The State of the Nation

 

 

Chair: Dr. V.A. Pai Panandikar

 

(Collaboration: Pai Panandiker Trust)

 

 

INDIAN ARCHAEOLOGY

 

Maritime Archaeological Investigations along the Gujarat coast

Illustrated lecture by Dr. A.S. Gaur, Marine Archaeology Centre, National Institute of Oceanography, Goa

Chair: Shri B.M. Pande

 

The foundations of maritime archaeological studies in India was laid with the investigation at Dwarka in 1981 and thereafter the investigations extended to the entire Saurashtra coast besides, Maharashtra, Goa, Lakshadweep and Tamil Nadu coast. However, the main focus remained on the Saurashtra coast for almost three decades. The entire coast from Bet Dwarka on the extreme west to Ghogha on the east was extensively investigated. The talk will focus on the remains documented in the course of studies and their interpretation to understand the concept of ports in the past and also on how these archaeological sites have been used effectively to understand the coastline movement     

 

 

 

 

Saahab

Musical mono act in Hindi depicting the agony and ecstasy of a common man

By Shekhar Sen, Mumbai

 

(Collaboration: Impresario India)

 

 

The Shepherdess of the Glaciers (France/India)

(74 min; 2015; HD; English subtitles)

Directors: Stanzin Dorjai Gya & Christiane Mordelet

 

Recipient of the Grand Jury Prize, Banff Mountain and Book Festival 2016

 

Living 5,000 metres above sea level with her 300 goats, Tsering is one of the last shepherdesses in the far northern mountains of Ladakh, India. As she leads her flock of 300 sheep and Pashmina goats to graze on the 5500m high Himalayan Plateaus in a dry and desolate landscape, Tsering is under the continuous threat of wolves and snow leopards. 

 

Documented by her brother over four seasons, the film depicts both her world of icy loneliness and that unbreakable bond between humans and animals

 

 

 

(76 min; 2015; HD; English subtitles)

Director: Sean McAllister

 

Recipient of the Grand Jury Prize, Sheffield International Documentary Festival 2015; Special Jury Award – International Competition, Biografilm Festival 2015; and Cinema for Peace Refugee Award, Cinema for Peace Awards 2016

 

Filmed over 5 years, A Syrian Love Story charts an incredible odyssey to political freedom. For Raghda and Amer, it is a journey of hope, dreams and despair: for the revolution, their homeland and each other

 

 

 

One of India’s most alternative, off beat and eclectic film festivals held once a year in McLeod Ganj in Dharmshala, the Dharamshala International Film Festival (DIFF) was first started in 2012. Conceptualized by filmmakers Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam of White Crane Films as a means of bringing quality contemporary, independent Indian and World Cinema to the culturally diverse location of Dharamshala. On 17, 23 and 26 October, we present a selection of the finest films presented at DIFF 2016

 

Sonita (Germany/Switzerland)

(90 min; 2015; HD; English subtitles)

Director: Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami

 

Multiple award winner including IDFA Audience Award & DOC U! Award, Amsterdam International Documentary Film Festival 2015; Audience Award – World Cinema Documentary & Grand Jury Prize, Sundance Film Festival 2016; SOS – Kinderdörfer Award, Munich International Documentary Festival (DOK. fest) 2016; among others

 

Sonita is an 18-year-old female, an undocumented Afghan illegal immigrant living in the poor suburbs of Teheran. She is a feisty, spirited, young woman who fights to live the way she wants, as an artist, singer and musician in spite of all the obstacles she confronts in Iran and her conservative patriarchal family

 

 

 

Main speakesr:  Ambassador Ashok Sajjanhar, Advisor, Central Asia, Ananta Aspen Centre and former Ambassador of India to Kazakhstan, Sweden and Lativa; and
H.E. Mr. Tomasz Kozlowski, EU Ambassador to India

 

 

 

(Collaboration: Ananta Aspen Centre)

 

 

 

Bharatanatyam Recital

By Kirti Ramgopal from Bangalore, disciple of Smt Padmini Ramachandran and Smt Bragha Bessell

 

 

Felicitation of Ira Chaudhuri

An audiovisual on Ira Chaudhuri, well known ceramic artist

 

Followed by 

Sidh-Veena Recital 

By Siddharth Banerjee

 

On this occasion Smt Ira Chaudhuri will be presented the Jaya Appasamy Life Time Award by Smt Kiran Nadar

 

(Collaboration: Rasaja Foundation)

 

 

 

Keynote Speakers: Prof. Jagdeep Chokkar and Shri Syed Nasim Ahmad Zaidi, Former Chief Election Commissioner of India

 

Chair: Shri T.S. Krishnamurthy, Former Chief Election Commissioner of India 

 

(Collaboration:  IC Centre for Governance)