Kathasatisagar: Folklore of Jammu-Kashmir

By Raj Nehru and C.K. Gariyali (Prabhat Prakashan: 2022)

Release of the book followed by a discussion

Discussants: Ms Sudha Pillai, IAS (Retd.), former Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Govt. of India; Shri Virendra Qazi, Founder Chairman, Lalleshwari International Trust; Dr. Advaitavadini Kaul, academic and writer; Dr. J.M. Kaul, former Dean, Maulana Azad Medical College; Prof. Raj Nehru, Vice Chancellor, Shri Vishwakarma Skill University, Haryana, and co-author of the book; and Dr. C.K. Gariyali, IAS (retd.), co-author of the book

Connecting with the Mahabharata

By Neera Misra and Rajesh Lal (Garuda Books: 2022)

Release of the book followed by a discussion

Chairman: Shri Mohan Bhagwat, Sarsanghchalak, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh

Discussants: Shri K.N. Shrivastava, Director, IIC; Shri Deepak Rai, Managing Director, Muse India; Ms Neera Misra, Chairperson and Founder, Draupadi Dream Trust and co-author of the book; and Air Vice Marshal (retd.) Rajesh Lal, co-author of the book

(68 min; 1942; b/w; English)
Director: Roy William Neill

With Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Lionel Atwill

Sherlock Holmes helps a scientist escape the clutches of the Gestapo in Switzerland and gets him to England. The man has invented a revolutionary new bombsight that will significantly aid Britain's war effort. Now that he's in England he should be safe, right?

(59 min; 2002; English/Dari with English subtitles)
Director: Simon Broughton

Recipient of the Documentary Prize, Golden Prague Festival in 2022

The Taliban's prohibition of music was the most severe in history. Apart from unaccompanied chants, all music was banned and instruments were broken and burnt. This film documents the remarkable moment when the country was reconnected with its musical culture. Shot in Kabul and Peshawar (Pakistan) in January 2002, two months after the fall of the Taliban, this film is an introduction to the music of Afghanistan and the way it's been caught in the crossfire of conflicting regimes over the past 25 years. The film features, Sarinda-player Mashinai, forced to work as a butcher under the Taliban; singer Aziz Ghaznawi, who had no option but to sing for them; female singer Naghma, whose tapes flooded the Kabul bazaar as the Taliban fled; rare footage of Sufi gatherings where Islam and music fervently meet; Ensemble Kaboul, the best of the traditional Afghan groups in exile, formed when the very survival of Afghan music seemed under threat.

Eero Saarinen: The Architect who saw the Future (Finland/USA) | Click here to watch
(68 min; 2016; English)
Director: Peter Rosen

The film explores the life of Finnish-American modernist architectural giant Eero Saarinen (1910-1961), whose visionary buildings include National Historic Landmarks such as St. Louis’ iconic Gateway Arch and the General Motors Technical Center in Michigan. Saarinen also designed New York’s TWA Flight Center at JFK International Airport, Yale University's Ingalls Rink and Morse and Stiles Colleges, Virginia’s Dulles Airport, and modernist pedestal furniture like the Tulip chair. 

Eero’s sudden death at age 51 cut short one of the most influential careers in American architecture. Today, Saarinen’s work stands apart and continues to inspire, especially amongst renewed interest in 20th-century architects and artists who exploded the comfortable constraints of the past to create a robust and daring American aesthetic.

https://vimeo.com/524000446

The Sumerians – Fall of the First Cities (UK) | Click here to watch
(148 min; 2020; English)
Director: Paul Cooper

In the dusts of Iraq, the ruins of the world's first civilization lie buried. We travel into the extremely distant past to look at the Sumerians. These ancient people invented writing and mathematics, and built some of the largest cities that the world had ever seen. Find out about the mystery of their origins, and learn how they rose from humble beginnings to form the foundation of all our modern societies. With myths, proverbs and even some recreated Sumerian music, travel back to where it all began, and find out how humanity's first civilization fell.

https://topdocumentaryfilms.com/sumerians-fall-first-cities/
 

A six part BBC series with Michael Mosley who takes an informative and ambitious journey exploring how the evolution of scientific understanding is intimately interwoven with society's historical path.

Episode 4: Can We Have Unlimited Power? (60 min) | Click here to watch
Director: Nicola Cook

We are the most power-hungry generation that has ever lived. This film tells the story of how that power has been harnessed - from wind, steam and from inside the atom. In the early years the drive for new sources of power was led by practical men who wanted to make money. Their inventions and ideas created fortunes and changed the course of history, but it took centuries for science to catch up, to explain what power is, rather than simply what it does. This search revealed fundamental laws of nature which apply across the universe, including the most famous equation...

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6qazkx
 

(45 min; 1992; English)
Director: Volker Zielke

This rare documentary examines the life and work of German literary icon Thomas Mann, beginning with Mann’s nomination for the 1949 Goethe Prize. His symbolic representation of Germany in exile after the war, and his status as a representative of the liberal, humanist tradition, are juxtaposed against Mann’s private life. The program discusses how his works, such as Death in Venice, explore the disparity between the life of bourgeois convention and desire, a disparity present in Mann’s own life. From the suicide of his eldest son, to his own homosexuality, the film explores the dual identity of Mann as representative of post-war Germany and also as private citizen. 

Shringara in Classical Indian Dance

edited by Sharon Lowen 

Shringara, Sringara, Śṛṅgāra, Sringar (love) is the dominant rasa, or aesthetic flavor, that has been interpreted in literature, philosophy, the visual and performing arts. The concept of communicating unselfish, unconditional spiritual love through the metaphors of mundane human love is intrinsic to Indian aesthetic and philosophical traditions. The chapters of this book offer insights into both the shared and unique understanding and performance of shringara in various classical Indian dance traditions. ‘Nritya Kalanidhi’ Guru Lakshmi Vishwanathan kindly contributed an introductory overview of Śṛṅgāra in Nāṭya (communicative dance) to contextualize the focus then enlarged upon within specific genres. Performing artist /scholars of seven of India’s classical dance traditions share the history and development of interpreting Sringara in Bharatanayam, Kuchipudi, Vilasini Natyam, Mohiniattam, Sattriya, Kathak and Odissi, by respectively, Kamalini Dutt, Anuradha Jonnalagadda, Anupama Kylash, Bharati Shivaji, Anwesa Mahanta, Shovana Narayan and Editor Sharon Lowen. 

Speakers : Dr. Sonal Mansingh, Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha), Scholar, Cultural Activist, Guru & Choreographer; Sh. Kumar Tuhin, DG ICCR & Former Ambassador to Hungary; Dr. Shovana Narayan, Educationist, Choreographer, Kathak Guru and Vidushi Sharon Lowen, Performing Artist, Guru, Write &  Editor of the book

Chair : Dr. Karan Singh

Performance by :

Nitisha Nanda
Vishwanathan Mangaraj