911 and Tasveer present:
TRAVELING FILMS SOUTH ASIA
Friday through Sunday, November 1 - 3
$40 Full series pass / $20 Saturday or Sunday full-day pass
$25 Full series pass students and seniors
$10 Saturday or Sunday full-day pass students and seniors
$5 / $3 (911 members)
Originating in Nepal, Traveling Films South Asia will bring contemporary South Asian documentaries to Seattle. This year's festival will present seventeen films with an exciting range of topics and themes. The selected works deftly encapsulate contemporary South Asian issues and concerns and are significant in their ability to illustrate both the unity of South Asia as well as its diversity. Please join us as we explore the possibilities of non-fiction film. Special thanks to Farah Nousheen for bringing this special program to 911.
For More Information
F R I D A Y November 1st, 2002
7:00PM Mardon Wali Baat (About Men) $7
We will kick-off the film festival with three charming films with a rare theme -- the personal lives and thoughts of South Asian men. A lively discussion about being South Asian and male will follow the screenings.
A Rough Cut on the Life and Times of Lachuman Magar - He has fought in the Bangladesh war, jumped as a paratrooper, and married five times. At age of 58, Lachuman still eyes the opposite sex, charming them, cajoling them. But his life seems to have come full circle for this cleaner at a tourist lodge in Nepal's western Tarai. Winner of Second Best Film Award at FSA '01. Dinesh Deokota, 2001, 39 min, Nepal.
Our Boys - In these confusing times, boys from a pop group and a young artist from the newly emerging upper middle class of Dhaka open up about duties and obligations, women and desire, confusion and contradictions. Manzare Hassin, 2000, 42 min, Bangladesh
King of Dreams - How many fantasies does a man have in his lifetime about sexual union? How often do his dreams substitute the act itself? And where exactly does love fit into the scheme? The film tries to answer these questions and show manhood in a new light. Winner of Jury's Special Mention at FSA '01. Amar Kanwar, 2001, 30 min, India.
Co-sponsored by Chaya, serving South Asian women in crisis, http://www.chayaseattle.org.
S A T U R D A Y November 2nd, 2002
11AM Between the Devil and the Deep River $3
Manmade floods have devastated North Bihar. The embankments on the Kosi river represent a development model which devastates the lives of millions, and yet it is a failed model that no one is willing to abandon. Arvind Sinha, 1999, 65 min, Bihar Note: no discussion.
12:15PM Born at Home $3
Born at Home observes indigenous birth practices in parts of India. Poised between social reality and the eternal mystery of childbearing, the film presents an intricate delineation of the figure of the dai (midwife) who is almost always a low-caste, poor woman. Sameera Jain, 2000, 60 min, North India Note: no discussion.
2:00PM-4:15PM Childhood $5
A discussion to follow the screenings of these two powerful films. Local South Asian children organizations will be invited to moderate discussion and to answer questions.
Colours Black - Structured around the narratives of four children, Colours Black seeks to break the silence around the sexual abuse of children -- in this case among Bombay's well-to-do. Mamta Murthy, 2001, 30 min, Bombay, India
We Homes Chap - The centennial celebration of Dr. Graham's Homes in Kalimpong offers some old girls and boys a chance to revisit the site of their childhood and adolescence. Even as the film courses through layers of sentiment, there is a gradual unfolding of real childhoods, a testimony to powerful early experiences. Kesang Tseten, 2001, 65 min, North Bengal.
5:00PM7:00PM Jari Mari: Of Cloth and Other Stories $5
A discussion on sweatshops to follow the film. Local organizations that fight sweatshop in the US and abroad will be invited to moderate discussion and answer questions.
Jari Mari: Of Cloth and Other Stories - The narrow lanes of the Jari Mari slum in Bombay house hundreds of sweatshops where people have no right to organize. The film records the changes in the nature and organization of Bombay's workforce over the past two decades. Winner of Third Best Film Award at FSA '01. Surabhi Sharma, 2001, 74 min, Bombay
8:00PM South Asian Artist Experience $7
This special program is dedicated to South Asian artists. There will be a visual art display by local artists. After the screenings, we will discuss the tribulations and joys South Asian artists .
Naheedıs Story - Naheed Siddiqui, Pakistanıs foremost exponent of the classical dances form Kathak was banned from dancing in Pakistan in 1978. Since then she has struggled to bring the Kathak dance back onto the cultural agenda. But today, with the ban gone, she is up against hardened attitudes and faces an entirely new challenge: the commercialization and globalization of the entertainment industry. Beena Sarwar, 2001, 20 min, Pakistan
Ramlila - Ramlila the spectacle is one thing for the audience and quite another for the performers, the filmmakers discover as they turn their camera on street side Delhi. The documentary captures the fascinating behind-the-scenes discussions of those who would play Ram and Ravan. Ananth Sridhar, Sanjay Pande, Subash Kapoor, 2000, 28 min, Delhi
The Loom - The Loom is the story of a poet, a painter and a city. The poet is Narayan Surve, the painter Sudhir Patwardhan and the city Bombay -- both of them part of a left cultural movement in the city. Anjali Monteiro and K.P. Jayasankar, 2001, 49 min, Bombay
S U N D A Y November 3rd, 2002
11AM The Bee, the Bear and the Kuruba $3
Forcible eviction of the Kurubas of the forests of Nagarahole and Kakanakote in the Western Ghats started in the early 70s. Today these forest dwellers have nowhere to go, and they find it hard to adapt to the new recommended way of life. They have become trespassers on their own lands. Vinod Raja, 2000, 63 min, Karnataka Note: no discussion.
12:15-1:30PM The Killing Terraces $5
This program will include a brief overview by Vik Bahl. Following the film, there will be a question and answer session. Vik Bahl, English professor from Green River Community College, received his Ph.D. in from the University of Texas at Austin, where he specialized in postcolonial and diaspora literature and cultural politics.
The Killing Terraces - With footage shot in the Nepali Maoist stronghold districts of Rukum, Rolpa and Jajarkot, the film attempts to understand the causes underlying the rise of the Maobaadi, the role of the state, and the devastating impact on the lives of the hill people. Dhruba Basnet, 2001, 40 min, Nepal.
2:00-4:00PM From Bangladesh $5
Discussion to follow these two films from Bangladesh.
King for a Day - When Bill Clinton agreed to visit Bangladesh in March 2000, the Bangladesh government began the biggest clean-up operation of Dhaka since 1971. This is a diary of a cynical journalist assigned to discover what the man-on-the-street thinks of the hoopla. Alex Gabbay, 2001, 33 min, Bangladesh
My Migrant Soul - "If I live, I'll write the history of my travels in Malaysia...I'll write a poem about it," said Shahjahan Babu, before leaving Bangladesh as a migrant worker. Shahjahan's posthumous account, in the form of audiotapes, are a record of one man's hopes, disillusions and fears. Winner of the Ram Bahadur Trophy for Best Film at FSA '01. Yasmine Kabir, 2000, 35 min, Bangladesh
4:30-6:00PM Religious Intolerance $5
A discussion will follow this screening about religious intolerance all over South Asia, using this film as an example of one such case.
Sun Sets In - Documented through interviews, audio tapes and visuals, religious intolerance in Pakistan comes alive in this film. This is a life sketch of Bishop John Joseph, who laid down his life in 1999 to dramatically tell the world of the plight of religious minorities in his country. Shahid Nadeem, 1999, 45 min, Pakistan
7:00PM Goongi Tasveer and Closing Night $7
We will close the festival with a silent films accompanied with live tabla and percussion by local musicians. Following the screening, people are welcome to stay for a social.
Silent Shorts - Kathmandu Silent Night was a festival-within-a-festival of 22 short films shown at FSA '01. The intention was to spark creativity by handicapping filmmakers by disallowing the use of ambient sound. These five 'goongi films', each 5 minutes or less, presented in TFSA indicate how successful the exercise was.
Film Festival Attendees Social & Closing Night
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