A Deal for Life and Freedom - documentary screenings at LSR

by VAPP & Deptt. of Pol. Sc.
in association with Kriti Film Club and DSG
at
Lady Shriram College of Women
University of Delhi

3rd - 4th September 2009

State and Conflict

Tales from the Margins
Kavita Joshi/ 23 mins/ Manipuri with English subtitles
For decades, Manipur has been torn by insurgency and armed conflict. Yet, little is heard about Manipur and its simmering troubles across the nation's landscape. This is a place that mainland India has marginalised; that the world has forgotten. The film travels to this forgotten, strife-torn corner of India to document the extraordinary protests of Manipuri women as they fight for justice for their people.

Military rule, people’s aspirations and human rights in Burma
30 mins/ English
The film has three parts which explains how the innocent students and people were brutally killed during nationwide peaceful demonstration on 08.08.1988, and how military junta reacted to the Buddhist monks and its people who demanded for reduction of commodities prices and to restore peace during Sept-Oct 2007 (known as Saffron Revolution).

New State; Old problems
Ajay TG/ 10mins 43sec / English narration

Rethinking Development

In the forest hangs a bridge
Sanjay Kak/ 40 mins/ English
For one week in the year, the people of Damro village, in the Siang Valley of Arunachal Pradesh, gather to build a suspension bridge. This 1000ft long construction of cane and bamboo is the stunning signature of the Adi tribe who inhabit these forested hills. The film is an account of the construction of the bridge, an evocation of the tribal community that makes it possible, and a reflection on the strength and fragility of the idea of community.

New Delhi Private Limited

Ravinder Randhawa/ 35 mins/ English

Produced by Hazards Centre, this documentary brings forth questions on how Delhi, like other mega cities, is being systematically transformed and for whose benefit. How the much-propagated notion of a world-class city is being interpreted by and intervened in by different sets of people… It showcases juxtaposed expressions on Delhi - as it exists, as it is envisioned, is likely to become and perhaps should become – constructed as such by those, seldom counted as its citizens. Public spaces are increasingly being renovated, managed and protected by private agencies. The middle classes are increasingly barricading their colonies by increased checks on gates, limited access to vendors, through employment of security personnel of the very class that they secure themselves from.

From Kalinganagar to Kashipur
Biju Toppo and Meghnath/ 24 mins/ English
For the last 13 years, tens of thousands of indigenous and low-caste peoples from the Kashipur region of Orissa in east India have been fighting to prevent another massive industrial disaster. A consortium of multinational corporations, including Alcan Inc. of Montreal, are proposing to build a massive bauxite mine and alumina refinery. This project would displace between 20 000 and 40 000 people from their homes, destroying their economy and livelihoods, contaminating their food and water source, and denying their rights to self-determination and sustainability of their culture.

Gaon Chohab Nahin (music video)
K.P.Sasi/ 8 mins/Hindi
This short music video depicts the situation of the adivasi and dalits population and their struggle against the development projects and corporates induced displacement. “We will not leave village, will not leave forests, will not leave motherly soil, will not leave our Lands!!”

Kriti Film Club is an independent documentary viewing and sharing initiative of Kriti team, which works as a knowledge and skill support group on development and human rights.
Other partners for these screenings include the Delhi Solidarity Group which is an informal formation of several movement support groups and individuals based in New Delhi.

Contact:
Phone: +91-11-2602 7845/ 2603 3088
space.kriti@gmail.com
Note: Film makers and activists would join the discussions post the films.