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A
festival of films focusing on the achievements,
challenges, struggles, aspirations, and empowerment
of South Asian women.
Special
Guests:
Filmmakers Indu Krishnan
(Knowing Her Place)
and Anand Patwardhan
(Narmada Diary)
All
films are subtitled in English.
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| Saturday,
November 17, 2001 |
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reflections
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 Skin
Deep
Reena Mohan.
1998.
83 min. India.
The
search for femininity and
how it permeates the self-image
of contemporary Indian women.
more ...
START: 12 PM
|
 Desperately
Seeking Helen
Eisha
Marjara
1998.
81 min. Canada
To
the Indian film mecca of Bollywood
and back, Marjara seeks out
her childhood film idol, Helen.
more
...
Co-presented
with www.thirdi.org
START:
1:33 PM
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Hijab:
An Expression of My Soul
Irum
Shiekh and Javeria Aleem
22
min. USA
This video is about immigrant/American-born
Muslim women who wear the
hijab in the United States.
It provides a space for Muslim
women to express their voices
and explain the meaning and
purpose of hijab and why they
choose to practice it in the
Western culture. By asserting
their identity, these women
challenge the audience to
decide for themselves if the
use of hijab is a liberation
or an oppression.
START:
3:03 PM
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Jari
Mari: Of clothes and
other stories
Surabhi Sharma
2001.
74 min. India
The
narrow lanes of the
Jari Mari slum in
Bombay house hundreds
of sweatshops where
people have no right
to organise. The film
records the changes
in the nature and
organisation of Bombay's
workforce over the
past two decades.
START: 4 PM
|
 My
Migrant Soul:
A Story of Modern
Day Slavery
Yasmine
Kabir
2000. 28 min. Bangladesh.
"an
indictment of the
ruthless machinery
of globalization,
extracting the soul
out of those who fall
prey to it."
more
...
START:
5:24 PM
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|
 Narmada
Diary
Anand
Patwardhan and Simatini
Dhuru
1995.
50 min.
India.
On
the fifteen year old
battle between the
Narmada Bachao Andolan
(Save Narmada Movement,
an anti-dam movement
in Western India)
and the Gujarat and
Indian State(s). Investigates
the Sardar Sarover
Dam project which
may displace over
200,000 residents
of the Narmada valley.
more
...
START:
7:00 PM
Discussion
with filmmaker Anand
Patwardhan
to follow film.
8:00PM,
20 min.
|
Imagine
Kalpana
Gargi
Sen
1997.
30 min. India
On
the motivations and
challenges of Kalpana
Dutta, a freedom fighter
during India's struggle
for independence.
START:
8:20 PM
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Ashgari
Bai: Echoes of Silence
Priti Chandriani and
Brahmananda Singh
1997.
45 min. India
The
86-year-old singer,
once nationally acclaimed
and the last living
exponent of the Dhrupada
genre, lives today
in penury. more...
|
 Voices
of Dissent:
A Dance of Passion
NoorKhan Bawa
1999.
22 min. Pakistan
A female classical dancer,
a male Kathak dancer,
a film actress and a
mullah reflect on dancing
in Pakistan. more
...
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|
| Sunday,
November 18, 2001 |
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|
environment
|
 Amrit
Beeja
(Eternal Seed)
Meera
Dewan
1996.
43min. Karnataka, India.
With
insightful interviews and rare footage
from India's agricultural industry,
this keenly observed film depicts
Indian women's struggle to use traditional
farming practices instead of chemically-based
agriculture. more...
START: 12 PM
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Where
Healing is a Tradition
Gargi
Sen
1997.
30 mins. India.
Presents traditional women healers who
practise folk medicine in communities
with no other access to medical services.
START:
12:30 PM
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Panel
Discussion
Angana Chatterji
California Institute of Integral Studies
Anuradha Mittal
Institute for Food Policy Research
Ritu Primlani
Thimmakka's Resources for Environmental
Education
START:
1:00 PM
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Paddana:
Song of the Ancestors
Anula
Shetty
40
min
Follows
the multifaceted relationships
of three generations of women
with each other and society
in South India.
START:
1:45 PM
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Voices
of the Morning
Meena
Nanji
1992.
12 min. USA.
This
video is a meditation on women's
roles as defined by orthodox
Islamic laws. Inspired by "The
Hidden Face of Eve" by Nawaal
El Sadaawi, it features layered
images and text to explore familial
and societal restrictions placed
on some South Asian women.
START:
2:25 PM
|
 Knowing
Her Place
Indu
Krishnan
1990.
40 min. USA.
A
moving investigation of the
cultural schizophrenia experienced
by Vasu, an Indian woman who
has spent most of her life
in the U.S. more...
START:
2:47 PM
Discussion
with filmmaker Indu Krishnan
to follow film.
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Memories
of Fear
Madushree
Dutta
1995.
57
min. India.
A
film on the interplay between
sexuality, construction of
fear, and women's own contribution
to the system which continues
to denigrate them. Memories
of Fear is an attempt to capture
the process of socialisation
of girl children which makes
them vulnerable to violence
in later life. Four parallel
narratives trace the path
of growing up of childwomen
of varied age groups. The
film deals with the shattering
of their dreams, the construction
of their desires, the growing
alienation from their body
and the formation of fear.
Although the experiences are
apparently insignificant,
they influence the gender
construction of women's psyche.
The experiential narratives
are juxtaposed with interviews
of older women who have gone
through violent marriages
and are able to trace the
connection between the construction
of feminity and violence.
START:
4:15 PM
|
 Dushomoy
(A
Mother's Lament)
Yasmine
Kabir
1999.
26
min. Bangladesh
A
16-year-old garment factory
worker is picked up by the Dhaka
police, allegedly gang raped
and dies in custody. more
...
START:
5:22 PM
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From
the Burning Embers
Sabeena Gadihoke
1993.
37 min. India.
An
indictment of sati, highlighting
the story of Roop Kanwar. The
film places the incident in
the context of the increased
strength of religious fundamentalism
in India in the 1980s, and the
government's cowardly passivity
in order to gain votes.
START:
5:48 PM
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|
feature
film
|
 Mirch
Masala
(Spices)
Ketan Mehta
1986.
98 min. India.
A
British-Raj tax collector
(Nasseeruddin Shah) lords
over a village and demands
the sexual favors of a woman
Sonibai (Smita Patil) who
refuses.
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November
17th
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November
18th
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California
College of
Arts and Crafts
Timken Hall
1111 Eight Street,
San Francisco
directions
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University
of California, Berkeley
Room 2050,
Valley Life Sciences Bldg
Berkeley
directions
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Narika:
A Helpline
for South Asian women
seeks to empower the women
of our community in order to confront the cycles
of domestic violence, exploitation, and ignorance;
to build leadership; and to build a movement that
works to end violence against women. 510.540.0754
narika@narika.org
Thimmakka's
Resources
for Environmental Education
named after an Indian “untouchable”
woman, is a global South Asian environmental non-profit
based in Oakland. They conduct programs locally
as well as globally, bringing the South Asian and
environmental cultures together to facilitate our
movement to a safer future. 510.655.5566 thimmakka@thimmakka.org
EKTA
seeks to bridge
the progressive South Asian community through artistic
statement, sociopolitical dialogue, activism, and
community building. Our organization works to increase
awareness and create a platform for changing the
social, political, and economic issues facing the
South Asian community and beyond. contactus@ektaonline.org
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