The Divine Mohras of Kullu
Speaker: Dr. Kirit Mankodi, archaeologist and author of The Queen’s Stepwell at Patan
 
Chair: Shri B.M. Pande

This illustrated talk is about the Devatas, or Mohras, worshipped in Himachal Pradesh. The Devatas are the divine busts made of either brass, silver, or even gold; they represent epic or pauranic gods, sages, and other heroes, around which the religious life of the present Kullu, Mandi and Shimla districts of this Himalayan State has revolved for many centuries

(83 min; 2013; HDV, SDV, VHS, Cell-phone; Kutchi, Arabic, Urdu, Hindi with English subtitles )
 
A film by CAMP (Shaina Anand and Ashok Sukumaran)
 
 A boat has many powers: to gather a society in its making, to distribute goods, to carry people and ideas across places that, it seems to us, are more different than ever before. From Gulf to Gulf to Gulf is a result of four years of dialogue, friendship and exchange between CAMP and a group of sailors from the Gulf of Kutch. Their travels, and those of co-seafarers from Pakistan and Southern Iran, through the Persian and Aden Gulfs show us a world cut into many pieces, not easily bridged by nostalgics or nationalists. Instead, we follow the physical crossings made by these groups of people who make and sail boats, and who also make videos, sometimes with songs married to them. 
 Awarded the Jury mention at Festival International de Cinema, Marseille and the New Views Prize, Olhar de Cinema, Curutiba, Opening Film Images Festival Toronto  

Directed by Pankaj Butalia

Produced by Films Division

Dr. Mushtaque Sadaf, Sahitya Akademi will briefly introduce the work of Nida Fazli; and Pankaj Butalia will introduce the film

Screening will be followed by a discussion

Nida Fazli is one of India’s well-known Urdu poets. Born in Gwalior from where his family left for Pakistan after the partition of India, Nida decided to stay behind and moved to Bombay to see if he could make his mark there as a poet. From the mid-seventies onwards, he has been recognised as one of the leading modernist voices in Urdu poetry. This film is a way to look at the man and his work

Between Nationalism and Internationalism: The Political Philosophy of Rabindranath Tagore
Speaker: Dr. Ramachandra Guha, historian and biographer

Speaker : Dr. Ramesh Srinivasan, Director UC Center for Global Digital Cultures and Associate Professor
Department of Information Studies and Design|Media Arts, University of California at Los Angeles

Chair: Dr. Githa Hariharan
 
This talk explores how digital technologies can be re-imagined in the shape of peoples and communities worldwide on the margins of political and social power. It considers these questions in terms of how political movements are formed and sustained, how heritage and identity are preserved and how technologies may shape labor and the environment. I share insights from my work that range from South America, the Middle East, and South Asia 

Illustrated lecture by Dr. Pravina Cooper, Lecturer, Comparative World Literature, California State University, Long Beach

Chair: Chair: Ms Aruna Vasudev
 
Shakespeare continues to be the most prolific and translatable screen writer of modern cinema. Dr. Cooper will examine the ideological implications of Vishal Bhardwaj’s Haider, Omkara and Maqbool; how and to what ends does Bhardwaj’s work align with the central moral dilemmas at the heart of Shakespeare’s Renaissance texts and to what extent does his work re-write them?

Clean and Green – Fuelling India’s Alternative Energy (52 min; dvd; English)
A film by Ajay Bedi & Vijay Bedi
 
Film courtesy: PSBT and Bedi Brothers Production
 
The film takes a critical look at why green energy solutions have not occupied mainstream policy and how to popularise these methods for economic scale. Travelling through the villages of Rajasthan to Bihar and the millennium city of Gurgaon, the film demonstrates how the sun, the wind, and all the natural elements can be harnessed to generate energy
 

Dr. Kalpana Dasgupta, former Director, Central Secretariat Library and former Chairperson, Working Group on Libraries National Knowledge Commission; Dr. Gayas Makhdumi, University Librarian, Jamia Millia Islamia; and        Dr. Usha Munshi , Librarian, IIPA will discuss Librarianship in Indian National Perspective by Subhash C. Biswas (Delhi: Gyan Publishing, 2015)

Jabbed – Love, Fear and Vaccines (90 min; 2013; dvd; English)
Director:  Sonya Pemberton, Genepool Productions/ SBS TV
 
As vaccination rates fall and preventable diseases re-emerge, Jabbed reminds us of what’s at stake. Traversing the globe, the film-makers examine the science behind vaccinations and the real cost of opting out. Stylishly crafted, thought provoking and often confronting, Jabbed is a powerful contribution to the often heated vaccine discussion
 
At 12:00
Sons and Mothers (80 min; 2014; dvd; English)
Director: Christopher Houghton, Pop Pictures/ABC TV
 
Sons and Mothers uses creative techniques to focus on the abilities, rather than disabilities, of its subjects. An intimate portrait of a group of men who meet once a week as part of the Men’s Ensemble theatre troupe
 
At 14:00
First Footprints – Episodes 1 & 2 (56 min per episode; 2013; English)
Directors: Martin Butler and Bentley Dean, Contact Films, ABC TV
 
Winner of the 2013 Walkley Documentary Award 
 
Martin Butler will introduce the screening
 
First Footprints is a televisual archaeological ‘dig’ which comprehensively explores the history of Aboriginal tribal structures and land management techniques which prevailed for 50,000 years on the island continent which became known as Australia
 
This four part documentary series explores the story of how people arrived and thrived on our continent. With startling new archaeological discoveries revealing how the first Australians adapted, migrated, fought and created in dramatically changing environments.
 
Episode 1 - Super Nomads: 50,000 To 30,000 Years Ago
The story of how people arrived and thrived in Australia. With startling new archaeological discoveries revealing how the first Australians adapted, migrated, fought and created in dramatically changing environments
 
At 15:10
Episode 2 - The Great Drought: 30,000 To 15,000 Years Ago
For thousands of years people lived with Australia's strange and ferocious mega fauna but all beasts went extinct during the last ice age. Temperatures were 6 degrees colder; it was dry and windy and lasted over 10,000 years
 
At 16:10
Discussion
Speakers: Pat Fiske and Martin Butler, Australian filmmakers; Liz Jackson, senior Australian journalist; Safina Uberoi, Indian-Australian filmmaker based in Australia; and others
 
At 18:30
The Sunnyboy (90 min; 2013; English)
Director: Kaye Harrison, Treehouse Productions, JOTZ Productions
 
Winner of The MHS Broadcast Media Award 2014
 
The Sunnyboy follows 50 year-old Jeremy Oxley, frontman of the much-lauded 80’s band the Sunnyboys, as he emerges from a 30-year battle with schizophrenia. Told largely from his own perspective the filmmakers capture Jeremy’s struggle to unpick his past and his slowly growing confidence as he dares to contemplate a return to the stage

Love Marriage in Kabul (84 min; 2014; dvd; English)
Directors: Pat Fiske and Amin Palangi, Bower Bird Films
 
Winner of the Foxtel Audience Award for Best Documentary, Sydney Film Festival 2014; and Best Documentary Award, Canberra International Film Festival 2014
 
Pat Fiske will introduce the film and screening will be followed by a discussion
 
Mahboba Rawi is a strong-willed Afghan-Australian woman who has dedicated her life to help orphans in Afghanistan. Abdul, one of these orphans, is in love with Fatemeh, the girl next door. The two hope to marry each other one day. But Fatemeh’s father has other plans
 
At 19:45
Scarlet Road (106 min; 2011; dvd; English)
Directors: Catherine Scott & Pat Fiske
 
Scarlet Road follows the extraordinary work of Australian sex worker, Rachel Wotton. Impassioned about freedom of sexual expression and the rights of sex workers, she specialises in a long over-looked clientele – people with disability