Organised in collaboration with Cervantes Institute, New Delhi

Second part in the online film series presenting five exceptional films from Spain, created between 1973–1997. Each of the films has received awards at the most prestigious international festivals and are emblematic of the collective memory, continuing to connect with contemporary viewers, offering them a much richer and more complex imagination.

Screenings will be held every Friday in July 2020 from 11:30 pm onwards. Vimeo links of the films will be made accessible for a period of 48 hours every week

Friday 10 July 2020 from 11:30 pm onwards The Holy Innocents
(Los santos inocentes)
(103 min; 1984; Spanish with English subtitles)
Director: Mario Camus

Multiple award winner including ASECAN Award for Best Spanish Film, ASECAN Awards 1985; Best Actor Award & Prize of the Ecumenical Jury-Special Mention, Cannes Film Festival 1984; CEC Award for Best Film, Cinema Writers Circle Awards, Spain 1985; among others

An adaptation of Miguel Delibes’ novel of the same title, the film is an outstanding example of the cinematographic policies of the eighties which sought new interpretations in cinematic adaptations of books.

In the '60s, a young soldier on leave returns to the humble rural croft of his youth to visit his prematurely ageing parents, and recalls, in a series of flashbacks, the lives and quotidian grind of his family. This is Franco's Spain; and for the poorest workers on the estates, life is feudal and brutal. The scenes speak for themselves: the soldier's father crawling like a dog to sniff out fallen game, too proud of his prowess to notice his debasement; his simpleton uncle gently cradling the family's retarded child, only to infect her with lice; his ever-suffering mother, sadly and stoically accepting the loss of her child's chance of an education. If Camus places his sympathy firmly with these innocent victims rather than their morally impoverished employers, his mood is nevertheless one of restraint, shot through with moments of symbolism and dark spirituality. Save only finally, when the cruelty and claustrophobia are punctured by a moment of cold catharsis. A moving and mournful valediction to an unforgotten and unforgiven past.

 
https://cultura.cervantes.es/nuevadelhi/en/the-holy-innocents/134826

Speaker: Shri S. Sivakumar, Group Head, Agri & IT Businesses, ITC Limited. He is well-known as the architect of ITC’s revolutionary ‘e-Choupal’ initiative
Moderator: Shri Siraj Hussain, Visiting Senior Fellow, ICRIER


The programme will last about 60 minutes and will include a live Q&A session with the speaker, moderated by Dr. Siraj Hussain, Visiting Senior Fellow, ICRIER 

 

By Prateeksha Kashi from Bangalore, daughter and disciple of Guru Vyjayanthi Kashi

Webcast recording of the programme held on 8th March 2016

Through a Different Lens: Should India adopt a more civilisation view of the World (49 min)
Speaker: Dr. Shiv Visvanathan, social scientist, currently Professor at O P Jindal Global University

Chair: Shri Soli J. Sorabjee, President, IIC

The talk is an attempt to ask a question for contemporary times. The idea of civilisation has been used more to grasp the sacred, the sense of heritage and the idea of tradition. Words like Nationalism, Development and Globalism seem more appropriate for contemporary narratives on statecraft or policy. We dramatize ourselves within the frame-work of the nation-state with its accompanying ideas of citizenship, boundary, security and contract. This lecture suggests that may be a civilisation view of India is more relevant than a nationalist perspective. It considers a few thought experiments like the idea of South Asia, Climate Change and the notion of Sustainability to develop its argument

Webcast recording of the programme held on 14th January 2017

Organised in collaboration with Cervantes Institute, New Delhi

Second part in the online film series presenting five exceptional films from Spain, created between 1973–1997. Each of the films has received awards at the most prestigious international festivals and are emblematic of the collective memory, continuing to connect with contemporary viewers, offering them a much richer and more complex imagination.

Screenings will be held every Friday in July 2020 from 11:30 pm onwards. Vimeo links of the film will be made accessible for a period of 48 hours every week

Friday 3 July 2020 from 11:30 pm onwards
The Spirit of the Beehive (El espíritu de la colmena)
(94 min; 1973; Spanish with English subtitles)
Director: Victor Erice

Multiple award winner including the Golden Seashell Award, San Sebastián Film Festival 1973; CEC Awards for Best Film, Best Actor & Best Director, Cinema Writers Circle Awards, Spain 1974; among others

Víctor Erice's feature debut is a declaration of love for cinema. The awakening of little Ana to the mysteries of adult life allows the director to pay tribute to the importance of cinema to understand the world, and also our inner world. Through the wonderful images of this film we will see the image of Frankenstein circulate as one of the icons of cinema, but also as the mythical character that allows Ana to deal with her fears in the sad post-war period of a small Castilian town, along with her parents and her sister Elizabeth

https://cultura.cervantes.es/nuevadelhi/en/el-esp%C3%ADritu-de-la-colmena/134825

Illustrated lecture by Marina Montesano, Professor of Medieval History, University of Messina, Italy

Webinar recording of the talk held on 25th June 2020

An expert on the history of witchcraft, Prof. Montesano explores the concept of witches and how they came to be persecuted throughout history. In light of the scholarship available on the subject, the lecture investigates the link between epidemics and this social phenomena 

The talk can be accessed on
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gmGD6-vKPY&feature=youtu.be&list=PLqnBqgn7ty3zfAicvo9JJ-pEKM_gB0PKw

Speaker: Dr. Jayati Bhattacharya, Senior Lecturer, National University of Singapore

Introduced by Ms. Claudia Chia Yi En, South Asian Studies Programme, National University of Singapore

This lecture will focus on the historical connectivities across the Bay of Bengal in the colonial period, particularly the 19th and 20th centuries, and propose to highlight the alternative frameworks of mobility and exchanges through participation of Indian business communities in the intra-Asian economic and diasporic networks that prevailed, but was less visible in the dominant Euro-centric narrative across global transit points, port cities and the China trade routes.

Introduction: Ms Renana Jhabvala followed by a short film interview with Ruth Jhabvala

Chair: Shri Harish Khare

Readings from Ruth Jhabvala’s work by Averee Chaurey and Minoti Chatterjee

Introduction to Ruth Jhabvala’s fiction writing by Smt Aruna Chakravarty

An Interpretation of the last two works – My Nine Lives and Love Song for India
Speaker: Shri Ramesh Chandra Shah, well-known Hindi writer

Programme organised as part of the IIC Film Club programme Ruth Prawar Jhabvala Festival in December 2014

Webcast recording of the programme held on 15th December 2014

By Van Merwijk’s Music Machine from the Netherlands – Lucas van Merwijk, drummer, percussionist & band leader accompanied by Ramon Valle, Cuban master pianist;  Bert Boeren on trombone; and Samuel Albert Ruiz, bass player from Venezuela

Collaboration: Embassy of The Netherlands; Netherlands Fonds Voor Podium Kunsten and ASB for the Arts

Webcast recording of the programme held on 1st April 2015

Alarmel Valli, Bharatanatyam dancer in conversation with Arundhati Subramaniam, poet

Introduction: Ashok Vajpeyi

Collaboration: The Raza Foundation

Webcast recording of the programme held on 18th September 2015