father, Son and Holy War and War and Peace.



  2. CRYSTAL
       5 min.. mini-DV, 2003

Amidst the bustle of Marine Drive and the glitz of its multlcuisine 
eateries stands Crystal a little canteen serving North Indian food. 
In Crystal, you would find a calendar which is outdated, antiquated 
table fans, an old clock which adorns the wall - long after its hands 
have stopped moving and old film songs by Suraiya - the proprietor, 
Mr Khanna's favourite actress. Even the waiters have not changed - 
some have been serving for more than 30 years! However, it is not 
only nostalgic clients that dot Crystal's rustic chairs. New regulars 
continue to grow. The film tries to affectionately capture the 
essence of this Bombay landmark.

Directed by - Class of 2002, Social Communications Media, Sophia Polytechnic.


3. CIRCADIAN CYCLE
     5 min., Video, 1995

Taking its name, Circadian Cycles from the repetitive cycles of 
eating, drinking and sleeping, this film looks at the city as a 
living being and is a tribute to the multi-cultural, resilient nature 
of the city and its people. An eavesdropping telephone linesman, 
conversations between an ad-guru and his client, a stockbroker and 
investor, two lovers, some friends - the riots of 1092-93, their 
sadness, the city changing, the city returning to "normal" - Bombay 
as the filmmaker knows it. This film was made as part of a series of 
films commissioned to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Mid-day 
group of publications.

Directed by - Mahesh Mathai


Mahesh Mathai is a well known director of advertisement films and 
music videos, including the videos for Lucky Ali's music. He has 
directed the feature film Bhopal Express.


4. I RANU  GAYEN
     9 min., mini DV, 2002

This is a post-modern yet surreal account of an urban woman, Ranu 
Gayen, within a crumbling space defined by four walls. An over-sized 
ugly fish, her favorite petŠin a small bowl Ša phone, keeps her in 
touch with the outer world. Suddenly the bowl topplesŠleaving the 
fish gasping for oxygen Šwhen there is no water around except a 
couple of frozen mineral water bottles! She has to save her fishŠ

Directed by - Shyamal Karmakar

Shyamal Karmakar is a graduate of the FTII Pune (1987). He is the 
director, writer and editor of Ranu an award winning Bengali feature, 
and I, Ranu Gayen and Kimvadantuyan, and Editor of the feature films, 
Tepantorer Maath, and Raasta as well as the documentaries, This Is My 
Country, Scribbles on Akka, and Colours Black. He has also been 
active in the small magazine in West Bengal.