ASHA: Chingari VideoFest 1999 (fwd)

[Subramanya Sastry <sastry@cs.wisc.edu>]

Hello folks,

I strongly encourage people to consider attending this video fest.
I've copied the program for the Video fest at the bottom of this mail.
(Also available at:
http://www.sit.wisc.edu/~chingari/VideoFestival/VideoFest1999/vf99prog.html)

Subbu.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 11 Oct 99 15:42 CST
From: CHINGARI-FORUM <CHINGARI@macc.wisc.edu>
To: CHINGARI-FORUM@macc.wisc.edu
Subject: Chingari VideoFest 1999

From:    IN%"RVAKULAB@macc.wisc.edu"   "Rajagopal Vakulabharanam"
To:      CHINGARI@MACC.WISC.EDU
Subject: Chingari videofest
 
Friends,
 
Coinciding with the conference, the third annual Chingari fest is going to
take place on Oct.15-16 (Friday and Saturday) at the Pyle Center auditorium at
702 Langdon Street. We are showing 16 films this year, organized around themes
such as religious fundamentalism, women's issues, human rights, development,
social justice, ethnic identities etc. Videos have come in, apart from India,
also from Bangladesh, Nepal and Australia.
 
The organization for the fest is going according to plan. We expect a lot of
 people to turn out at the fest -not merely participants at the conference,
but students in Madison, and members of the local Indian community as well.
 
It is up to us to debate the various issues that the video screenings are
going to throw up. We hope that Chingari members and friends, along with
other participants, are going to contribute to the debates.
 
There will also be a special screening on Saturday evening, on the
"Struggle in the Narmada valley". We are planning to show two videos on
Narmada at that time.
 
We also need volunteers at the film fest. While some of us are planning to
be there, as much as we can, we will also appreciate some breaks from
duties there -- either by way of a brief coffee/cigarette break, or by way
of having to participate in some of the panels that some of us are part of.
 
We appeal to Chingari members, and friends of Chingari to turn up at the
videofest and help us out in conducting it.
 
looking forward to meeting you all at the fest,
 
Rajagopal, Brendan
 
********************************************************************************
Chingari is a progressive South Asian and South Asian-American students'
collective at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. We welcome your suggestions
and contributions. We can be contacted at: chingari@macc.wisc.edu. Please
visit our website at http://www.sit.wisc.edu/~chingari for more information.
********************************************************************************

------------------------------------------------------------------------
               Third Annual Chingari VideoFest 

                    October 15 - 16, 1999 

                   Pyle Center Auditorium 
               University of Wisconsin-Madison 
            702 Langdon Street (next to Red Gym) 

                   All screenings are free 
         A brief discussion will follow each section



Friday, October 15, 1999 

Religious Fundamentalism 

9.30 a.m. Fishers of Men 
(Dir. Ranjan Kamath & Padmavathi Rao; Prod. Ranjan Kamath; India; 117 min; 1997)
investigates the politics of confrontation between Hindu fundamentalists and
 Christian missionaries in North India 

11.30 a.m. The Boy in the Branch (Dir. Lalit Vachani; Prod. Lalit Vachani;
India; 27 min; 1993) [special entry: dated but relevant] focuses on the
indoctrination of young boys by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)

Women and Resistance 

2.00 p.m. A Woman?s Place (Dir. Paromita Vohra, Maria Nicolo, Catherine
Stewart, & Patricia van Heerden; Prod. Maryland Public Television; 
USA/India/South Africa; 57 min; 1998) tells the stories of women from South
Africa, USA and India who are fighting to balance the scales of power

3.15 p.m. Don?t Fence Me In (Dir. Nandini Sikand; Prod. Nandini Sikand; USA;
55 min; 1998) uses personal narrative to tell the story of an Indian woman
balancing career and family

4.15 p.m. Laaj (Dir. Ruta Shastri & Rappai Poothokaren; Prod. Gurjarvani
Productions; India; 25 min; 1997)  depicts inhibitions on women imposed by men
and traditional society in Rajasthan
  

Saturday, October 16, 1999 

Social Justice 

9.30 a.m. Between Gandhi and Ambedkar (Dir. Ulli Schauen; Prod. Jochen
Kaufmann; Germany; 28 min; 1998) highlights Dalit issues in Tamil Nadu and
Maharashtra, with debates between Gandhi and Ambedkar as the historical
backdrop

10.00 a.m. A Minute?s Silence (Dir. Ajay Bharadwaj; Prod. Ajay Bharadwaj;
India; 72 min; 1997) in the backdrop of the murder of student leader
Chandrashekhar Prasad, looks at mafia politics in Bihar

Development/Human Rights

12.15 p.m. Bundelkhand Express (Dir. Saba Dewan; Prod. Saba Dewan; India; 72
min; 1999)  explores issues of destitution and child labor in poverty-stricken
southern Uttar Pradesh

1.30 p.m. Chaliyar (Dir. P Baburaj & C Saratchandran; Prod. Chaliyar Struggle
Support Group; India; 31 min; 1999) portrays people?s struggle against
environmental decimation caused by the massive industrial factory owned by the
Birlas in Kerala

2.00 p.m. In the Name of Safety (Dir. Tareque & Catherine Masud; Prod. ASK/TVE
Productiion; Bangladesh; 25 min; 1999) deals with issues of police excesses
and brutality, and illegal detentions in Bangladesh

2.30 p.m. Forced (Dir. Kiran K. Shrestha & Bimal Rawal; Prod. Young Asia
TV/Worldview Nepal; Nepal; 25 min; 1999)  investigates the condition of
children in bondage/enslavement in the Tharu community in Nepal

Ethnic Identities

3.15 p.m. A Calcutta Christmas (Dir. Maree Delofski; Prod. Denise Haslem;
Australia; 52 min; 1998) explores the Anglo-Indian identity by taking a close
look at an old age home where thirty-five elderly Anglo-Indians are living

4.15 p.m. Angst at Large (Dir. Shankar Borua; Prod. The Storytellers; India;
60 min; 1999) traces the flux of Assamese identity, in the backdrop of both
long-term processes as well as recent political unrest

5.15 p.m. A Season Outside (Dir. Amar Kanwar; Prod. Amar Kanwar; India; 30
min; 1998) deals with the nature of differences in religious and national
identities, using the imagery of a borderpost between India and Pakistan

Special Section: Struggle in the Narmada Valley

6.00 p.m. Kaise Jeebo Re (Dir. Anurag Singh & Jharana Jhaveri; Prod. Anurag
Singh & Jharana Jhaveri; India; 80 min; 1997) [special entry:  first shown
VideoFest 1997] adivasi perspective on ?development? in the Narmada valley

7.30 p.m. Maheshwar Report (Dir. Sanjay Kak; Prod. Sanjay Kak; India; 25 min;
1999) examines the negative social impact of one of the Narmada dams being
built


          This video festival has been made possible with the
                     support and assistance of the
     Center for South Asia at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

              Primary Coordinator for VideoFest 1999: V.  Rajagopal

      Chingari Forum is a progressive South Asian and South Asian American
           students' collective at the University of Wisconsin-Madison