[Reader-list] [Announcements] Day of Freedom From the Censor at Sarai

[Shuddhabrata Sengupta]

Sarai invites you to a 'Day of Freedom from the Censor' 
Saturday, the 14th February, 2004 at the Seminar Hall, Sarai - CSDS,  
2:00 pm - 7: 30 pm

On every 14th February (Valentine's Day) for the past few years the guardians 
of morality in several Indian cities have tried to censor public spaces and 
behaviour by atacking young people. We at Sarai decided to take the 
initiative to reflect on this tendency by observing the 14th of February as a 
'Day of Freedom from the Censor'. The 14th of February will feature a day 
long celebration of the freedom of expression at Sarai. 

The Programme for the event is as follows

Session 1 :  Framing the Censor
2:00 pm-3:30 pm

Release of the CD Rom Resource Pack on Censorship and the Law in India
Produced by the Alternative Law Forum, Bangalore

The Censor as Prosecutor 
Free Speech , 'Fearless' Speech and the Law in India
Lawrence Liang
Alternative Law Forum, Bangalore

The Censor in the Library
Scholarship, Academic Research and Censorship 
Ananya Vajpeyi, Writer and Researcher
South Asian Languages and Civilizations
University of Chicago

Discussion/Questions/Responses

Tea Break

Session 2 : The Censor As  Film Critic
4:00 pm-5:45 pm

The Censor and the Documentary Film Maker : MIFF and Vikalp 
(Campaign Against Censorship) - 
Sanjay Kak, Rahul Roy, Saba Dewan, Amar Kanwar 
(Independent and Documentary Filmmakers)

Discussion/Questions/Responses

Tea Break

Session 3 : The Censor as Moralist
6:00 pm - 7:30 pm

Censorship Myths and Imagined Harms  
Shohini Ghosh, Filmmaker, Media Storm, Faculty, MCRC, JMI

Homeless Everywhere : Taslima Nasrin's Response to the Banning of 
'Dwikhondito' in West Bengal and Bangladesh
Translated and Read by Debjani Sengupta, Delhi University

Reading Taslima Nasrin 
Tanika Sarkar, Historian, Delhi University
Shuddhabrata Sengupta, Sarai
Shohini Ghosh, Mediastorm & MCRC, JMI

_______________________________

Censorship has been a lot in the news lately. First it was the various 
(continuing) measures that the Films Division of the Governement of India 
adopted and is continuing to adopt to ensure a 'sanitized' Mumbai 
International Documentary, Short and Animation Film Festival (MIFF) in 
February 2004. Then it was the Government of West Bengal's decision to ban 
Taslima Nasrin's recent book "Dwikhondito" ("Split in Two"). Then, there were 
the attacks on academics  in Pune by Shiv Sainiks and vandalization of the 
Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, also in Pune by the 'Sambhaji 
Brigade' , and most recently, an exhibition of paintings in Surat was 
attacked and the government of Madhya Pradesh has expressed its intention of 
removing what it calls 'offensive' books and periodicals from libraries. We 
have also had reputed publishing houses withdrawing books from circulation 
under threat.

Behind this is a context where textbooks have been doctored, films have been 
banned, books prohibited, paintings not allowed to be exhibited in galleries 
and withdrawn from museum displays, performances disrupted and writers and 
journalists sent to prison for contempt of court, or disrespecting 
legislative priviledges

Clearly, the freedom of expression, publication, thought and research in 
India is under severe stress at the moment. At times like this, it becomes 
all the more important to take a clear and categorical stand against 
censorship (no matter where it may come from)and in favour of free speech. It 
is with this in mind that we at Sarai have decided to hold a month long focus 
on censorship in February (in keeping with the forthcoming Sarai Reader's 
theme of 'Crisis/Media') and to celebrate the 14th of February as a day of 
Freedom from the Censor. 

_____________________________

The Focus on Censorship in February theme at Sarai will include film 
screenings that echo and support  the efforts of  Campaign Against Censorship 
(CAC) to initiate a parallel film festival 'Vikalp 2004' in Mumbai, featuring 
films rejected by the MIFF. CAC is an initiative founded mainly by 
documentary film makers as a response to the censoring of MIFF 2004 . 

Details of films to be screened is as follows:

February 13, 2004, 4:30 pm
NEW (IMPROVED) DELHI - Director's Cut (2003), 6 minutes
Directed by Vani Subramanian
'Vikalp' Screening (in collaboration with the CAC)

As the capital city of New Delhi sets out to 'feel good and look better',
no space remains for the poor and their slums. A short work propelled by
an acapella chorus welcomes you to "New (Improved) Delhi".

AND

SUNDER NAGRI (THE CITY BEAUTIFUL) (2003), 78 minutes
Directed by Rahul Roy
'Vikalp' Screening (in collaboration with the CAC)

Sunder Nagri (Beautiful City) is a small working class colony on the
margins of India's capital city, Delhi. Most families residing here come
from a community of weavers. The last ten years have seen a gradual
disintegration of the handloom tradition of this community under the
globalisation regime. The families have to cope with change as well as
reinvent themselves to eke out a living.

"The City Beautiful" is the story of two families struggling to make sense
of a world, which keeps pushing them to the margins. Radha and Bal Krishan
are at a critical point in their relationship. Bal Krishan is
underemployed and constantly cheated. They are in disagreement about Radha
going out to work. However, through all their ups and downs, they retain
the ability to laugh. Shakuntla and Hira Lal hardly communicate. They live
under one roof with their children but are locked in their own sense of
personal tragedies.


February 20, 2004, 4:30 pm
TALES OF THE NIGHT FAIRIES (2002), 74 minutes
Directed by Shohini Ghosh
'Vikalp' Screening (in collaboration with the CAC)

Five sexworkers - four women and one man - along with the
filmmaker/narrator embark on a journey of storytelling. "Tales of the
Night Fairies" explores the power of collective organizing and resistance
while reflecting upon contemporary debates around sexwork. The
simultaneously expansive and labyrinthine city of Calcutta forms the
backdrop for the personal and musical journeys of storytelling.

The film attempts to represent the struggles and aspirations of thousands
of sexworkers who constitute the DMSC (Durbar Mahila Samanyay Committee or
the Durbar Women's Collaborative Committee) an initiative that emerged
from the Shonagachi HIV/AIDS Intervention Project. A collective of men,
women and transgendered sexworkers, DMSC demands decriminalization of
adult sex work and the right to form a trade union.

For further enquiried, contact 

Ranita Chatterjee 
The Sarai Programme
Centre for the Study of Developing Societies
29 Rajpur Road, Delhi 110 054
Tel:  (+91) 11 23960040
       (+91) 11 23942199, ext 307
Fax: (+91) 11 23943450
www.sarai.net
The Newsletter of the Sarai Programme,
29 Rajpur Road, Delhi 110 054, www.sarai.net
Info: dak at sarai.net.To subscribe: send a blank email to
newsletter-request at sarai.net with subscribe in the subject header.
Directions to Sarai: We are ten minutes from Delhi University. Nearest bus
stop: IP college or Exchange Stores

See Calendar and Newsletter online:
http://www.sarai.net/calendar/newsletter.htm
-- 
-- 
Shuddhabrata Sengupta (Raqs Media Collective)
Sarai
Centre for the Study of Developing Societies
29 Rajpur Road, Delhi 110054
Phone : 91 11 23942199 Ext 305
www.sarai.net
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