Anand Patwardhan is probably India’s best known documentary film maker. The winner of several national and international awards. Read more about Anand at:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anand_Patwardhan#Films_of_Anand_Patwardhan
On Saturday, 7th August 6:30 pm at Lamakaan we are going to have a screening of
War and Peace (2 Hrs 30 mins)
Filmed over four tumultuous years in India, Pakistan, Japan and the USA following nuclear tests in the Indian sub-continent War and Peace is a documentary journey of peace activism in the face of global militarism and war. It slips seamlessly from a description of home made jingoism to focus on how an aggressive United States has become a role model, its doctrine of “Might is Right” only too well-absorbed by aspiring elites of the developing world. As we enter the 21st century, war has become perennial, enemies are re-invented and economies are inextricably tied to the production and sale of weapons. In the moral wastelands of the world memories of Gandhi seem like a mirage that never was, created by our thirst for peace and our very distance from it.
On Sunday, 8th August at 7 PM in Lamakaan we are going to have a screening of
Bombay, Hamara Shahr (Bombay, Our City, 75 Mins)
and
Mitron De Yaad Mein (In Memory of Friends,60 min)
Screening Times to be announced
BOMBAY: OUR CITY tells the story of the daily battle for survival of the 4 million slum dwellers of Bombay who make up half the city’s population. Although they are Bombay’s workforce – industrial laborers, construction workers, domestic servants – they are denied city utilities like electricity, sanitation, and water. Many slumdwellers must also face the constant threat of eviction as city authorities carry out campaigns to “beautify” Bombay.
IN MEMORY OF FRIENDS documents the violence and terror in Punjab, India – a land torn apart by religious fundamentalists and a repressive government.After examining the political turmoil of the late1970s and rise of Sikh fundamentalism the film concentrates on the legacy of Bhagat Singh who has now become a legendary figure. Today the State eulogizes him as a nationalis while Sikh separatists portray him as a Sikh militant. In fact, Singh was neither. Just prior to his death he wrote a book which he entitled Why I Am An Atheist.
A band of brave Sikhs and Hindus carry Bhagat Singh’s secular legacy from village to village. In the religiously charged countryside ideas of internationalism now carry a price. IN MEMORY OF FRIENDS is an incisive look at identity politics in India today
The event is open to all and entry is free.
