With his singular and unwavering style, Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu (1903-1963) disregarded the established rules of cinema and created a visual language all his own. Precise compositions, contemplative pacing, low camera angles, and elliptical storytelling are just some of the signature techniques the great filmmaker used to evoke a sense of melancholy and poetry in everyday existence. The three films that Ozu made between 1949 and 1953 constitute his most enduring achievement. Dubbed the “Noriko Trilogy” after the name of the female protagonist in all three films, the films (Late Spring, Early Summer, Tokyo Story) co-star the two most familiar members of Ozu’s longstanding stock company: Chishu Ryu (1904–1993), the director’s favourite actor; and Setsuko Hara (1920–2015), who plays Noriko in all three parts of the trilogy. 

Late Spring (Banshun/Japan) | (108 min; 1949; b/w; with English subtitles) | ( Click here to watch )

Director: Yasujiro Ozoch )

Recipient of the Kinema Junpo Award 1950 for Best Film; and Mainichi Film Concours Award for Best Film, Best Actress, Best Director and Best Screenplay, Mainichi Film Concours 1950. One of the most powerful of Yasujiro Ozu’s family portraits, Late Spring tells the story of a widowed father who feels compelled to marry off his beloved only daughter. Eminent Ozu players Chishu Ryu and Setsuko Hara command this poignant tale of love and loss in post war Japan, which remains as potent today as ever—and a strong justification for its maker’s inclusion in the pantheon of cinema’s greatest directors.

Director: David Wallace

A four-part BBC series, written and presented by Michael Wood

Michael Wood retraces Alexander the Great’s amazing journey from Greece to India, searching for the truth behind the legend and experiencing the tremendous scale of his achievements.

Using the ancient historians as his guides, Wood follows Alexander’s journey as closely as possible, crossing deserts and rivers, from Turkey to war-torn Afghanistan. As the journey progresses, he recreates the drama of Alexanders epic marches and bloody battles. All along the way he finds proof of the survival of the legends surrounding Alexander, a leader whose life has excited the world’s imagination for the 2,000 years.

Episode IV: To the Ends of the Earth (60 min) 
Alexander turns towards India, heading for what he believed would be the end of the earth. Michael Wood traces Alexander’s route through the northwest frontier region of Pakistan, the plains of the Punjab, down the Indus river, and by camel across the Makran desert back to Babylon – where Alexander died, aged 32.

Verona – The City of Love and Wine
A virtual tour of the city conducted by Caterina Brazzi Castracane, historian, author and tour guide

The historic city of Verona in northern Italy’s Veneto region, was founded in the 1st century B.C. A UNESCO World Heritage city, Verona flourished under the rule of the Scaliger family in the 13th and 14th centuries and as part of the Republic of Venice from the 15th to 18th centuries. The city has preserved a remarkable number of monuments from antiquity, the medieval and Renaissance periods, and represents an outstanding example of a military stronghold. 

An initiative of the Italian Embassy Cultural Centre, New Delhi and Bell’Italia 88
 

(57.02 min; 2019; English)
A BBC Documentary 
Presented by David Attenborough

David Attenborough takes a stark look at the facts surrounding climate change in today's world, detailing the dangers we are already having to deal with and future threats, but also the possibilities for prevention and radical political, social and cultural change.

https://www.documentarymania.com/player.php?title=Climate%20Change%20Th… ( Click here to watch )

Should the great Polish piano composer Frederic Chopin’s music be played only on the piano? Why not on the tabla, sitar or veena? Desi Chopin is an interpretation of Chopin’s masterpieces by leading Indian musicians on traditional Indian musical instruments. The project was organised and arranged by the Polish Institute, New Delhi

Artists featured: Saraswati Rajagopalan (veena); Kailash Sharma (flute); Suhel Saeed Khan (sitar); Narinderpal Gill (keyboard); Manohar Balatchandirane (mridangam); Varun Rajasekharan (ghatam & kanjira); Ujith Udaya Kumar (tabla); and Tomasz Pajak (violin)

Arrangement and Supervision: Tomasz Pajak

The artists present Prelude in D Flat Major; Waltz in A Minor; Mazurka in G Minor; Etude Number 3; Waltz in E Flat Major; Mazurka in F Major; and Prelude in A Major

Video recorded at the Embassy of Poland in September 2020

(Collaboration: Polish Institute, New Delhi)

Sikkim: A History of Intrigue and Alliance

By Preet Mohan Singh Malik (HarperCollins India, New Delhi: 2021)

Discussants: Amb. Nalin Surie, Distinguished Fellow for Diplomacy, Delhi Policy Group, former Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Ambassador to China and Poland, and former Director General, Indian Council of World Affairs; Lt. Gen (Retd.) K.J. Singh, PVSM, AVSM & Bar, former General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command and Sikkim Core Commander; and Amb. Preet Mohan Singh Malik, author of the book and former Ambassador to Myanmar, Malaysia, Bahrain, Cuba & Tanzania

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

Sadanand Menon, well known arts editor & cultural journalist will speak on Dashrath Patel, artist, designer and educator.Sadanand Menon will speak about Dashrath Patel, whom he considered his mentor. In 1998, he curated the Retrospective exhibition Fifty Years of Dashrath Patel’s Work that was held at NGMA, Delhi and Mumbai. The lecture will explore the multi-faceted life of an incredible multi-media artist, designer and educator. Dashrath Patel was the first Director of the National Institute of Design (NID) when it was founded in 1961. In the two decades at NID, his contribution was immense in making the institution an iconic design school.

Dashrath Patel

Dashrath Patel's work was across disciplines - art, sculpture, ceramics, photography, architecture and design. He is often described as ‘a visual genius’ for his prolific intensity and depth of work spanning six decades.

Born in 1927, Dashrath was the first director of Design Education at the National Institute of Design in 1961. And till he left it in 1980, he virtually represented every major International exhibition, trade fair and festival that India participated in.In 1998, The National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, had a major Retrospective exhibition of fifty years of Dashrath’s work in painting, photography, design and ceramic, titled ‘In the Realm of the Visual’. The show was curated by Sadanand Menon, and also travelled to NGMA, Mumbai, in 1999.Dashrath was honoured with many awards, including the first-ever Padma Shri for Design & Design Education, in 1981. He passed away in 2010 and was posthumously conferred the Padma Bhushan in 2011.

Sadanand Menon is a well-known arts editor, columnist, photographer, art curator and stage lights designer. He has the distinctive profile of linking the media, the academy and the arts. He has been an advisor to the National Museum, Lalit Kala Akademi and the National School of Drama in Delhi; National Gallery of Modern Art in Bengaluru and the Indian Institute of Advanced Study in Shimla, among others. He’s a trustee of the Raza Foundation, Delhi, of Dakshinachitra, Chennai and is Managing Trustee of SPACES, in Chennai and on the editorial advisory board of Marg magazine, Mumbai. He has taught and lectured at various universities/colleges across India. A long-time collaborator with legendary dancer/choreographer Chandralekha, he has been deeply involved with issues pertaining to contemporary Indian dance. He has curated landmark Retrospectives of senior artists Dashrath Patel (NGMA, Delhi/Mumbai); Balan Nambiar (NGMA, Bengaluru) and S.G. Vasudev (NGMA, Bengaluru/Mumbai).

A new once a month series of online conversations organized in collaboration with J. D. Centre of Arts with artists, craft persons and scholars who will make illustrated presentations and engage in a conversation about their art form

(Collaboration: JD Centre of Art, Bhubaneshwar, Odisha)

Zoom link: 

https://zoom.us/j/92976215823
Meeting ID:  929 7621 5823

Curators: Dr. Shimon Lev, Yael Margalit

Artists: Revital Arbel, Andi Arnovitz, Siona Benjamin, Chanchal Banga, Tal Eliaz, Anchia Anzi, Tim Nachum Gidal, Maite Coloma, Shimon Lev, Liat Livni, Dorit Lombroso, Yael Margalit, Rajul Mehta, Motti Mizrachi, Reuma Moses, Hadas Parush, Doron Polak, Rachel Rotenberg, Eyal Segal, Maya Smira, Jean-Pierre Weill

The exhibition is an attempt to investigate how artists in a wide range of media use their work to represent hidden and revealed aspects of India and its culture. Most of the artists are Israeli, while some are descendants of the Jewish communities in India who live in Israel or the United States. Some of the artists are Israelis who travelled in India for a long time or short time while others live in India permanently. Another group of artists are Indians who live or have lived for long periods in Israel.

(Collaboration: Embassy of Israel)

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