(54 min; 1985; English and with subtitles)
Directors: Alan Benson, Daniel Wiles

Marguerite Duras – 20th-century France’s greatest femme de lettres – was the sort of woman who spared neither herself nor others. In this vintage filmed interview, the late novelist and filmmaker talks openly about the hardship and the romance of her childhood in French Indochina, sharing how this period haunted her life and shaped her work. The film includes excerpts from her films and readings from her books by actress Elizabeth Rider and Duras herself, including The Lover, winner of the Prix Goncourt and translated into more than forty languages.

Illustrated lecture by Benoy K. Behl, filmmaker, art historian and photographer

Introduction: Sujata Chatterji

Benoy Behl and his office have digitally restored the Ajanta paintings and other ancient murals of India to reveal what they may have looked like many centuries ago. The Ajanta paintings have been acknowledged by art critics and historians the world over as “among the finest art of humankind”. The centuries have taken their toll and the resplendent beauty of these paintings has been obscured by damage. Over a period of many years, as a labour of love, Behl has digitally restored much of the damage and they can now be seen nearer to their original glory

Video recording of a lecture for IIC online programmes

Electoral Democracy? An Inquiry into the Fairness and Integrity of India’s Elections

Panelists: Shri K.N. Shrivastava, Director, IIC ; Shri M.G. Devasahayam, Chairman, People-First and Member, Constitutional Conduct Group, Coordinator, Citizens’ Commission on Elections(CCE) & Editor of the book; Justice Shri Madan Lokur, former Judge, Supreme Court of India & Chair, CCE; Shri Wajahat Habibullah, former Chief Information Commissioner & Vice-Chair, CCE; Professor  Subhashis Banerjee,  Department of Computer Science, IIT Delhi & Member, CCE; Dr. S.Y.Quraishi, former Chief Election Commissioner; Shri Jawhar Sircar, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha; and Professor Jagdeep Chhokar, Co-Founder, Association for Democratic Rights & Former Dean, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad

Moderator: Ms.  Anjali Bhardwaj, Co-convener, National Campaign for People’s Right to Information 

Temple Complexes of the Western Deccan: Beyond the Tangible-Intangible Divide

Illustrated lecture by Prof. Parul Pandya Dhar, Professor of Art History, Department of History, University of Delhi

Chair: Prof. (Sr) Anila Verghese, historian who has specialised in religious and art history of the Vijayanagara empire and city and former Principal, The Sophia College for Women,  Mumbai

The talk focuses on early medieval temple complexes at Badami, Aihole, and Pattadakal in the Western Deccan. These magnificent monuments have been receiving worldwide recognition in recent decades and have also found a place in the UNESCO list of world heritage site. The talk draws from the speaker’s recent research to establish the importance of an approach wherein interpretations of ‘static’ monuments are ‘peopled’ or enlivened by exploring the motives, means, and methods that brought them into being and reaffirmed, transformed, or negated their presence from time to time.

Speakers: Dr. S.K. Singh, Professor of Mathematical Demography and Statistics, International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai; and Smt Meeta Rajivlochan, IAS, Secretary, National Commission for Women

Chair: Amb. K.P. Fabian, Distinguished Professor, Symbiosis University

The National Family Health Survey 5 (NFHS5) published in September 2021 is the largest such survey in the world. The survey’s findings tell us how healthy we are as a nation. Equally important, how much improvement we have registered in the social sector since 1947. The survey covered more than 6 lakhs of families and provides estimates on key indicators related to population, family planning, child and maternal health, nutrition, adult health, and domestic violence, among others. 
 

Rudraveena Maestro Ustad Bahauddin Dagar in conversation with Manjari Sinha, eminent music and dance critic

Introduction: Ashok Vajpeyi

(Collaboration: The Raza Foundation)

To access the programme please log onto

facebookLIVE@razafoundation

YouTube/The Raza Foundation

Discussants: Prof. Nivedita Menon, Professor, Centre for Comparative Politics & Political Theory, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University; Dr. Gautam Bhan, Urban Researcher and Writer; Dr. Ghazala Jameel, Assistant Professor, Centre for the Study of Law and Governance, Jawaharlal Nehru University; and Ms Dipta Bhog, journalist and activist

Chair: Prof. Apoorvanand, Dept. of Hindi, Faculty of Arts, University of Delhi

Ikebana lecture and demonstration by Ms Sharon Chou, Riji from Hongkong, Sogetsu School of Ikebana

Ms Chou will introduce the different varieties of flowers which are used in Hongkong during the celebrations of the Chinese Lunar New Year; and explain the symbolism of each flower used in the different arrangements that she will be demonstrating.

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

(Collaboration: Sogetsu School, New Delhi)

Zoom link:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88978327896?pwd=bU8xR3pjN0ozdUZFc3A0SXlqOCtqZz09
Meeting ID: 889 7832 7896 
Passcode: Sogetsu

My Man Godfrey (USA)

(94 min 1936; b/w; English)

Director: Gregory La Cava

With William Powell, Carole Lombard, Alice Brady

Recipient of the National Film Registry, National Film Preservation Board, USA 1999

Carole Lombard and William Powell dazzle in this definitive screwball comedy by Gregory La Cava—a potent cocktail of romantic repartee and social critique. Irene, an eccentric, wealthy Manhattanite, wins a society-ball scavenger hunt after finding a “forgotten man” (Powell)—an apparent down-and-out drifter—at a dump. She gives him work as the family butler and soon falls head over heels for him. Her attempts to both woo Godfrey and indoctrinate him in the household’s dysfunction make for a string of madcap high jinks that has never been bested. La Cava’s deft film was the first to garner Oscar nominations in all four acting categories, and it is one of Hollywood’s greatest commentaries on class and the social unrest of the Depression era.

https://archive.org/details/my_man_godfrey/my_man_godfrey.mp4