EKTA- Traveling Film South Asia 2002

Every two years, a selection of the 15 best films from
Film South Asia (Katmandu, Nepal) travels around South Asia and the world to increase awareness of South Asian documentaries at the regional and global level. Once again 15 films will travel to the Bay area showcasing some of the best documentaries South Asia has to offer.

Saturday, January 26, 2002
The Bee, the Bear and the Kuruba Vinod Raja, 2000, 63 min, Karnataka 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. 5 PM.
A Sun Sets In Shahid Nadeem, 1999, 45 min, Pakistan. 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. 6:30 PM.
The Killing Terraces Dhruba Basnet, 2001, 40 min, Nepal. 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. 7:30 PM.
King for a Day Alex Gabbay, 2001, 33 min, Bangladesh 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. 8:25 PM.

Sunday, January 27, 2002

Jari Mari: Of clothes and other stories Surabhi Sharma, 2001, 74 min, Bombay 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. Winner of Third Best Film Award at FSA '01. 3 PM.
My Migrant Soul: A Story of Modern Day Slavery Yasmine Kabir, 2000, 35 min, Bangladesh. "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. 4:35 PM.
The Loom Anjali Monteiro and K.P. Jayasankar, 2001, 49 min, Bombay 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. 5:25 PM.
Silent Shorts 25 min 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' presented in TFSA indicate how successful the exercise was. 6:30 PM.

Saturday, February 2, 2002

We Homes Chap Kesang Tseten, 2001, 65 min, North Bengal 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. 5 PM.
King of Dreams Amar Kanwar, 2001, 30 min, India. 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. 6:25 PM.
Our Boys Manzare Hassin, 2000, 42 min, Bangladesh 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. 7:10 PM.
A Rough Cut on the Life and Times of Lachuman Magar Dinesh Deokota, 2001, 39 min, Nepal. 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. 8:10 PM.

Sunday, February 3, 2002
Between the Devil and the Deep River Arvind Sinha, 1999, 65 min, Bihar 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. 3 PM.
Ramlila Ananth Sridhar, Sanjay Pande, Subash Kapoor, 2000, 28 min, Delhi Ramlila the spectacle is one thing for the audience and quite another for the performers, the filmmakers discover as they turn their camera on streetside Delhi. The documentary captures the fascinating behind-the-scenes discussons of those who would play Ram and Ravan. 4:25 PM.
Born at Home Sameera Jain, 2000, 60 min, North India 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. 5:10 PM.
Colours Black Mamta Murthy, 2001, 30 min, Bombay 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. 6:25 PM.