Fire to Fire From Dawn to Dusk: North East India’s Vanishing Way of Life

An exhibition of photographs by Shyamal Datta from Shillong

 

Preview on Tuesday, 11 September 2018 at 18:30

 

In this collection, the metaphoric day starts when the family wakes up at dawn and lights the central fire at the hearth. Food is cooked and eaten after which all members leave the house for the hills to tend to their crops. At sunset, the family returns and light up their hearth once again to eat, drink and be happy together, before the cycle starts again the following day. An exhibition that visually records a fascinating, unique way of life for posterity – a way that is confronting the contradictions of modernity

 

The Best of Dharamshala International Film Festival: 10 to 12 September 2018

 

The Swallow (Switzerland)

(102 min; 2017; dvd; English subtitles)

Director: Mano Khalil

 

In this delicate, tragic drama, Mira, a young, bored Swiss woman, goes in search of her father in Iraqi Kurdistan – a father she has only ever seen in a few photographs but whom she has placed on a pedestal…

 

The Best of Dharamshala International Film Festival: 10 to 12 September 2018

 

Turup (India)

(72 min; 2017; dvd; Hindi with English subtitles)

Direction: Ektara Collective

 

In the neighbourhood, chess is a popular pass time with roadside games bringing together men from different strata. Their pawns include morality and religion, causing social and political tensions to erupt when a tournament gets underway. But against this simmering backdrop, are other forces at play – a domestic worker with a secret hobby, a young woman in love, and a former journalist struggling with married life, each must make their moves with care

 

 

The Best of Dharamshala International Film Festival: 10 to 12 September 2018

One of India’s most alternative, off beat and eclectic film festivals held once a year in McLeodganj 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. From 10 to 12 September 2018, we present a selection of the finest films presented at DIFF 2017

 

Out of this World (USA)

(75 min; 1954; dvd; English)

Director: David Wright

 

Out of this World is an updated version of an expedition film shot in 1949 by Lowell Thomas Sr. and Lowell Thomas Jr., whilst on a three-month trip to Lhasa. It provides a window on life in Tibet just months before the country was invaded by China and features footage of His Holiness the Dalai Lama aged just 15

 

People on the Run, People on the Move: Displacement, Security and Gender in South Asia

Panelists: Prof. Paula Banerjee (Vice Chancellor, Sanskrit University, Kolkata); Prof. Ranabir Samaddar (Director, Mahanirban Calcutta Research Group); and Dr. Sanjoy Hazarika (Director, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, New Delhi) (tbc) 

 

Chair: Dr. Meenakshi Gopinath

 

(Collaboration: WISCOMP)

Kabir Sandhya  

Pt. Madhup Mudgal renders 'Kabir Bani' in his own unique style. The rendition includes his recently composed new compositions of Kabir Sahib  

 

Accompanists: Gurbhej Singh and Gurpreet Singh on  tabla; Manish Sharma on harmonium; Ganesh Singh  on manjira;  Sawani Mudgal on vocal support; Vivek Bhola and  Khushal Sharma on tanpura and vocal support

 

Poetry of Benevolence and Compassion

Discussion and launch of The Eight-eyed Lord of Kathmandu

By Abhay K., poet and diplomat (Bloomsbury India)

 

Discussant: Prof. Pushpesh Pant, former Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University

Chair: Dr. H.K.  Kaul, President, The Poetry Society, India

 

(Collaboration: The Poetry Society, India)

BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP

 

She Goes to War: Women Militants of India

By Rashmi Saksena (New Delhi: Speaking Tiger, 2018)

 

Discussants: Dr. Ajai Sahni, Executive Director, Institute of Conflict Management; Dr. Sanjoy Hazarika, Director, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative; and Ms Maya Mirchandani, Ashok University

 

Chair: Shri M. Maroof Raza, Defence Analyst, Consultant & Strategic Affairs Expert for Times Now Television

Odissi Recital

By Shashwati Garai Ghosh from Kolkata, disciple of Smt Sharmila Biswas under the Sanskriti–Madhobi Chatterji Memorial Fellowship 2018

 

(Collaboration: Sanskriti – Madhobi Chatterji Fellowship)

 

Unscripted Lives

Photo-stories by Shiju Basheer

 

Inauguration by Shri Ashok Vajpeyi on Wednesday, 5 September 2018 at 18:00

 

A collection of candid shots by the artist from his travels in across India and elsewhere