Because We did Not Choose (92 min; 2017; dvd; English subtitles)

Directed by Wanphrang Diengdoh who will introduce the film

 

Screening will be followed by a discussion

 

Because we did not choose looks at World War I and the involvement of communities at a time when spaces inhabited by them were transitioning or struggling to accommodate modernity and the rest of its implications. The film is a meticulous documentation of the journey made by the labourers from North East India to the war front. Shot over a period of 4 years, this is the only film from India that examines the participation of indigenous labour in the theatres of the First World War