15th March
DAY 1
10.30 am – Inauguration
The Stitches Speak (India) 12 min
About the filmA documentary textile animation about the tragic life of people who captured it in embroidery. Refugee camps, an earthquake, poverty: they suffered a great deal. Gorgeously animated embroidery stitches in an authentic and utterly sincere portrait.
About the filmmaker
NINA SABNANI graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts, MS University, Vadodara and trained further at NID in Animation Film Design. She pursued her MA at the Newhouse School, Syracuse University, NY, USA, as a recipient of the Fulbright Fellowship. She taught at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, in the areas of Animation and Visual Communication until 2007.
She has experimented in transposing artistic styles into animation. Shubh Vivah, uses the Madhubani style of painting to dwell on the anti-dowry issue. All About Nothing an early stop-motion film is a conjecture about the birth of zero in India. Mukand and Riaz is an animated documentary about partition using textiles, embroidery and appliqué.Currently, she is an Associate Professor at the Industrial Design Centre, IIT Bombay, where she is also pursuing her Doctoral Research in the area of Storytelling, with a particular focus on the Kaavad tradition of Rajasthan.
11.30 am – Tea Break
12.00 pm
Supermen of Malegaon (India) 52 min
About the film
Malegaon, a small town tucked away near the heart of India geographically, is fraught with communal tension and under severe economic depression. To escape the harsh reality of their world, its people seek refuge in the fantastical world of cinema.This passion for cinema has spurred a group of cinema enthusiasts to make their own films-quirky, low budget, socially aware and notoriously funny spoofs of Bollywood films. Their ambition has grown and now they are ready to take on Hollywood and Superman.About the filmmaker
FAIZA AHMAD KHAN graduated from a course in Social Communications Media in 2002 after which she worked as a Production Executive in an Ad-film company. In 2004, she left to do freelance work, including some short documentaries. A year later, she worked with critically-acclaimed director Manish Jha as a Chief Assistant Director on his feature film, 'Anwar'. In early 2007 she came across the Supermen of Malegaon and by October that year, they became the subject of her first full-length documentary film. Jailing The Innocent (Jordan) 18 min
About the film
Video journalist Yaara Bou Melhem meets the women of Jordan who've been imprisoned under the guise of keeping them safe. Every year, up to 20 Jordanian women are murdered in honour killings. In response, the country's 12 governors have been given the power to lock up the innocent victims, rather than go after the would-be perpetrators.
Bou Melhem travels to Jordan to find out what life is like for women fleeing honour killings in that country.
Bou Melhem travels to Jordan to find out what life is like for women fleeing honour killings in that country.
About the filmmaker
YAARA BOU MELHEM is currently a videojournalist for SBS Television’s national indigenous current affairs program, Living Black. Yaara has worked as a production assistant for the SBS news desk and then as SBS Insight’s online producer. She soon took on a cadetship with SBS before joining World News Australia.
In 2008, Yaara reported and filmed stories in the Middle East for Dateline and World News Australia. She looked at women who were imprisoned by Jordanian authorities to protect them from their families who wanted to kill them in honour killings. Yaara also followed a Palestinian circus as it travelled through the West Bank’s complex checkpoint system reporting on the impact of the Israeli barrier on daily Palestinian life.
In 2008, Yaara reported and filmed stories in the Middle East for Dateline and World News Australia. She looked at women who were imprisoned by Jordanian authorities to protect them from their families who wanted to kill them in honour killings. Yaara also followed a Palestinian circus as it travelled through the West Bank’s complex checkpoint system reporting on the impact of the Israeli barrier on daily Palestinian life.
A Small Dream (Pakistan) 17 min
About the film
The film is about a young girl who started teaching children from her community who did not have the privilege to receive formal education as she did. She was fully supported by her mother, Zainab Bibi, who endured social boycott, verbal and even physical abuse to give her girls the education they needed to enable them to break a cycle of disempowerment that she had suffered. Backed by her mother, Humaira overcame initial resistance from her father and brothers at home and the conservative attitudes and reluctance of community members. About the filmmaker
GULNAR TABASSUM studied film in the UK. She is a women’s rights activist and researcher who has worked with Shirkat Gah Women’s Resource Centre in Lahore, Pakistan, for more than six years. She has worked for various projects at Shirkat Gah including the DFID-funded multi-country Research Programme Consortium, Women’s Empowerment in Muslim Contexts: Gender, Poverty and Democratization from the Inside Out (WEMC) and is also part of lobbying groups such as the Women’s Action Forum and the Global Campaign to stop killing and stop stoning women!
Her other films, while working at Shirkat Gah, include ‘RISING FROM THE RUBBLE’ which highlighted the rehabilitation and resettlement process after the earthquake 2005 focusing on women’s role and leadership in the process of community development; and ‘A VOICE OF VOICELESS 2005' which raised the issues & problems of the people affected by the earthquake 2005 in Pakistan. This film also focused on the role of Shirkat Gah in the relief activities.
Screening of award winning one minute disability films (courtesy: ABILITY Foundation)
01.45 pm – Lunch
02.45 pm – Film Screenings
The Last Rites (Bangladesh) 20 min
About the filmThe film depicts the ship breaking yards of Chittagong - a final destination for ships that are too old to ply the oceans any longer.
About the filmmaker
YASMINE KABIR is an independent filmmaker based in Bangladesh.
How Green Was Our Valley (Iran) 32 min
About the film
A dam has been built and the water is rising. 63 villages will be flooded and the residents must be uprooted. People wait for a miracle at a holy shrine.
About the filmmaker
FERESHTEH JOGHATAEI was born in Tehran in 1977. She graduated in Puppetry from Tehran Sooreh University. Since then she has worked in various capacities in different films - designer of special effects, continuity, make-up artist, set and costume designer.
Rock Heart Beijing (Norway) 56 min
About the film
Kang Mao is the lead singer of the Chinese punk band Subs. Through her performances and her open-hearted confessions before the camera, the audience is given a fascinating insight into modern-day China; and into a world where playing rock'n'roll never lost its subversive and rebellious character, and where musicians strive for more than fame and fortune.
About the filmmaker
KAREN WINTHER was born in 1978 and has has worked for TV since 2004. ROCK HEART BEIJING is her debut.
She has a Bachelor degree in TV-direction from Høyskolen in Lillehammer and is currently doing an MA course at the National Film and Television School in London.
4: 45 pm – Break
5.00 pm – Film Screenings
Sattala Bari (NID animation, India) 5 min
Aparijita - Ek Aur Numaish (NID animation, India) 6 min
About the film
Student Animation Film from National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad
A young bride-to-be puts her foot down about dowry demands.
Kelkkunnundo? / Are You Listening? (India) 22 min
Afghan Girls Can Kick (Afghanistan/ UK) 50 min
About the film
The film is an intimate fly-on-the-wall documentary portrait of teenage girls breaking the stereotypes set for them by intensely conservative Afghan society, in some cases escaping grinding poverty, gaining self-esteem and confidence as players in Afghanistan’s first ever women’s national football team.About the filmmaker
BAHAREH HOSSEINI is a 31-year-old Iranian film-maker based in Britain. After studying fine art in Tehran, Bahareh worked as a painter, actress and performance artist, before moving into film-making. She has since worked on news, documentary, drama, and music video productions.For her first solo documentary production, Bahareh spent three months living in Afghanistan following a group of young women breaking the mould of what it means to be an Afghan woman – in the national football team.
6.30 pm – Break
6.45 pm – Film Screenings –
Goddesses 42 min
About the film
The story of three ordinary women who live extra ordinary lives surviving darkest of times and gone against society's norms to live and work according to the rules they have set for themselves.
About the Filmmaker
Leena Manimekalai is an independent filmmaker based in Chennai. She has made about ten independent documentaries, short and experimental films including Mathamma (2003), Parai (2004), Break the Shackles (2004), Love Lost (2005), Connecting Lines (2005), A Hole in the Bucket (2007), Goddesses (2007). Her films have been widely screened in various fora, including NGOs, mass movements and film societies, initiating lot of cultural debates, community participation and social thought process. Her films have been recognised with participation, mentions and best film awards in many international and national film festivals. On an Express Highway 30 min
About the film
The film traces the journey of a 33 year old woman who gave up the material world for the austere life of a Jain sadhvi.
About the filmmaker
Reena Mohan is a graduate of the Film and Television Institute of India and is the editor of a number of acclaimed non-fiction films. Her first directorial work was 'Kamlabai', based on the life of the first actress of Indian cinema. This film won the National Award and the Best Film by a Debutante Director Award in MIFF.Interaction with Film makers Leena Manimekalai and Reena Mohan
10.00 am – Seminar with invited film makers on Gender Diversity and Equity : Challenges in Mainstreaming Gender in Media
12.00 pm – Break
12.30 pm – Film Screenings
The Value of a Tree 4 min
Bhaj Daud (NID animation, India) 5 min
Pench (NID animation, India) 5 min
A Quiet Little Entry (India) 44 min
About the film
A film on exploring the margins in history, on little histories... on a moment in time that opens up possibilities for women and then closes them. A film about a woman who tries to push the boundaries to make a space for herself, her search for freedom and about rethinking the meaning of freedom.About the filmmaker
UMA CHAKRAVARTI is a feminist historian and taught History at Miranda House for four decades. She has written extensively on issues of caste, labour and gender and is active in the democratic rights and women’s movements. Among her many published works are ''Gendering Caste: Through a Feminist Lens'', "Everyday Lives, Everyday Histories'', ''Social Dimensions of Early Buddhism'', and ''Rewriting History - The Life and Times of Pandita Ramabai''. Screening of award winning one minute disability films(courtesy: ABILITY Foundation)
01.30 pm – Lunch Break
02.30 pm – Film Screenings
Is it Just A Game? (India) 5 min
About the film
An attempt to address and challenge issues of violence and viciousness within the politics of gender, caste and race the world over.About the filmmaker
Born in Dharwar in 1950. She studied painting at Sir J.J. School of Art, Mumbai in 1972, her post-graduation in Mural in 1973 also from the same college, Graphics at the M.S. University, Baroda in 1974 - 75 and at Shantiketan till 1977. She has held 10 solo shows including installations "Beyond Proscenium" in 1994 and "Caryatid - A View point" in 1997 and her show "Godhadi" in 1998. She has participated in several group exhibitions including the National Exhibition in 1973, the International Women's Exhibition in Delhi in 1974, the Bharat Bhavan Biennale, Bhopal in 1985, "Artists Against Communalism", Delhi and 15 other cities in 1991, " Mithuna" exhibition of Modern Indian Painting in London in 1995, "50 Years of Art in Mumbai", NGMA, Mumbai in 1997, Kendal Wallah through Indian Eyes at Warehouse Gallery, U.K. in 1998, and "8 Artists" at NGMA Mumbai in 1999.
Shakuntala was invited for Residency at the Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal U.K. in 1998. She lives and works in Mumbai.
Ye Hai Dilli, Mere Yaar (India) 5 min
About the film
The film maps the various kinds of vulnerabilities and violence that women face on the streets of Delhi.About the filmmaker
One time advertising copywriter, Vani Subramanian has also been a documentary film maker since the mid‐nineties. Spanning a range of issues and concerns from the political economy of food to primary education to culture, urban development, communalism and the politics of sex selection, her work has been awarded and recognised both nationally and internationally, and seen at film festivals, public and private screenings as well as through telecast.
Love Arranged (UAE) 60 min
3:45 pm Tea Break
4:00 pm Film Screenings
Where Have You Hidden My New Crescent Moon? (India) 28 min
About the filim:
A tribute to Mughal Mase, and the continuing struggle against Enforced Disappearances in Kashmir. Mughal Mase lived in Habba Kadal, Srinagar, Kashmir. On September 1st 1990, her only son Nazir Ahmed Teli, a teacher, was disappeared, never to be found again. In April 2009, the filmmaker spend a day with her...
About the Filmmaker:
IFFAT FATIMA is an independent documentary filmmaker based in Delhi. Her documentary films include, Lanka - The Other Side of War and Peace (2005), on the history of overlapping conflicts in Sri Lanka; The Kesar Saga (2000), which explores the story telling tradition in the Himalayan region of Ladakh: In the Realm of the Visual (1998), on one of India’s most prolific and versatile artist and designer Dashrath Patel. At present she is working on the issue of Enforced Involuntary Disappearances in Kashmir
Winter Reminiscence (Thailand) 14 min
About the Film:
Term and Quang had evacuated from Vietnam to Thailand during the Second World War. They made a promise to each other that one day they would return to Vietnam. But Quang passed away leaving Term to fulfil their dream. Their nephew tries to help.
Two Steps Forward (Pakistan) 30 min
About the filim:
In 2000, over one million peasants started a movement in 10 districts of Punjab in Pakistan. Women acted as frontline fighters of the movement from 2001 to 2004. Their determination eventually left the military with no choice but to step back.
About the director:
GULNAR TABASSUM, Director of Two Steps Forward, studied film in the UK and is a women’s rights activist and researcher who has worked with Shirkat Gah Women’s Resource Centre in Lahore, Pakistan, for more than six years. She has worked for various projects at Shirkat Gah including the Research Programme Consortium, Women’s Empowerment in Muslim Contexts: Gender, Poverty and Democratization from the Inside Out (WEMC) and is also part of the Women’s Action Forum and the Global Campaign to Stop Killing and Stop Stoning Women! Her other films, include ‘Rising from the Rubble’, ‘A Voice of Voiceless' and 'A Small Dream'.
Sosefina (Australia) 10 min
About the film
Sosefina dreams of escaping her big loud Samoan family and their rundown house to living in a large display home.
Top Spin (USA) 15 min
About the film
About the film
Sosefina dreams of escaping her big loud Samoan family and their rundown house to living in a large display home.
Top Spin (USA) 15 min
About the film
With hard work and family sacrifice, a young table tennis champion works towards becoming a top player in the world.
Bangkok Bloody Ramen (Thailand) 30 min
About the Film:
Ken and his wife arrive in Bangkok as ordinary Japanese tourists. At each noodle shop, Ken tastes the soup and the noodles with utmost concentration. He then compares the soup with a brown stain on an annonymous postcard.
Bangkok Bloody Ramen (Thailand) 30 min
About the Film:
Ken and his wife arrive in Bangkok as ordinary Japanese tourists. At each noodle shop, Ken tastes the soup and the noodles with utmost concentration. He then compares the soup with a brown stain on an annonymous postcard.
06:30 pm – Break
06: 45 pm – Film Screening – Michael Jackson Comes to Manekganj 57 min
& Interaction with Film maker Nupur Basu
