[Reader-list] Vikalp Presents Bombay Premiere of 'India Untouched', 25th May

[Shivam Vij]

Those of you in Mumbai, please do try to see this valuable film.
best
shivam

VIKALP

Invites you to the first Mumbai screening of Stalin K's new
documentary film

INDIA UNTOUCHED - Stories of a People Apart

On 25th May, 2007 at 6:30pm

Bhupesh Gupta Bhavan, 85 Sayani Road, Prabhadevi, Mumbai
(Bhupesh Gupta Bhavan is diagonally opposite to Rabindra Natya
Mandir)


INDIA UNTOUCHED - Stories of a People Apart
(108 minutes)
Hindi, Bhojpuri, Gujarati, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalm with
English sub-titles

Directed by Stalin K.

Produced by Drishti,
Presented by Navsarjan


"INDIA UNTOUCHED - Stories of a People Apart" is perhaps the most
comprehensive look at Untouchability ever undertaken on film.
Director Stalin K. spent four years traveling the length and breadth
of the country to expose the continued oppression of 'Dalits,'
the 'broken people' who suffer under a 4000 year-old religious
system.

The film introduces leading Benares scholars who interpret Hindu
scriptures to mean that Dalits 'have no right' to education, and
Rajput farmers who proudly proclaim that no Dalit may sit in their
presence, and that the police must seek their permission before
pursuing cases of atrocities.

The film captures many 'firsts-on-film,' such as Dalits being forced
to dismount from their cycles and remove their shoes when in the
upper caste part of the village. It exposes the continuation of
caste practices and Untouchability in Sikhism, Christianity and
Islam, and even amongst the communists in Kerala. Dalits themselves
are not let off the hook: within Dalits, sub-castes practice
Untouchability on the 'lower' sub-castes, and a Harijan boy refuses
to drink water from a Valmiki boy.

The viewer hears that Untouchability is an urban phenomenon as well,
inflicted upon a leading medical surgeon and in such hallowed
institutions as JNU, where a Brahmin boy builds a partition so as
not to look upon his Dalit roommate in the early morning.

A section on how newspaper matrimonial columns are divided according
to caste presents urban Indians with an uncomfortable truth:
marriage is the leading perpetuator of caste in India.

But the film highlights signs of hope, too: the powerful tradition
of Dalit drumming is used to call people to the struggle, and a
young Dalit girl holds her head high after pulling water from her
village well for the first time in her life.

Spanning eight states and four religions, this film will make it
impossible for anyone to deny that Untouchability continues to be
practiced in India.

 Directed by Stalin K: Stalin K. is a human rights activist and award-
winning documentary filmmaker. In recent years, he has become known
for his pioneering 'participatory media' work with urban and rural
 communities, in which local people produce their own videos and
radio programs as an empowerment tool. He is the Co-Founder of
DRISHTI - Media, Arts and Human Rights, Convener of the Community
Radio Forum - India, and the India Director of Video Volunteers. He
is a renowned public speaker and has lectured or taught at over 20
institutions ranging from the National Institute of Design and the
Tata Institute of Social Sciences in India, to New York University
and Stanford and Berkeley in the US.

'INDIA UNTOUCHED' is Stalin's second film on the issue of caste — his
earlier film 'Lesser Humans,' on manual scavenging, won the Silver
Conch at the Mumbai International Film Festival and the Excellence
Award at Earth Vision Film Festival, Tokyo, and helped to bring
international attention to the issue of caste.

Produced by DRISHTI - Media, Arts and Human Rights: DRISHTI is a
leading media and human rights organization in India, with program
areas of community radio, campaign design, documentary filmmaking,
street theatre, participatory video, community arts and youth
activism.

Presented by Navsarjan Trust: Navsarjan Trust, a leading Dalit human
rights organization, works in over 3000 villages in Gujarat. Its
mission is to eradicate Untouchability through legal remedies and
struggles against forced occupations such as manual scavenging, and
by ensuring Dalits' access to education and livelihood.
www.navsarjan.org