I Am The Change…

I Am The Change a 2 day film festival will be held in IIM
Ahemdabad campus, Ahemdabad
On 12th-13th January 2010 .

This festival, which is a part of the ‘Dream Big
India’ Event organized by the IIM-A Entrepreneurship Club, will bring
together unique individuals and organizations who are using media for
bringing positive change and transformation. Some unique features of
this festival are:

Film festival: Showcasing short films from ‘I am the change film
project’ and interaction with the filmmakers and changemakers.

Presentations and stalls of Media organizations who are focusing on
innovative ways through which youth can engage in contributing towards
social change.

Workshops will be held for participants on innovative ideas such as
Gift economy, social media entreprenuership, zen & independent
filmmaking, community video etc.

Everyday heroes will share their personal inspiring stories of how
and why they have dedicated their lives for service.

Idea corner: Participants will be able to book room and share their
ideas with others.

Metta Media networking Stall: A multimedia team will be covering the
entire event and will update online network throughout the event. Metta
members will be able to meet and network.

Creative space for Media installations and exhibitions.
Festival is open to all free of charge

 

The Indian Mystery …. On Indian Art Films

Orient BlackSwan
announces their new publication

“The Essential Mystery: Major Filmmakers of Indian Art Cinema by John W. Hood “
Paperback Price: Rs 595/-
The Book
A comprehensive overview of Indian art cinema, this substantially revised and updated edition takes a critical look at the major filmmakers of the genre. The film directors who form the corpus of this new edition now include among others Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Shyam Benegal, Govindan Aravindan, Aparna Sen, Girish Kasaravalli, Govind Nihalani, Ritwik Ghatak and Buddhadeb Dasgupta.

A final chapter critically examines the works of filmmakers not as prolific as those mentioned earlier—Mani Kaul, Kumar Shahani, Goutam Ghose, Ketan Mehta, Manmohan Mahapatra, Nirad Mahapatra and Shaji Karun. Nevertheless they have in their oeuvre, films marked by their excellence. The detailed filmography at the end of the book is a valuable addition for students and scholars of cinema and film aficionados.

 

Cut in…. the students festival of TISS

The second Cut.In Students’ Video Festival will be held at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai on the 30 and 31 January 2010.

The festival is being organized by the Centre for Media and Cultural Studies (CMCS), Tata Institute of Social Sciences. CMCS is an independent centre of Tata Institute of Social Sciences, engaged in media teaching, production, research and dissemination.
This national level video festival aims to encourage talent among this group and also to bring them together. The competition is for short documentaries, short films, public service messages and music videos produced between 1 January 2008 to 15 December 2009.
Entries are invited for the following categories:
a) Best Documentary (under 45 min)
b) Best Short fiction (under 45 min)
c) Best Public Service Message (Under 2 min)
d) Music Video (under 6 min)
The festival will feature works by graduate/postgradua te/diploma students all over the country selected by a panel of judges.

Two prizes will be given in each category. The prize consists of a trophy and a citation. In addition there are prizes for Best Camera, Edit and Sound Design.

Entry Form and other details on http://cutinfest. wordpress. com/

 

Film Workshop

Interested persons can contact
Email: mayflowermh@gmail.com

 

IFFK -Trivandrum Film Schedule

 

Mrinal Sen Retrospective

---

• Calcutta 71 1972/B&W/101′/Bengali
• In search of famine/Aakaler sandhane 1980/color/115’/Bengali
• The ruins/Khandhar 1983/color/106’/Hindi
• This is my land/Aamar bhuban 2002/color/107’/Bengali
• Mr. Shome/Bhuvan Shome 1969/B&W/96’/Hindi
• Suddenly one day/ Ekdin achanak 1989/color/105’/Hindi
• The Confined/Antareen 1993/color/91’/Bengali
• Ek Din Pratidin / A day like any other 1997/color/95’/Bengali

---

Arturo Ripstein Retrospective

---

• Castle of Purity / El castillo de la pureza Mexico/1974/Colour/116’/Spanish
• The place without limits/ El lugar sin límites Mexico/1978/110’/ Spanish
• The Realm of Fortune/ El imperio de la fortuna Mexico/1985/ Colour/ 35mm/135’/ Spanish
• The beginning and the end/ Principio y fin Mexico/1993/35mm/Colour/188’/Spanish
• The Queen of the Night/ La reina de la noche Mexico, USA, France/ 1993/ Colour/ 35 mm/ 120’/ Spanish
• Divine/ El Evangelio De Las Maravillas Mexico, Spain, Argentina/1998/Colour/112’/Spanish
• The Ruination of Men /La Perdcion de los hombres Mexico/Spain/2000/35mm/B&W/106’/ Spanish

---

Mikio Naruse Retrospective

---

• Her Lonely Lane/Hourou-ki Japan/ B &W / Wide / 1962 / 123 min. / Takarazuka Eiga
• Husband and Wife Japan /B & W / Standard / 1953 / 87 min / Toho
• Scattered Clouds Japan/1967/35mm/colour/108’/Japanese
• The Echo Japan/B & W / Standard/ 1954 / 95 min / Toho
• Mother Japan/B&W / Standard/ 1952 / 98min / Shin Toho

---

Jacques Tati Retrospective

---

• Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday / Les Vacances de M. Hulot France/1953/ Restored Version /114’/French,English
• Festival Day/ Jour de fête France/1949/Restored Version/70’/French
• Play Time France/1967/ Restored Version/155’/French
• My Uncle/Mon Oncle Italy,France/1958/ Restored Version/117’/French

---

Contemporary Master in Focus : Raoul Peck

---

• Lumumba France, Belgium, Germany/2000/116 Min/Color/French
• Man by the Shore/L’Homme sur les Quais France/Canada/ Haiti/1993/colour/105’/French
• Sometimes In April USA/ Rwanda/ 140’/colour/English
• Lumumba: Death of a Prophet
• Moloch Tropical United States/ 2009/105’/Color/English, French

 

The Fall of the Wall Film Series , Mumbai

28. November – 05. December 2009, 6.30pm
MMB, Goethe Hall
German with englisch subtitles
Entry free

To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall the
Goethe-Institut is presenting a series of films, narrative and
documentary features, as well as shorts that portray not only the
historical events but also the conditions before and after November 9,
1989.
Saturday, November 28

Sonnenallee
Regie: Leander Haußmann, Farbe, 94 Min., 1998/99

The film “Sonnenallee” ventures a look back to GDR times – it is not a
maudlin portrayal, but an unabashedly sentimental and fabulously
exaggerated one. It is the story of young people, forbidden music and
dances, and of that special love that changes everything.

Monday, Nov 30
BLACK BOX BRD
Regie: Andres Veiel, Farbe, 100 Min., 2000

An investigation into two contrary, but equally radical lives, both of
which ended through violence: Alfred Herrhausen, chairman of the board
of Deutsche Bank, died in 1989 in a bomb attack presumably planned and
executed by the RAF. Four years later, the suspected RAF terrorist
Wolfgang Grams was to be arrested at Bad Kleinen station, but died in a
hail of bullets. The circumstances surrounding his death were never
fully revealed.

Tuesday, Dec. 1

My Wall (Short films)
Berlin Today Award, Short Film Competition 2009 Regie: 5 Regisseure,
Farbe, 59 Min., 2009

To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in
2009, My Wall was chosen as the creative focus for the sixth edition of
the Berlin Today Award – the short film competition of the Berlinale
Talent Campus.

Wednesday, Dec. 2 & Thu, Dec.3

Deutschlandspiel (Enacted Scenes + Documentary Footage)
1. Teil: Auf die Straße, 2. Teil: Eilig Vaterland!
Regie: Christoph Blumenberg, Farbe, 2 x 90 Min., 2000

In the space of just under a year, from 7 October 1989 to 3 October
1990, the Wall came down in Berlin, the GDR shuffled off the world
stage and the two German states were unified. DEUTSCHLANDSPIEL
reconstructs the story behind the story and shows the conflicts,
discussions and intrigues which were carefully concealed from the
public eye at the time.

Friday, Dec. 4

Nikolaikirche
Director: Frank Beyer, colour, 133 min., 1995

Leipzig 1987: The individual gestures of revolt against the state are
becoming more and more apparent. The Monday prayers in the St. Nicholas
Church are attended by an increasing number of people. The state reacts
by trying to intimidate the people, expulsion from the party and other
repressive measures. On 9 October 1989 the Leipzig citizens achieve a
decisive victory. The head of Leipzig state security declares : “We
have reckoned with many things, but not with candles and prayers !”

Saturday, Dec. 5

Nach dem Fall
Director: Frauke Sandig, colour, 86 min., 1999

Documentary film about the disappearance of the Berlin wall.
Contemporary witnesses include an American historian, a church minister
in Berlin and a Bavarian demolition expert. The common tenor of all
their statements is that the wall and its traces were eradicated too
quickly and too radically with the intention of forgetting the past.
One of the absurd consequences: British homeopathists use pulverized
concrete from the wall to produce a therapeutic agent.

 

IFFI Film Schedule -Indian Section

 

 

IFFI – film schedule Foreign Section

 

Silversalt Animation Festival

 

Kabir Festival

Open Space, in collaboration with
Either Or and Symbiosis Law School,  brings you the
Festival of Kabir in Films, Music & Conversations.

The Kabir Festival is a wonderful opportunity to explore and celebrate the
ideas of inclusion, pluralism, and cultural diversity through a quartet of
four critically-acclaime d films by Shabnam Virmani on the life and work of
the15th century saint-poet, the myriad ways in which Kabir lives on in the
subcontinent, and the relevance of Kabir in a 21st century India that is
being increasingly divided along religion, caste and class lines.

The screenings will culminate in a unique music concert that brings together
some of the finest folk-classical- sufi voices of Kabir — Mukhtiar Ali,
Mahesha Ram and Pt Vijay Sardeshmukh.

Entry for all events is free and on a first-come first-served basis.

The Festival is being brought to Pune by the Kabir Project at Srishti School
of Art, Design and Technology.
About the films
*Chalo Hamara Des: Journeys with Kabir and Friends: A journey in search
of Kabir’s “des ” or country unfolds through the narratives of two people
from two very different countries – dalit folk singer Prahlad Tipaniya and
North American scholar Linda Hess.

Had-Anhad: Journeys with Ram and Kabir- Delves into the heart of
divisive Hindu-Muslim politics of religion and nationalism, probing the
forces of history that have created disputatiously diverse Rams, while also
spawning many Kabirs.

Koi Sunta Hai: Journeys with Kumar and Kabir- Interweaves the oral folk
traditions of Kabir in central India with the intensely personal narrative
of the late classical singer Kumar Gandharva. The film journeys between folk
and classical music, between rural and urban expressions of Kabir.

 

CMS VATAVARAN -Awards

Green Salute’: Indian and International Awards to the Green Filmmakers and Journalists

India’s premier environment and wildlife film festival CMS VATAVARAN successfully culminated with a glittering award ceremony on October 30 at IHC, New Delhi . There were 25 awards in 15 Indian categories and 10 awards in nine international categories. The eminent guests that were present during the award night include noted filmmaker Mr Mahesh Bhatt, Magsaysay award winner Rajender Singh, H.E Mr Bob Hiensch, Ambassador of the Netherlands to India, Mr Jahnu Baruah, director and chairperson of CMS VATAVARAN 2009 jury, Dr N Bhaskara Rao, Chairman CMS and PN Vasanti, director CMS. The welcome speech was given by Dr. Bhaskara Rao, Chairman, CMS. Mahesh Bhatt, appreciated and congratulated CMS for its persistent efforts to create awareness on environmental issues and said that this year the festival was grander in comparison to last year. This year awardees are:

CMS-UNEP Prithvi Ratna Award

Krishnendu Bose

“for his sustained and concerted efforts towards enhancing people’s understanding and spreading awareness on diverse environmental issues through films and documentaries ”

Environmental Journalist Award (Print)

Aarti Dhar, The Hindu

“for ensuring that regional, national and global environmental issues get effectively highlighted and disseminated through her thought provoking and insightful stories”

TVE AP Environmental Journalist Award (Electronic)

Pierre Fitter, NEWSX

“for his insightful, analytical and fact finding stories focusing on diverse issues related to environment and climate change”

Indian category awards

• 25 awards in 15 Indian categories were presented in the award night.
• Best of the Festival Award was given to ‘Deeply Superficial’ by Vineet Raj Bagga.

International category awards

• Best of the festival award went to ‘The Soul of Water’ by Kurt Skoog. The film also won the ‘Water for all Award’ in the international category.

 

CALL FOR ENTRIES-Karim Nagar Doc Festival

The FOURTH annual

NATIONAL SHORT AND DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL 2010

ORGANISED BY

KARIMNAGAR FILM SOCIETY

(AFFILIATED TO FEDERATION OF FILM SOCITIES OF INDIA)

seeks documentaries, short films of any length and format for our 2010 festival taking place in JANUARY 28-31,2010 at KARIMNAGAR, ANDHRA PRADESH.

Festival consists of  competitive section for the PALAPITTA  AWARDS (INDIA ROLLER) for

4th NATIONAL SHORT AND DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL 2010

In the competitive section two PALAPITTA AWARDS for the short and documentary films separately. Winners will be presented Rs.10, 000=00(Rupees ten thousand), Shawl, Memento and a citation as first prize and Rs5000.00 (Rupees five thousand) Shawl, Memento and a citation as second prize for the two categories separately..

LAST DATE :  31 DECEMBER 2009

 

 

Samudaya Film Festival-Don’t Miss it

Schedule

 

GW international documentary fellowships

GW Documentary felllowship is an innovative program at The George Washington University to bring the work of emerging international documentary filmmakers to the world stage .  Twenty selected film makers  will be invited to participate this year.

The program, part of the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences’ School of Media and Public Affairs, is designed for filmmakers from countries in which the traditional public or private infrastructure for the production and distribution of documentaries does not currently exist. The fellowship encourages the artistic and technical development of filmmakers, heightens the awareness of their work with program executives from the United States and other Western broadcast outlets and fosters an international dialogue to enhance non-fiction filmmaking throughout the world.

Those selected will make two films on location in Washington, D.C., and New York City using the advanced video technology housed at The Documentary Center. Fellows will meet with top U.S. broadcast executives and will share their work with filmmakers across the U.S. In addition, this year’s program will feature a “Teacher Engagement Project” to encourage area secondary school teachers to use international documentaries in their classes. There also will be opportunities for the public to interact with the filmmakers through programs and events throughout the fellowship period.

Please visit The Documentary Center for application information and more on the Fellowship.  The application deadline is December 4, 2009.For more information about GW’s School of Media and Public Affairs, visit www.smpa.gwu.edu.

 

docedge-10 workshop

Asian Documentary Forum
The 7th edition of docedge International Documentary Workshop

will take place from 12th to 17th of January, 2010

at the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute, Kolkata, India.
This edition of docedge aims to create a platform for intense dialogue on Asian socio-political reality as seen and interpreted by filmmakers through this 3rd Asian Documentary Forum.

The authors will present their new documentary ideas for feedback, input, guidance and possible fund/co-pro support. The workshop includes three days of tutoring and two days of pitching session with a panel of international commissioning editors. Maximum of 24 projects will be critically discussed, tutored and finally pitched to the distinguished panel. A team of internationally acknowledged professionals will train filmmakers through project development clinics and pitch labs in a warm and caring environment where you further improve your ideas and visual pitch.
s.
The last date of submission of projects for consideration is 10th November 2009.

Please log on to www.docedge.org for online application and further details.

 

Meat the truth- Indian premiere

watch the Indian premiere of ‘Meat The Truth’ on October 24th,

on the day of the International day of Climate Action at

CED (Centre for Education and Documentation)

in association with IYCN (Indian Youth Climate Network), FIAPO (Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations) , and 350.org

Time : 5:15 pm onwards

Location : CED (Centre for Education and Documentation)

Street: No.7, 8th main, 3rd phase, Domlur 2nd stage, Bangalore- 560071

Ph. 25353397

 

Films and Docs – BULLETIN October 2009

1.   Call for casting: Experimental/ Fiction short film

2.   Call for submission: 60th Berlin International Film Festival - 
Shorts

3.  Call for submission: 60th Berlin International Film Festival - 
Generation

4.   Call for submission: Slamdance Film Festival

5.  Call for submission: Phoenix Film Festival


1.   Call for casting: Experimental/ Fiction short film

The Royal Film Commission – JordanRifqi Assaf – Seven Eight Filmmaking 
with the cooperation of RFC is working on a new Experimental/ Fiction 
short film production with a new with a new promising director.

Roles Needed:

 

Supermen of Malegaon at Shanthi Nagar

 

The Holy Wives @ IAT Bangalore

Pedestrian Pictures is holding the premier of the documentary film The Holy Wives, a journey through the life and struggle of Devadasis in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh on October 4.

The film, directed by Ritesh Sharma, documents the lives of women who were forced into the Devadasi system in her early teens.

It brings out the lives of communities who had been victimised in a system of caste-based sexual exploitation, variously called Devadasis, Jogins, Basavis, Kalawants, Paravatis or Mathammas.

The narrative unfolds through the stories of their life, struggle and their dreams of a dignified life for their children. Even after the system was banned in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, life remains difficult for the Devadasis, in the absence of credible alternatives.

The children from these communities were still being trafficked. Ritesh Sharma is a Delhi-based activist, theatre person who has been associated in several video productions since 2005.

The film will be screened on October 4 at 4.30 p.m. Screening is at IAT, Queens’ Road. For details, email pedepics@gmail.com.

 

GLOBAL FESTIVAL OF DOCUMENTARY FILMS

GLOBAL FESTIVAL OF DOCUMENTARY FILMS will be held from 20th to 22nd November, 2009, at Marwah Studios, Film City, Noida-NCR, U.P. INDIA.

There will be three categories of films:- 1. Films 7 to10 mts. , 2. Films 25 to 30 mts., 3. Feature length Doc.s 90 mts. to 110 mts. All films made after Ist January 2008 are eligible to participate.

Some of the most significant international award winning films from abroad and India will be participating in the festival along with the Directors.

There will be a simultaneous “Young Film Maker Festival” for students and first time film makers. Entries are invited from all Media Colleges/Schools/ Institutes from across the country and abroad for this festival.

For more details and Entry Form please visit the website – iftc.org.in/ globalfestival

Suman Bajaj Kalra (9958813188)

Festival Director, Global Festival of Documentary Films

Marwah Studios, 14/15 Film City, Sector 16A, NOIDA-NCR, U.P. India

GLOBAL FESTIVAL OF DOCUMENTARY FILMS will be held from

20th to 22nd November, 2009,

at Marwah Studios, Film City,

Noida-NCR, U.P. INDIA.

There will be three categories of films:-

1. Films 7 to10 mts.

2. Films 25 to 30 mts.

3. Feature length Doc.s 90 mts. to 110 mts.

All films made after Ist January 2008 are eligible to participate.

Some of the most significant international award winning films from abroad and India will be participating in the festival along with the Directors.

There will be a simultaneous “Young Film Maker Festival” for students and first time film makers. Entries are invited from all Media Colleges/Schools/ Institutes from across the country and abroad for this festival.

For more details and Entry Form please visit the website – iftc.org.in/ globalfestival

Suman Bajaj Kalra (9958813188)

Festival Director, Global Festival of Documentary Films

Marwah Studios, 14/15 Film City,

Sector 16A, NOIDA-NCR, U.P.

India

 

The Doc-film Bulletin- september 2009

In this bulletin:

1. Call for entries: Production Directory 2010

2. Call for submission: “Environmental” short films

3. Call for submissions: Entertainment Partners workshop (
Budgeting and Scheduling)

4. Crew needed: Major Jordanian feature film starting to shoot

5. Call for proposals: Animation Film Week Beirut 2009

6. Call for submissions: Arab Fund Documentary Film Program

7. Call for submissions: Professional Coaching for Producers-6th
Dubai International Film Festival

8. Call for submissions: The 8th Berlinale Talent Campus
*****************

1. Call for entries: Production Directory 2010
After the big success of the previous Jordan production directories of
2008 & 2009, the Royal Film Commission – Jordan is glad to announce the
launch of its third edition.

 

special screening of ELEPHAS MAXIMUS

*By Philippe Gautier and Prajna Chowta *

* a two part documentary on the Asian Elephant*
*at the Alliance Française de Bangalore on the 19th of September at 7pm*

Attending the screening will be the filmmakers and conservationists Philippe Gautier and Prajna Chowta, eminent wildlife ecologist and leading authority on the Asian Elephant Professor Raman Sukumar, and other well known
conservationists and ecological scientists.
The documentary will be followed by an interactive discussion.

*Elephas Maximus*

In the heart of Asia’s most densely populated forest in wild elephants, in southern India, near Mysore, Prajna Chowta and the filmmaker Philippe Gautier have filmed these animals with unprecedented proximity as part of an exceptional documentary series. The first part, *of* *Elephants and Men* captures 5000 years of the history of elephant trainers, or mahouts, from the Mauryan Empire to the British times, and until the last Mysore Kheddas or grand captures.  In the second part, *Meetings with Remarkable Animals*, we explore the Asian elephant in the wild as it faces the loss of its habitat, and suffers from a conflict with one of the largest human populations in the world.

*Prajna Chowta, an ethnologist and her filmmaker husband Philippe Gautier*have been documenting and filming elephants for many years.
Their film *Hathi* was awarded the Golden Award at the 1999 Seoul Film Festival
and *Elephas Maximus* has been widely screened on international channels like Arté and
TV5Monde.

Prajna and Philippe live at the base camp of the Aane Mane Foundation, deep
in the reserved forest near Madikeri. They live with semi captive elephants
in the latter’s natural habitat.
*Professor Raman Sukumar* is a well known wildlife ecologist and Chair of
the Centre for Ecological Sciences at the Indian Institute of Science. As a
conservation scientist, he has devoted much of his career to the study of
the Asian elephant and is a leading authority on the majestic animal. He was
conferred the Dutch Order of the Golden Ark and awarded the Whitley Gold
Award for International Nature Conservation in 2003 and the International
Cosmos Prize in 2006. He is the founding trustee of the Asian Nature
Conservation Foundation.

The Asian Nature Conservation Foundation* is a not-for-profit charitable
trust set up in 1997. It seeks to stem the rapidly declining natural
landscape and biodiversity of India and tropical Asia. ANCF’s team, trained
in ecological sciences and nature conservation, works closely with local
communities and government agencies in disseminating research and in
formulating effective nature conservation policies and strategies. The ANCF
is based at the Indian Institute of Science.

*Elephas Maximus has been brought to Bangalore audiences with the support of
Nine Hills.*

Photo courtesy :Anemane.org

 

National Film Awards: the gulabi flavour

Best Actress: Umashree

The Kannada actress Umashree  has won the prestiegious best actress award in National Film Awards – 2007  for her role  as Gulabi in Kannada  film” Gulabi  Talkies” by Girish Kasaravalli.

Gulabi Talkies have also won the best Kannada feature film award.

The film  set in the late 1990s among the fishing communities around Kundapura, in the southwestern Indian state of Karnataka. Umashree the protagonist of the movie  - midwife gulabi gives one of her best  performance in the film. The film clearly analyses the  root cause and the complex factors that leads to communal clashes in south Karnataka districts. The intricate  relationships among different communities and increasing influence of the anti social elements in the region gives a clear picture how once peacefull karavali region of Karnataka has turned in to a boiling pot of communal clashes .

The awards :

Osian’s Cinefan Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema, 2008:

• Best Film in Indian Competition
• Best Actress in Indian Competition – Umashree

Karnataka State Annual Film Awards 2009

• Best Film – Kannada State award
• Best Screenplay – Girish Kasaravalli
• Best Actress – Umashree

55th National Awards

• Best actor(female) Umashree

Film synopsis:

The impulsive midwife Gulabi (Umashree) is the protagonist, whose one passion is the cinema. She leads a lonely life in an island inhabited by fisher folk. Her husband Musa (K.G. Krishna Murthy), a small-time fish-selling agent, has deserted her and is living happily with his second wife Kunjipathu and their child Adda.

A family gifts her a television with a satellite dish antenna in gratitude after she attends to a difficult delivery (for which they even had to bodily remove her from a movie theatre). The arrival of the first color TV in her small island village heralds great changes in the sleepy hamlet. The women in the village begin gathering at her house once the men leave for fishing. But a few of them stay away, since Gulabi is one of the few Muslims in the village. Yet others prefer to watch from outside her shack, without entering it.

Among the regulars at her home is Netru (singer-actress M.D. Pallavi), a girl with an absentee husband and a domineering mother-in-law, whom Gulabi befriends and becomes a confidante to. But Netru disappears and Gulabi is blamed, leaving her all alone in the village.

The Kargil War of 1999 and the rise of communalism in Karnataka provide the backdrop to the film. The communal stereotyping of Muslims following the Kargil War finds an echo in the village. The tension between the small fishermen of the village and a Muslim businessman (who is actually never shown throughout the film) with a growing fleet of commercial trawlers acquires a communal colour.

The disappearance of Netru adds to the mounting tensions. The Muslims in the village flee and urge Gulabi to leave too, but she refuses and stays put in the village. Her house is vandalised and she is forcibly taken to a boat to leave the island. The young men from outside who spearhead the attack assure the villagers that Gulabi’s television would remain in her house.

The film ends with a scene in which two illiterate elderly women, who had hitherto refused to enter Gulabi’s house, going in there to watch TV (which they do not know how to switch on – they are probably unaware even that it has to be switched on).

 

55th National Film Awards : Umashree best actress , Prakashraj best actor

The 55th National Film Awards 2007,  has been announced and  Umashree gets the best actress award for her performance in Girish Kasaravalli’s Kannada film “Gulabi Talkies“.

While  Tamil actor Prakash Raaj gets the best actor award for 2007 for his performance in Tamil film “Kanchivaram”. Raaj has earlier won the best supporting actor award for his film “Iruvar” in 1998 and a special jury award in 2003.

Adoor Gopalakrishnan gets the best director award for his malayalam filmNaalu Pennungal( Four women) .

“Kanchivaram” has also been chosen as the best film for 2007.  Directed by Priyadarshan, the film depicts the lives and times of silk-weavers of Kancheepuram in pre-Independent India.

The best child actor award goes to Sharad Goyekar for his role in the Marathi film “Tingya”.

Special Jury Award for best film and Best Screenplay Award for his film Gandhi My Father by Feroz Abbas Khan . A third award for best supporting actor also went to Darshan Jariwalla for Gandhi My Father.

There is also a special jury award for this film, which explores the troubled relationship between Harilal Gandhi and Mahatma Gandhi.

“Chak De” gets the award in the wholesome entertainment category and “Taare Zameen Par” in the family welfare category.

Playback singer Shankar Mahadevan has won the award for the song “Meri Maa” from the film “Taare Zameen Par”.

The jury was headed by Sai Paranjpe; other members included Ashok Viswanathan and Namita Gokhale. About 102 films and 106 non-feature films were considered.

 

The National film Awards announced

National Film  Awards

Best director:Adoor Gopalakrishnan for  film Naalu Pennungal( malayalam) .

Best Actor award  :Prakash Raaj for Kanchivaram(Tamil)

Best Actress: Umashree for Gulabi Talkies(Kannada)

Best Film :Kanchivaram-by Priyadarshan(Tamil)

Indira Gandhi award for the best  first film of the director: Frozen by Shivaji Chandra bhushan

Best Children film: foto

Best child actor: Sharad Goyekar for the film ”Tingya”.(Marathi )

Special Jury Award for best film and Best Screenplay Award: Gandhi My Father by Feroz Abbas Khan . Best supporting actor : Darshan Jariwalla for Gandhi My Father.

Best support in actress : shefali shaw,the last lear

Best film wholesome entertainment category:Chak De

Best film-family welfare category: Taare Zameen Par

Best Playback singer :Shankar Mahadevan for the song “Meri Maa” from the film “Taare Zameen Par”. Nargees datt award best feature film on national integration: Dharma

Best female play back singer: Shreya goshal, film Jab We Met

Best animation film:  inimey nangathaan (Tamil)Best cinematography: Shanker raman,Frozen

Best Editing –  Ajith kumar,Naalu Pennungal

Best  Art direction: Sabu Syril, ohm shanti ohm

Best music Director: Ouseppachan

 

The 48 Hour Film project- apply now

The 48 Hour Film Project comes to Bangalore on the weekend of October 30th. Filmmakers from all over the Bangalore area will compete to see who can make the best short film in only 48 hours. The winning film will go up against films from around the world.

Enter today! Space is limited.

This year, teams will be accepted on a first come, first served basis. Once the initial registration is complete, teams will be accepted for the Waiting List. If a registered team must drop out, chance will go to the Waiting List. If there is enough interest, and   can secure additional theater time, organisers  may be able to add more teams from the list.

Registration is Rs.2500.

organisers prefer films in English, Hindi, Kannada, Malyalam, Tamil or Telugu, but   will screen films in any language.

Register for Bangalore now!

 

Voice From The Waters Film festival 2009-schedule, venue and films

DATES : 4th to 7th September 2008

TIME : 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

VENUES :

:: Alliance Francaise de Bangalore :: (The Main Venue)

:: Suchitra Film Society, Bangalore ::

:: Badami House, Bangalore ::

:: YWCA, Bangalore ::

:: MES College :: (for College Students)

:: Bal Bhavan :: (children)

Alliance Francaise de Bangalore, Vasanth Nagar

Final Festival & Conference Schedule

Friday 4^th September, 2009

11.00am : Flood of Memory (Baad Ki Raat)

Dur: 11min

Country: India

Dir: Anitha Balachandran

In 2006, a devastating flood hits the Rajasthan desert of western India. The film uses a combination of live footage, charcoal and sand animations to evoke the desert landscape, and the memories of people who live within it.

11.10pm:Source to Sea: The Columbian River Swim

Dur: 90min

Country: USA/Canada

Dir: Andy Morris

Chris Swan swam 1243miles in 13months, all across the Columbia River, braving not just cold and exhaustion but pollution and encroachments which threaten to turn the once thriving and glorious water body into sewage, displacement and extinction. Andy Morris’s remarkable ‘Source to Sea’ is not just a rousing paean to human endeavor but also spans the ancient story of a river and the life and culture that thrives in and around it.  It is through these epic narratives that the film arrives on the essential connect between man and the elements; one we are in the danger of forgetting. Winner of the Best Environmental activism/ Social Justice Award and Most Inspiring Adventure Film Award.

1.15pm – 2.00pm: LUNCH

2.00pm: Toxic Waste in Papago Territory

Dur: 18min

Country: Mexico

Prod: Promedios

In a Papago Indigenous community located in Quitovac, near the boarder with Arizona the community discusses their fight against the construction of a toxic waste dump that will be a repository of waste from both the US and Mexico. Elders speak about the extinction of certain trees, birds, how toxins will become air-borne and the serious health consequences for all.

2.20pm :Switch-Off (Apaga y Vanamos)

Dur: 83min

Country: Pehuenche-Mapuche/Chile/Spain

Dir: Manel Mayol

The Biobio is an angry river, one that has resisted every attempt to tame its furious currents- from the Incas to the Spanish Armada. But with an energy giant and an uncaring government trying to construct a hydro-electric dam over its waters, the lands and histories of the indigenous Pehuenche-Mapuche tribes are a stake. However evasive and sly the officials try to be, the voice of protest booms across the land. Director Mayol captures these angry voices and images to channel them into the explosive and acclaimed ‘Switch-Off’.  Winner of Best Film at both, the prestigious Planet in Focus and Ecocinema 2005.

3.45pm – 4.00pm :TEA

4.00pm: Sujan Bandhu, a boatman’s journey

Dur: 19min

Country: India

Dir: Viplab Majumder

The river, like life, inspires us to keep moving and that is the story of this protagonist of ‘Sujan Bandhu’. More than the documentation of his life, the director feels it is the documentation of life itself.

 

Behind forgotten eyes

 

Voices from the Waters -2009

The 4th International Film Festival on Water

Voices From the Waters-2009 is the largest International Film Festival on Water, with more than 300 handpicked films that deal with the many dimensions of the water crisis- ecological destruction, livelihood and migration, discrimination distribution, sanitation, harvesting and so on. The festival has been much acclaimed and films from the festival have played at prestigious international film festival such as the Margaret Mead Film Festival, New York, Mountain film in Telluride and Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival, Ithaca College, USA.

It was a festival in design, but has become a movement in reality. The true success of ‘Voices From The Waters’ lies in its ability to reach out to the students, film makers, artists, water activists, architects, engineers, scholars and policy makers.

This Film Festival on Water is brought to you by a consortium of National and International organizations active in water issues, bringing together students, film makers, artists, water activists, architects, engineers, scholars, visionaries and all concerned from across the world! 
This unique event will spotlight on the serious global water crisis, conservation, consumption, conflicts, dams, displacements, floods, droughts, migrations, global warming, climate change and how these impacts our contemporary lives and futures… It’s a unique platform for voices of concern over water including testimonies of people working on water and with water. 
Voices from the Waters -2009 seeks to embrace and trigger interdisciplinary dialogue and vigorous debate on water across all its forms: economic, social, ecological, political, cultural, technological and the aesthetic.

Highlights:

Water Awareness Cycle Rally by Youth Conference 
on 29th August, 2009 on climate change and water.

Paintings and photos exhibition on water.

Water Songs.

Conference on Critical link between Climate changes Food, water, livelihood and ecosystem security.

Interaction with various Film Directors.

DATES : 4th to 7th September 2008
TIME : 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
VENUES :
:: Alliance Francaise de Bangalore :: (The Main Venue)
:: Suchitra Film Society, Bangalore ::
:: Badami House, Bangalore ::
:: YWCA, Bangalore ::
:: MES College :: (for College Students)
:: Bal Bhavan :: (for School Children)

 

1:1 film making workshop

Ever wondered what it’s like to make a film? Find out at  1:1 Filmmaking Workshop, a 1-day workshop where you make 1-minute films.

At a 1:1 Filmmaking Workshop, participants who are complete novices, will learn to write, storyboard, enact, shoot and edit by doing it themselves (with instructors to guide). Because you can’t make a film alone, you will work collaboratively in small groups (3-4 people). This is a hands-on workshop where participants will be taught to handle and use cameras, computers and software to make their films.
Workshop Plan
8:30 AM – Screening of short films and presentation of how films are made.
9:30 AM – Writing a treatment for a film.
10:30 AM – Writing a script for the film
11:30 AM – Storyboard a film
1:30 PM – Break for lunch
2:30 PM -  Begin shooting the films (each group provided with a Sony handycam)
6:30 PM – Editing of films (each group provided with an Apple computer editing with Final Cut Express software)
8:30 PM – Review of films.

Workshop Fee: Rs. 1,500/-

Where: FilmCamp.TV Studio. 94/5, 8th Main, Jayanagar, 2nd Block, Bangalore – 560011

When: 8:00 AM, Sunday, 23rd Aug, 2009

Register: Registration Form     OR      96118 12121

 

TRAIL OF THE TOXIC – FROM HIROSHIMA TO BHOPAL

LOKAYAT organizes a cultural festival of film, play and songs

TRAIL OF THE TOXIC – FROM HIROSHIMA TO BHOPAL

Film screening:
PROPHECY  - On bombing of Hiroshima-Nagasaki
HUNTING WARREN ANDERSON - On Bhopal gas traged

Play:
BLUFF MASTERS - By Chennai based group “THEATRE FOR RIGHTS”

Speech:
SATINATH SARANGI -World renowned leader of the Bhopal gas survivors

ENTRY FREE

Venue:  LOKAYAT Hall, Lenovo Building, Opposite Syndicate Bank, Law College Road, Nal Stop, Pune.

Contact:
ALKA-9422319129
RISHIKESH-942350786 4
RUSHAL-9975708690

 

Not one less

 

Film Screening- in Chennai, Kolkatta

PLAYING FROM 1st-7th AUGUST : I’M NOT THERE

Nandan – Audi 2, Kolkata

Daily 1.45 pm

Starring : Cate Blanchett, Christian Bale, Richard Gere and the late

Heath Ledger

Maverick director Todd Haynes redefines the biopic genre with I’m Not

There. Tracing the life of legendary American singer Bob Dylan, each

stage in Dylan’s life is represented by a different character. Six

actors play Dylan in this one-of-a-kind exploration into the life of a

talented musician. I’m Not There was nominated for the Golden Lion at

the 2007 Venice Film Festival.

—-

EXPERIENCE THRILLERS

5 days of spine-chilling thrillers from across the world brought to you

by NDTV Lumiere and Alliance Francaise of Madras.

Presented by Roca in association with the New Ford Fiesta

ENTRY FREE

Venue : Alliance Francaise of Madras Auditorium

Dates : 5th – 9th August

7 & 9pm daily

OPEN TO ALL

Experience Thrillers kicks off with ‘The Orphanage’ – a spine chilling

thriller and Spain’s official entry for the 2008 Academy Awards.

Directed by the award winning young film-maker Juan Antonio Bayona and

produced by the renowned Guillermo Del Toro, this thriller stars

Spanish actress Belèn Rueda and Geraldine Chaplin (the grand-daughter

of Charlie Chaplin).

Watch desire and vengeance meet in a musical thriller ‘The Page Turner’

or get caught in the twisting tale=2

0of fate and fatality in ’Crossed

Tracks’, where nothing is what it seems. Be a part of an escape with

Quim in ‘King of the Hill’ and discover a terrible secret hidden in the

woods with ‘Shiver ‘

SCHEDULE :

5th August : The Orphanage

6th August : The Page Turner

7th August : Crossed Tracks

8th August : King Of The Hill

9th August : Shiver

 

The Bicycle is not Far

The first monsoon screening of KRITI FILM CLUB

The Bicycle is not Far

(English, 2009)

a film by Subrata Chakrabarty

on 18th July, Saturday, 5.30 pm

at S-35 Tara Apartments, Alaknanda, New Delhi

Phone: 26027845/ 26033088

Email: space.kriti@gmail.com

followed by a discussion with the film maker!

about the film:

A film about fair trade practices around organic cotton farming in India. Shot over a period of eight months in different parts of India (in the state of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal) and partly also in Paris, France to depict the existence of market rationality, fairtrade certification, increasing fair trade movement, participatory guarantee system (PGS) etc.

The film’s protagonist is a woman who work in the field of cotton and the film travels with her in the journey of how fairtrade practices improves her and her families’ life. Made simply, the film aims to reach out to everyone who produces and/ or consumes some form of ‘cotton’ in their life!

 

CHINH INDIA KIDS FILM FESTIVAL 2009

3rd – 9th OCTOBER 2009

OPEN CALL FOR ENTRIES

Pre School Films (Film)
Early Education Films (Film)
Animation Films for Children (Film)
Advertisements (Film)

REGULAR DEADLINE  31st JULY 2009

MISSION & OBJECTIVE
Prioritizing the children audience and creating media space for children.

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
Initiated in the backdrop of 60th year of India’s Independence, CHINH INDIA KIDS FILM FESTIVAL and FORUM is an initiative to celebrate knowledge, ideas and perspectives on culture, development and education in context of children programming.

The objective of the CHINH INDIA KIDS FILM FESTIVAL 2009 is to inculcate taste for quality children programme and to generate awareness about new genre, innovations, and formats linking education with culture & development issues among children.

The highlight of CHINH INDIA KIDS FILM FESTIVAL 2009 is intelligence exchange sessions of children with experts to share, voice and express their views. In CHINH INDIA KIDS FILM FESTIVAL, children’s opinion matters and they decide the winners.The video clippings of the children jury and judgment process is uploaded on www.chinh.in

Test your children programmes with INDIAN CHILDREN JURY.

 

The complan kids…………..

The old ” Iam a complan boy … Iam a  complan girl…..” ad that featured todays bollywood stars Shahid Kapur and Ayesha Takia

 

KAHAN GAYE WOH DIN ….

Woh kagaz ki kashti woh barish ka pani……………………………………

Are you missing those days? an email message that is in circulation brings in those old sweet days back to memory..

Doordarshan’ s Screensaver

Malgudi Days

Dekh Bhai Dekh

Ramayan

Mile Sur Mera Tumhara

Salma Sultana DD News Reader

Surabhi:Renuka Sahane and Siddharth and many more like

He Man,Turning Point, Bharath Ek Khoj, Alif Laila, Byomkesh Bakshi, Tehkikaat,

and ads like

Vicco turmeric

Nahin cosmetic

Vicco turmeric ayurvedic cream

Twaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiinggggggg

Washin powder Nirma, Washing powder Nirma

Doodh si safedi, Nirma se aayi

Rangeen kapde bhi khil khil jaaye

Then were ‘Mungerilal ke hasin sapane’ and ‘karamchand’ …’Vikram Betal’, etc.

 

choti si asha………….

The documentary film Chhoti Si Asha shows how teaching school dropouts computer skills can help them find new livelihood opportunities-

chhoti si asha

If a graph of the lives of Delhi-based Sanjay Kumar, Jyothi Kumari, Shabnam Hassan, Sunita Rajput and Pooja Kushwaha, among others, were to be plotted, they would all run parallel to each other. Starting with a tiny dot right at the bottom, indicating their impoverished status just a year ago, the curve would rise to a point where they can all proudly claim to have become self-sufficient earning members of Indian society, thanks to their newfound ability to use a computer.

How did this come about?

As can be seen from Usha Albuquerque’s 30-minute documentary titled Chhoti Si Asha, produced by the Public Service Broadcasting Trust (PBST), the remarkable turnaround was due to the efforts of the Habitat Learning Centre (HLC) that has its offices in New Delhi.

Not a film on the HLC per se, the documentary peeps into the lives of several youngsters who had no hope of either finding a job to sustain themselves or to become successful entrepreneurs. “My father died when I was still a child, and my mother wasn’t able to earn enough to support our family of three people, including my sister. Therefore I dropped out of school in Class VIII and began to help my sister stitch clothes for the women in our area. I also started giving private tuitions to supplement this meagre income. And then, one day, I came across a lady from the HLC who said that I could learn how to use a computer for free,” says Shabnam. Today, Shabnam is studying mass communications at a reputed college in Delhi and wants to become a broadcast media journalist.

For Sanjay, his growing years as a teenager had no meaning other than trying his hand at odd jobs to help sustain his parents and six siblings. His maximum earnings every month did not exceed Rs 1,000. Then, the world of computers opened up a door to entrepreneurship. Sanjay now runs his own Avsar Computer School. “Learning how to operate a computer changed my life and I want to do the same for others. What I have realised is that those without computer skills will have no place in tomorrow’s world. There will come a day when even autorickshaw drivers will necessarily have to learn computers,” he says.

Pooja’s story is no different from the others. Earlier, she would not even dare to dream beyond her job as a petrol pump attendant. But she now has the skills and confidence to draw up her own CV, using Power Point, and go for interviews. “Apart from learning the basics of computers, I also picked up English speaking skills. I used to shy away from attending to customers who spoke in English. Now I can converse with foreigners and understand what they want,” she says. Pooja currently earns Rs 3,000 per month and is exploring various career options.

The interesting thing about HLC is that it does not run a computer institute that doles out certificates and diplomas. As R M S Liberhan, Director, HLC, puts it: “Our prime objective is to provide a meaning and an edge to young people who otherwise have no options to move ahead in life. Providing them with computer skills gives them the ability to take that leap forward and fill the deficit in their lives.”

Set up in February 2002, the HLC also trains facilitators working in slums so that they are able to impart IT education to children. It has recently begun to partner with other NGOs working in the field of child education to push its initiative of spreading IT. “We have been collaborating with 60 NGOs so far to identify smart children and youngsters and train them in the use of computers,” Liberhan explains.

In that sense, Chhoti Si Asha portrays the link that has been formed between the HLC and Delhi’s young and underprivileged. That’s because Albuquerque has taken her camera into the homes of the beneficiaries and interacted with them to understand how exactly their lives have changed for the better. A familiar face because of her earlier stint as an English newsreader on Doordarshan, Albuquerque has produced and directed several documentary films and serials including The Professionals, aired on Doordarshan, and Hum Honge Kamyaab on Zee TV. Her film Seeds Of Life won the national award for Best Agricultural Film in 2004, and her short film Silent Killing, on foeticide, was a finalist for the Child Rights Unicef Award.

What this documentary does is to provide a ray of hope. Even as technology pushes forward at an amazing pace, leaving many floundering and hopelessly out of sync, HLC’s ambitious project shows that even the most illiterate may yet stand a chance of entering the race. So far, HLC has trained over 1,300 children and 250 facilitators. And the count goes up with each passing day…

To place an order for the documentary, write to ridhima@psbt.org

By Huned Contractor, from info change filmforum

(Huned Contractor is a freelance journalist and filmmaker based in Pune)

 

Gubbachigalu in Mandya

 

Kerala cafe -a decalogue

Kerala film industry is known for its off beat experiments in mainstream as well as in alternate cinema. Now the Director-Producer Renjith is coming out with another experiment a movie  with ten directors.

His fresh initiative will be titled as ‘Kerala Café’- the name of the restaurant featured in the movie that will be the common thread in every stories in the movie.

The movie which will have ten different episodes of ten minutes each will be directed by ten prominent filmmakers including Laljose, Shaji Kailas, Uday Ananthan, Anjali Menon, Padmakumar, Shyamaprasad, B Unnikrishnan, Anwar Rasheed, Shakar Ramakrishnan and Revathy.

The movie will feature stories about travel, played on screen by prominent names like Mammootty, Suresh Gopi, Prithviraj, Kalabhavan Mani and Nedumudi Venu. Planned to start by the first week of June, the first part will be shot by Shaji Kailas. Renjith who is the creative producer of the movie, is planning to get the Decalogue into theatres by September.