[Reader-list] Invitation: Screening of Final Films, Class of 2012

[rohitrellan at aol.in]

Dear colleagues,

You are cordially invited to a screening of  a series of five final 
films by the Class of 2012, MA in Media and Cultural Studies, Tata 
Institute of Social Sciences. The films are an interesting and well made 
set exploring various themes as can be seen from the synopses below. The 
film screenings will be followed by an interaction and discussion with 
the filmmakers.

Date: May 8, 2012
  Time: 10 am to 1 pm
  Venue: Library Conference Hall, TISS Main Campus, opp Deonar Bus 
Depot, Mumbai

The details of the films follow.

BREAKIN’ MUMBAI
  2012, 33 Mins, Hindi with English Subtitles
  A film by Aakriti Kohli, Sandeep Kr. Singh, Shweta Ghosh, Gin Khan 
Siam
and Sumit Singh

Gani, a 21-year old, has done many things for a living: bag-making,
embroidery work and working at a call
  centre.18-year old Aman studies in school. He loves eating mangoes and
chenna-murgi. He sketches and
  plays cricket. The two have very little in common, but there is one
thing that binds them- Breaking, a dance form that started back in the
70s in the Bronx, New York. Since then, it has grown popular across
countries and has moulded itself to fit into specific cultures.

This film looks at what it means to be a breaker in Mumbai, how
breaking becomes a site of expression of
  subaltern youth cultures and what it means to win and lose battles.
Through the personal lives of Gani, Aman and their friends, the film
tries to understand the dynamics of  breaking, and explores questions
of space and the avenues for leisure in Mumbai.

NISWAN-E-MUMBRA
  The Women of Mumbra
  2012, 21 mins., Hindustani with English Subtitles
  A film by Shazia Nigar, Sharib Ali and Ufaque Paikar

The riots of 1992-93 changed the spatial character of the city of
Mumbai.While some Muslims left the city out of choice others were 
forced
to leave in search of security. It was in this context that Mumbra, a
Muslim ghetto, was established. Niswa-E-Mumbra is a film that explores
the lives of Muslim women in Mumbra, through two central characters.
Shireen Kamal Dehlvi is a journalist working with an Urdu daily. With
her stories of struggle she brings to life what it means not just be
Muslim but also a woman in contemporary times.

Kausar is an activist working with a women's organisation called
Awaaz-E-Niswan. Through her working on women she throws light on the
present infrastructural problems in Mumbra and the struggles they pose
for women. The film dwells on questions which attempts to answer 
weather
the life of a Muslim woman is any different from that of other women.

BHARATMATA KI JAI
  The story of a single-screen theatre in Mumbai's mill country
  2012, 28 minutes, Hindi, Marathi and English with English subtitles
  A Film by Avadhoot Khanolkar, Amol Ranjan, Anurag Mazumdar, Arpita
Chakraborthy and Shweta Radhakrishnan

At the heart of Mumbai’s mill country, Lalbaug-Parel, stands
Bharatmata Cinema, one of the remaining single screen theatres that
plays only Marathi films. The theatre is an iconic reminder of a
colourful working class culture which is now on the decline in Mumbai.
Through the narratives of Kapil Bhopatkar, the owner, and Baban, one of
the oldest employees of the theatre, the film explores the history and
development of Bharatmata as a space for articulating the cultural
identity of Mumbai’s working class and ponders on its existence and
survival. The characters, though from widely disparate socio-economic
classes, come together in their passionate love for cinema and their
celebration of the main character in the film, Bharatmata Cinema 
itself.

A HOME HERE
  2012, 23 mins, English with subtitles
  A Film by Vikram Buragohain, Kaikho Paphro, Joyashree Sarma, Daisy
Leivon, Abhishek Yadav

>From the echoing hills of the North east to a bustling city of Mumbai
by the sea, the film is about the people who have made this journey in
search of better life. But does the journey end here?

Amidst the changes and negotiations, the search for familiar faces and
flavours of food lead them all to Kalina. In the film, a musician, an
entrepreneur, a researcher, a homemaker and a martial art trainer,
reflect on their lived experiences and the efforts to recreate their
homes and maintain their identity in the city.
  The film explores Kalina as a space and the elements of food and music
which link them to their homeland and its memories.

TAMASHA- A RUSTIC DRAMA
  30 min, Marathi with English subtitles
  A Film By Devendra Ghorpade, Manoj Bhandare, Prakash Sao and Raju
Hittalamani

This is a film on the performing artists of Tamasha and the changing
facets of art form itself. Women have been an integral part of Tamasha
contributing on and off stage. Their lives and struggles are a result 
of
the interplay between social constructions, the changing location and
form of Tamasha. Kanthabai Satarkar is a veteran Tamashgir. With her
first performance at the age of nine, she grew as an artist to manage
one of the biggest Tamasha troupes in Maharashtra. With over six 
decades
of experience, her life bears witness to the journey of Tamasha and
lives of those associated with it.

-- 
___________________________________________
Anjali Monteiro, Ph.D., Professor and Chair
Centre for Media and Cultural Studies
Tata Institute of Social Sciences,
Deonar, Bombay 400 088, India
Phone:+91 22 2552 5661 (Work)
Fax:  +91 22 25525050    e-mail: monteiro[AT]tiss.edu
URL: www.cmcs.tiss.edu


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