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

Curator: Rajiv Mehrotra

Siddhartha (89 min; 1972; English)

Director: Conrad Rooks

The film narrates the story of the young Siddhartha (played by Shashi Kapoor), born in a wealthy family, and his search for a meaningful way of life. This search takes him through periods of harsh asceticism, sensual pleasures, material wealth, then self-revulsion and eventually to the oneness and harmony with himself that he was seeking.

(59 min; 2009; English)

Director: Louise Hooper

Jeremy Paxman tells the tragic story of World War One poet Wilfred Owen. At a time of jingoism and wartime propaganda, one Shropshire lad was compelled to tell the truth. Jeremy Paxman travels to the battlefields of France to discover how the ugliest and most terrible arena imaginable gave birth to some of the most poignant and powerful poetry in the English language. Wilfred Owen is played by Samuel Barnett.

https://vimeo.com/143154407 | Click here to watch

A 4-part series directed by David Wallace for BBC2/PBS with the English historian and broadcaster, Michael Wood. The Spanish conquest of the Americas in the sixteenth century was one of the most important and cataclysmic events in history. Spanish expeditions endured incredible hardships in order to open up the lands of the ‘New World’, and few stories in history can match these for drama and endurance.

In Conquistadors, Michael Wood follows in the footsteps of some of the greatest of the Spanish adventurers travelling from the forests of Amazonia to Lake Titicaca, the deserts of North Mexico, the snowpeaks of the Andes and the heights of Machu Picchu. He experiences the epic journeys of Cortes, Pizarro, Orellana and Cabeza de Vaca, and explores the turbulent and terrifying events surrounding the Spanish conquest of the Aztec and Inca empires.

Conquistadores: The Conquest of the Incas (49 min) | Click here to watch

The amazing story of the overthrow of the Inca empire by Francisco Pizarro and his brothers. Following the route taken by the Spaniards, Wood climbs ancient Inca roads to Cajamarca where the Inca leader tried to ransom himself for a roomful of gold and undertakes an epic jungle trek to the lost city of the Incas.

https://www.documentarymania.com/player.php?title=Conquistadors%3A+The+Conquest+of+the+Incas

(58 min; 2002; English)

Director: Robin Dashwood

On 1 July 1952, a 30-year-old architect called Michael Ventris made a BBC radio broadcast which was to secure his place in archaeological and history books forever. He announced that he'd deciphered Linear B, Europe's earliest known, and previously incomprehensible, writing system. His discovery was to revolutionise our understanding of Western civilisation. It was made all the more remarkable by the fact that Ventris was no more than an amateur enthusiast, a man passionately and often tortuously determined to crack the linguistic code which had puzzled experts, archaeologists and academics for three decades.

By Tabasmi Paul Majumdar from Kolkata, disciple of Dr. Malabika Mitra and Pt. Rajendra Kumar Gangani

Video recording of a dance recital for IIC online programme activities