(110 min; 1969; English)
Director: Robert Snyder

Documentary on Henry Miller, the well-known American novelist. Miller generously reveals how he saw his era, his peers and himself. He recalls his painful youth and his struggle to survive as a writer; talks about art, dreams, and all the allure of Paris; reads passages from his works and enjoys himself with friends, including Lawrence Durrell, Anais Nin, Alfred Perles, Brassai, and Jakob Gimpel. What emerges in this insightful documentary is Miller's charm, his gentleness and his lust for life. Henry Miller's books include Sexus, Plexus, Nexus, Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn, and The Colossus of Maroussi.

Curator: Rajiv Mehrotra

Mission: Joy – Finding Happiness in Troubled Times (90 min; 2021)
A film by Louie Psihoyos & Peggy Callahan

The film gives unprecedented access to the unlikely friendship of two international Nobel Peace Prize laureates and global leaders who transcend religion: His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Featuring never-before-seen footage shot over 5 days at the Dalai Lama’s residence in Dharamsala, the film invites viewers to join these luminaries as they share their hard-won wisdom about a wide range of issues from love, karma, guilt, and forgiveness, to joy, faith, meditation, and reincarnation. Offering neuroscience-backed wisdom to help each of us live with more joy under any circumstance, the film is an antidote for our times

(Collaboration: The Foundation for Universal Responsibility of His Holiness the Dalai Lama)  

On popular demand, the above film screened on 5 July 2022 at IIC will be available online until 11.55 pm on 21 July 2022 and can be accessed on the following link:

 https://watch.showandtell.film/watch/missionjoy-furhhdl2.
 

Seminar on Emergence of the Modern Indian Classic

10.00 am to 11 am: Inaugural Session

Welcome: K.N. Shrivastava, Director IIC

Opening Remarks: Sudha Gopalakrishnan, Executive Director, IIC-International Research Division

Inaugural Remarks: Shyam Saran, President IIC

Introduction of the Concept: Sukrita Paul Kumar, Literary critics and former Aruna Asaf Ali Chair, University of Delhi

On Modern Indian Writer in Translation: Ganesh Devy, Literary critic, activist and Chairperson, People’s Linguistic Survey of India

11 am to 12 noon: Session 1A

Speakers: Supriya Chaudhuri, Professor Emerita, Jadavpur University; and Simi Malhotra, Chair, Dept. of English, Jamia Millia Islamia

Chair: G.J.V. Prasad, formerly Professor of English, Jawaharlal Nehru University

12 noon to 1.30 pm: Session 1 B

Speaker: Saikat Majumdar, novelist and critic, Professor, Ashoka University

A dialogue between Ipshita Chanda, Professor, Dept. of Comparative Literature, English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad; and Sachin Ketkar, Professor, Dept. of English, M.S. University, Vadodara

Chair: Nirmal Kanti Bhattacharya, former Editor, Indian Literature, Sahitya Akademi and Literary Consultant

2.15 pm: Session 1 C: “Avishkar”: Readings and Music

(Courtesy: Sahitya Akademi)

Chair: Sukrita Paul Kumar

2.25 pm: Dramatised Readings by Syeda Hameed, former Member, Planning Commission of India and translator

2.40 pm: Sufi Music presented by Madan Gopal Singh, singer, lyricist and film theorist

3.25 pm – Concluding Remarks: Chandana Dutta, Academic, translator and Editor

In the first of a new bi-monthly series on ‘The Modern Indian Writer in Translation’, speakers will discuss the intense creative churning in the era immediately after 1947, when Indian writers were caught between the euphoria of Independence and the turmoil of Partition. U.R. Ananthamurthy, Krishna Sobti, O.V. Vijayan, Indira Goswami, Mahasweta Devi and many others produced iconic works that reflect, question and define the times. Is the time now ripe to examine and reaffirm the status of ‘classic’ for their works? What makes for their continued appeal? These and other questions will be probed in the discussion.

Organised by the IIC-International Research Division in collaboration with Sahitya Akademi

Registration link

Gandhi’s Ascetic Activism: Renunciation and Social Action

By Veena R. Howard (State University of New York: 2014)

Speakers: Prof. Anjoo Sharan Upadhyaya, Distinguished Professor, MIT, World Peace University, School of Public Policy, Pune; Prof. Makarand Paranjape, Centre for English Studies, School of Language, Literature and Culture Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University; Prof. Ramdas Lamb, Dept. of Religion, University of Hawaii; and Prof. Madhu Jain, Founding Member, Tantra Foundation

Chair: Dr. Bibek Debroy, Chairman, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India

(Collaboration: The Tantra Foundation Library)

Vivan Sundaram, artist will speak on: ‘Diverge’. 

In the lecture, the artist will share key images from various series of works across 50 years of his career. These images contextualize major turning points that have shaped his artistic enquiry.

Vivan Sundaram is a prolific contemporary artist, engaging with everything from drawings, paintings, photographs to installation art. His works actively engage with social and political history, and question complex ideas such as memory, history, and problems of identity. His multidimensional projects often involve audience participation to push art beyond its traditional boundaries.

He has exhibited in various Biennials across the world as well as several important exhibitions in Tate Modern, London; International Centre for Photography, New York; Haus der Kunst, Munich; and the Chicago Cultural Centre, Chicago, among others.

Zoom Registration: https://zoom.us/j/88417434471

Meeting ID: 884 1743 4471

(Collaboration: J.D. Centre of Art)
 

Migration, Informality, and the Growing Precarity of Work

Speaker: Prof. Ravi Srivasavta, Director, Centre for Employment Studies, Institute for Human Development, Delhi

(Collaboration: Council for Social Development)

Presented by The Lyric Ensemble of Delhi

Sopranos: Aastha Mohapatra, Meera Arora, Serene Philip
Contralto: Ankur Dang
Baritone: Johnson Joseph Wilson

Accompanied on the piano by Hanna Pashkevich on the piano

A musical soiree with European vocal music through the ages in several languages

Rohmer in Paris (UK/France) | Click here to watch
(67 min; 2013; English and with subtitles)
Director: Richard Misek

A love letter to legendary novella vague filmmaker, Eric Rohmer and the world capital of cinema. The film begins with a chance encounter with Rohmer in 1994, while he was filming Rendez-vous in Paris on location in Montmarte. This accidental connection becomes the basis for a passionate exploration of Rohmer’s lifelong relationship with the city and the many cinematic journeys he made through it. Innovatively combining documentary, speculative fiction, and remix, the film provided a narrated tour of Rohmer’s works, of modern Paris, and of the pains and pleasures of cinephilia

https://vimeo.com/234036554
 

(77 min; 1997; English)
Director: Peter Meyer
Hosted by Danny Glover

Recipient of the Certificate of Merit, Documentary Short, Chicago International Film Festival 1997; and Lone Star Film & Television Award for Best Documentary, Lone Star Film and Television Award 1998

 An in-depth, award-winning documentary on the life and music of legendary bluesman Robert Johnson. Mixing rare photographs, exclusive interviews, and dramatic re-creations, director Peter Meyer presents a compelling portrait of this enigmatic figure. Hosted by Danny Glover with Keb' Mo' as Robert Johnson, featuring Johnny Shines, Honeyboy Edwards, John Hammond, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards.

Happy People: A Year in the Taiga (Germany) | Click here to watch
(90 min; 2010; English)
Directors: Werner Herzog & Dmitry Vasyukov 

Deep in the Siberian wilderness, a mere 300 people inhabit the village of Bakhtia. It can only be reached in two ways: boat and helicopter. Happy People tells the incredible story of a society untouched by modernity.

http://www.documentaryarea.tv/player.php?title=Happy%20People%20A%20Yea…