Lecture demonstration by Ms Soei Chieko Mihori, Riji, Master Instructor and Founder-Director, Sogetsu School, Florida, USA. Ms Mihori has received numerous awards and accolades for her outstanding work which includes the “Sofu Award” from Sofu Teshigahara in 1974; “The Overseas Sogetsu Grand Prize” from the Sogetsu School, Tokyo in 2017; and the prestigious, “The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays” from The Emperor of Japan in 2012

Introduction: Smt. Veena Dass, Director, Sogetsu School, New Delhi

(Collaboration: Sogetsu School, New Delhi; and Embassy of Japan)

Zoom meeting link:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86169464483?pwd=VXZLMm9PU05Lc1c2NEFOblM1N203Q…
Meeting ID: 861 6946 4483
Passcode: Sogetsu

Treasures of Ancient Rome (2012) | Click here to watch

A three-part documentary series presented by Alastair Sooke, taking an in-depth look at the art of the Roman Empire. In the documentary Sooke sets out to "debunk the myth that Romans didn't do art and were unoriginal". This is based on the view that Romans heavily incorporated Greek style in their art, and hence produced nothing new or original. 

Episode 1: Warts 'n' All (59 min)
Director: Tim Dunn

Alastair Sooke traces how the Romans during the Republic went from being art thieves and copycats to pioneering a new artistic style - warts 'n' all realism. Roman portraits reveal what the great names from history, men like Julius Caesar and Cicero, actually looked like. Modern-day artists demonstrate the ingenious techniques used to create these true to life masterpieces in marble, bronze and paint.
We can step back into the Roman world thanks to their invention of the documentary-style marble relief and to a volcano called Vesuvius. Sooke explores the remarkable artistic legacy of Pompeii before showing how Rome's first emperor, Augustus, used the power of art to help forge an empire.

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x74iwnh

Stephen Fry: The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive 
(120 min; 2006; English) 
Director: Ross Wilson

Stephen Fry presents this documentary exploring the disease of manic depression; a little understood but potentially devastating condition affecting an estimated two percent of the population. Stephen embarks on an emotional journey to meet fellow sufferers, and discuss the literal highs and lows of being bi-polar. Celebrities such as Carrie Fisher and Richard Dreyfuss invite the comedian into their home to relate their stories. Plus Stephen looks into the lives of ordinary people trying to deal with the illness at work and home, and of course to the people studying manic depression in an effort to better control it. A fascinating, moving and ultimately very entertaining Emmy Award-winning program.

A three-part BBC Four travelogue with Tim Mackintosh-Smith, British Arabist, writer, traveller and lecturer.  In an effort to break the west's monolithic view of Islam, Tim Mackintosh-Smith follows in the footsteps of 14th century Moroccan scholar Ibn Battuta, regarded by many to be one of the greatest travellers and explorers the world has ever seen, who covered 75,000 miles, 40 countries and three continents in a 30-year odyssey.  

Episode 3: Trade Winds
(60 min; 2008; English)
Tim Mackintosh-Smith explores the place of Islam in Hindu-dominated India and communist China, and tells the story of the Islamic trade empire of the 14th century. In China, he meets a clan who trace their ancestry back to Arabs, and witnesses an illegal Arabic lesson.

The Last Honey Hunter (Nepal) | Click here to watch
(36 min; 2017; Nepalese with English subtitles)
Director: Ben Knight

Multiple award winner including the Cartel Award for Best Documentary, Camden International Film Festival 2017; Grand Prize, Krakow Mountain Film Festival 2018; Best Film, Mountain Culture, Banff Mountain Film Festival 2017 among others

In the steep mountain jungles of Nepal’s Hongu river valley, members of the isolated Kulung culture have risked their lives for generations scaling dangerous cliffs to collect a wild and toxic honey. Deep and dark, the film glides through a misty world of forest spirits, dreams, and woodsmoke to share the story of the leader of the harvest and his final journey.

A work of visual brilliance, the documentary follows the unique story of the honey hunter Maule Dhan Rai and brings into play the village traditions and customs that Rai and the Kulung’s practice.

https://vimeo.com/201695311

Richard Strauss Remembered (UK) | Click here to watch
(117 min; 1984; English)
Director: Peter Adam
Narrator: John Gielgud
A BBC Two Production

A unique record of a great man's life which spanned from the reign of King Ludwig of Bavaria through the turbulent years of Hitler's Germany to the post-war period. The composer and conductor seen through the eyes of his family and the people who worked with him-Herbert von Karajan, Georg Solti, Eugen Jochum; the great opera stars - Hildegarde Ranczak and Viorica Ursuleac who sang the first Arabella. Using home movies and rare archival footage, the film reveals the man and the role he played under Hitler. 

It also includes concert performances by the composer and vintage opera extracts with some of Strauss's favourite interpreters – Lisa Della Casa, Irmgard Seefried, Anneliese Rothenberger, Vilma Lipp in Rosenkavalier, Ariadne, Arabella, Capriccio and Elektra.

https://vimeo.com/393902416

Plimpton! Starring George Plimpton as Himself (USA) | Click here to watch
(89 min; 2012; English)
Directors: Tom Bean & Luke Poling

Co-founder of The Paris Review, George Plimpton (1927–2003), was a writer, editor, amateur sportsman, actor, and friend to many. Plimpton’s remarkable life is showcased in a documentary that is both a chronicle of one of the last century’s most intriguing characters, as well as a cinematic adaption of his nuanced and funny literary style. A fascinating journalist who lived fully, strangely and incredibly. With George Plimpton’s own narration, the film includes extensive archival footage of his sport stunts and participatory journalism gigs, and interviews with friends, family and contemporaries. 

https://vimeo.com/422276464

PHYSICAL PROGRAMME

Haiku: An Anthology of 1000 Haiku poems in Hindi

By M. Jamshed

Launch of the book followed by a discussion

Chief Guest: Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Hon’ble Minister of Minority Affairs, Government of India

Discussants: Shri K.N. Shrivastava, Director, IIC; Mr Sreenivasa Rao, Secretary, Sahitya Akademi; Ms Kamna Prasad, author and founder, Jashn-e-Bahar; Ms Vandita Mishra, National Opinion Editor, The Indian Express; Ms Marya Shakil, Senior Political Editor, CNN-News 18; Mr. Koji Sato, Director General, The Japan Foundation; and Shri M. Jamshed, author of the book

PHYSICAL PROGRAMME

Speaker: Dr. Manpreet Sethi, Distinguished Fellow, Centre for Air Power Studies and Head of Nuclear Security Project and author of Nuclear Strategy: India’s March towards Credible Deterrence (2009)

Chair: Amb. Shivshankar Menon, former National Security Adviser of India and former Foreign Secretary of India

(Collaboration: Society for Policy Studies)

Registration link