[Reader-list] [Announcements] Mumbai: TRI Continental Film Festival 2006

[Monica Mody]

BREAKTHROUGH PRESENTS

TRI CONTINENTAL FILM FESTIVAL 2006: HUMAN RIGHTS IN FRAMES

***SCREENING PROGRAMME JAN 26-27***

In association with Uhuru Productions, FFSI, & JACIC

Little Theatre, NCPA, Mumbai


JANUARY 26

10:30 am        EMERGING SONGS

Kitte Mil Ve Mahi (Where the Twain Shall Meet) Dir. Ajay Bhardwaj
(India/ 2005/ 72 min)

Travel to the heart of Punjab. Enter a world of Sufi shrines
worshipped and looked after by Dalits. Listen to B.S. Balli Qawwal
Paslewale, the first generation Dalit Qawwals born out of this
tradition. Join a fascinating dialogue with Lal Singh Dil - a radical
poet, a Dalit, converted to Islam. Meet the last living legend of the
Gadar movement, Baba Bhagat Singh Bilga, who contests the subversion
of a common past, while affirming a new consciousness among Dalits,
within and beyond Punjab. "Kitte Mil Ve Mahi" is people's narrative of
the little-known cultural/spiritual universe of Punjab.

Rebel Music Americas Dir. Malcolm Guy & Marie Botie (Canada/ 2004/ 79 min)

>From Tierra del Fuego to the Rio Grande, the "other" Americas are in
turmoil, and in the midst of the social and political movements
rocking the region are four groups of passionate musicians. Theirs is
the music of the America of the South - popular, dynamic, rebellious
and more often than not "anti-American". It's the rhythms and voices
of Afro-Colombian musicians from communities forcibly displaced by the
military; of Lila Downs and the struggle of women and indigenous
peoples in Mexico; of Santa Reveulta and unemployed workers blocking
access to a refinery in Buenos Aires, and Chico Cesar joining a land
occupation of the Landless Worker's Movement (MST) in Brazil.
(Best Documentary, Roma Independent Film Festival, Rome, 2005)

1:30 pm EVERY WAR HAS ITS IMAGE

14 Episodes Dir. Murad Muzaev (Ukraine, Netherlands & Chechen Republic
of Ichkerya/ 2004/ 9 min)

This documentary short consists direct and fragmentary narratives of
dead, wounded and fleeing civilians and soldiers from the first and
second Russian-Chechen wars. Torn metal, the bare face of death,
helplessness - nothing is side-stepped, bearing testimony to the scale
and severity of this extraordinarily savage war. The material was
given by the Ukranian TV reporter Taras Protsuk, killed in Iraq on 8
April 2003, and also Adam Tepsurkaev (killed in Chechnya) and Islam
Saydaev.
(Award for Short Film Promoting Human Rights (special citation),
Melbourne Film International Festival, Melbourne, Australia, 2005;
Amnesty International Prize, International Documentary Film Festival,
Amsterdam, 2004)

Weapons of Mass Deception Dir. Danny Schechter (USA/ 2004/ 98 min)

There were two wars going on in Iraq. One was fought with armies of
soldiers, bombs and a fearsome military force. The other was fought
alongside it with cameras, satellites, armies of journalists and
propanganda techniques. The TV networks in America considered their
non-stop coverage their finest hour, but different countries saw
different wars. Why? WMD explores this story with the findings of a
gutsy, media insider-turned-outsider, former network journalist, Danny
Schechter, who is also one of America's most prolific media critics.
                (Best Documentary, Denver International Film Festival,
Denver, USA, 2004)

3:30 pm         SNAPSHOTS OF COURAGE

Beauty Will Save the World Dir. Pietra Brettkelly (UK & New Zealand/
2004/ 62 min)

Before Saddam and Osama, Colonel Muammar Gadaffi was one of the most
reviled leaders in the West. Then in 2002 he hosted the first Miss Net
World beauty pageant, a first for Libya. "Beauty Will Save the World"
follows the exploits of 19 year-old Teca Zendik, the American
contender for the crown. She sets out with her political loyalties in
check, even refusing to wear the competition uniform - a tshirt
emblazoned with Gadaffi's likeness. How then does she assume the
position of honorary consul to the US for Libya in a mere matter of
months? Marvel at how diplomatic ties are re-established between two
nations while enjoying the behind-the-scenes antics of a beauty
pageant.

5:00 pm         CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

Justiça Dir. Maria Ramos (Netherlands/ 2004/ 102 min)

In Justiça, Maria Ramos puts a camera where many Brazilians have never
been - a criminal courtroom in Rio de Janeiro, following the daily
routine of several characters. There are those that work there every
day (public attorneys, judges, and prosecutors) and those that are
merely passing through (the accused). The camera is used as an
instrument that sees the social theater, the structures of power -
that is to say, what is, in general, invisible to us. With her options
clear, and unobscured by her choice for sobriety and simplicity, Maria
Ramos makes it evident that, like documentary making, justice is a
long way from being impartial. How and for whom the judicial system
works for in Brazil is the fundamental question dealt with in this
film, without providing any definite answers or making preconceived
judgements.

7:00 pm         BIRTH OF A NEW SOUTH AFRICA

Homecoming Dir. Norman Maake (South Africa/ 2005/ 90 min) FEATURE

"Homecoming" is a story of loves lost, futures promised and the price
of freedom, but above all it is about friendship. Set in 1996, it is a
heart-wrenching thriller about three boyhood friends, ANC exiles, who
come back home to post-apartheid South Africa. Charlie, Peter and
Thabo are forced to deal with the realities of the apartheid era and
their friendship begins to take on a new meaning. This feature's cast
includes South Africa's most acclaimed actors.

JANUARY 27

10:30 am        CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

Acting Like a Thief Dir. Kerim Friedman & Shashwati Talukdar (India &
USA/ 2005/ 15 min) WORLD PREMIERE

"Acting Like a Thief" is a short film about the Budhan Theatre of
Chharanagar. Starting with playwright Dakxin Bajrange discussing his
arrest the film brings us inside the lives of a dedicated group of
young actors and their families as they discuss what it means to be a
"born criminal" and how theater changed their lives. The members of
Budhan Theatre are Chhara tribals. They were notified as "born
criminals" by the British, and imprisoned in a labor camp in
Ahmedabad. After Indian independence they were de-notified, but the
stigma of being a "born criminal" follows them to this day. (Dilip
D'Souza, Author of "Branded by Law", present for interaction)

Sisters in Law Dir. Kim Longinotto & Florence Ayisi (UK/ 2005/ 106 min)

Selected for Cannes this year, "Sisters in Law" is a totally
fascinating - often hilarious - look at the work of one small
courthouse in South West Cameroon. The two women at the heart of the
doco wouldn't be out of place in an Alexander McCall Smith bestseller.
As the State Counsel and Court President, they dispense wisdom,
wisecracks and justice in fair measure. The victims of crime - an
abused child, a woman daring to accuse a man of rape, and another
trying to end a brutal marriage in a society where divorce is taboo -
are handled with fierce compassion. You will feel like cheering when
justice is served.
(Prix Art Et Essai, Cannes, France, 2005)

1:15 pm         IN A VEIN IRREVERENT

West Bank Story Dir. Ari Sandel (USA/ 2005/ 21 min)

A musical comedy set in the fast-paced, fast-food world of competing
falalfel stands in the West Bank. David, an Israeli soldier, falls in
love with the beautiful Palestinian cashier, Fatima, despite the
animosity between their families' dueling restaurants. Can the
couple's love withstand a 2000 year old conflict and their families'
desire to control the future of the chickpea in the Middle East?

1:45 pm         CIVIL STRUGGLES

The Take Dir. Avi Lewis (Canada/ 2004/ 87 min)

In the wake of Argentina's spectacular economic collapse in 2001,
Latin America's most prosperous middle class finds itself in a ghost
town of abandoned factories and mass unemployment. In suburban Buenos
Aires, thirty unemployed 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 - the take - has
the power to turn the globalization debate on its head. Avi Lewis and
Naomi Klein take viewers inside the lives of ordinary visionaries, as
they reclaim their work, their dignity and their democracy.

Thirst Dir. Deborah Kaufman & Alan Snitow (USA/ 2004/ 62 min)

Is water part of a shared commons, a human right for all people? Or is
it a commodity to be bought and sold in the global marketplace? Filmed
in Bolivia, India and the USA, "Thirst" depicts communities struggling
with these questions as water becomes the world's most valuable
resource. This groundbreaking new film exposes how a global corporate
drive to commodify the world's water inspires new movements against
globalisation. (Filmmakers present)
(The Chris Statuette, Columbus International Film Festival, Columbus,
Ohio, 2004; 1st Prize (Environment & Social Justice), Earth Vision
Film Festival, Santa Cruz, California, 2004; CINE Golden Eagle Award,
Fall 2004)

4:30 pm         BIRTH OF A NEW SOUTH AFRICA

Zulu Love Letter Dir. Ramadan Suleman (South Africa & France/ 2004/
100 min) FEATURE

A keen and insightful psychological drama, Zulu Love Letter presents
the emotional journey of two mothers searching for their daughters.
Tormented by the haunting images and unrelenting grief of the past,
single mother and journalist Thandi has difficulty communicating with
her estranged daughter, Mangi. Thirteen-year old Mangi is deaf and
dumb due to the beating that the pregnant Thandi received at the same
time that her friends, Mike and Dineo, were murdered by an Apartheid
hit squad. Mike and Dineo's fate pursues her, especially when Dineo's
mother appears requesting that Thandi testify before the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission.
(Grand Prix Du Mellieur Scenariste - Special Jury Award, organised by
Sopadin, France, 2001)

6:30 pm         RESCREENING: Jury Prize Winner - Weapons of Mass
Deception Dir. Danny Schechter


* THE SCHEDULE IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE.

For details, visit www.breakthough.tv or contact:
Monica Mody/ Alika Khosla
91 11 2617 6181/ 85 or 9811269257
tri-cff at breakthrough.tv
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