BRITISH ASIAN FILM AND TELEVISION RETROSPECTIVES

English (16 min; 2010; dvd; English)
Director: Tarun Thind

An independent short film which is a gritty take on a day in the life of two judgement-prone youth from London. The story follows two friends who upon stumbling across a harmonica, embark on a rollercoaster journey

Majdhar (76 min; 1983; dvd; English)
Director: Ahmed Jamal

Unusually for its time, Majdhar highlights not only the British Asian experience but also that of Asian immigrants to the UK. It is as much concerned with Afzal's struggle to live an entirely Western life, while competing with the demands of his  Asian heritage, as it is with Fauzia's unexpected transition from dependent, submissive wife to independent working woman

Workshops from 15:00 onwards in Seminar Rooms I to III
Workshop on New Approaches to Playing the Tabla
Led by Kuljit Bhamra, MBE, leading British Asian musician who has pioneered new approaches to playing tabla, including working with tuning and notation, as well as performing with musicians from different musical styles

Please bring your own tabla

Workshop on Performance Photography
Led by Ammy Phull who has worked as a professional photographer for several decades. He has filmed many different kinds of performers and performances, including music, theatre and dance. The workshop will provide the opportunity to learn about techniques for filming performers at work, and to try these out in association with the workshop on playing tabla run by Kuljit Bhamra

Please bring your own digital camera, and also a laptop and connecting cables

At 18:30 in the Auditorium
BRITISH ASIAN FILM AND TELEVISION RETROSPECTIVES

The Body of a Poet: A Tribute to Audre Lorde (29 min; 1995; dvd; English)
Director: Sonali Fernando

Recipient of the Audience Award for Best Documentary Film, Imaginaria Festival, Bologna; Audience Award for Outstanding Short Film, Los Angeles; Jury Experimental Award, Prized Pieces Festival, Berkeley
 
A sublime, elegant and visually striking avant-garde documentary on Audre Lorde, the Caribbean - American writer and civil rights activist based in New York. Fernando's film is an imaginary biography of the lesbian, feminist, professor, mother, visionary and "˜warrior poet' who died of breast cancer in 1992

A Kind of English (75 min; 1986; dvd; English & with subtitles)
Director: Ruhul Amin

Voted as Outstanding Film by the British Film Institute in 1986

A soulful rendering of the plight of a Bengali family in the ghetto of London's East End through the eyes of their nine year old son who is witnessing the helplessness of his parents in the face of financial ruin and unemployment due to racial discrimination in the late 1980s

BRITISH ASIAN FILM AND TELEVISION RETROSPECTIVES

Documentaries and Television Dramas (120 min; dvd; English)
Presentation of extracts from programmes showing television drama and documentaries made by and about British Asian communities. The programme includes a short film of an interview with Farrukh Dhondy, specially recorded for this festival. Dhondy was the Commissioning Editor for multi-cultural programming at Channel 4 from 1984-1997

Presented by Shakila Maan

A festival celebrating the contribution and innovation made by South Asians in Britain to the culture and life of the country since the 1950s. Exhibition; film festival; a concert; and workshops - the festival is curated by Kuljit Bhamra, Shakila Taranum Maan and Ammy Phull of the Southall Story in collaboration with Dr. Jerri Daboo, University of Exeter, UK. With the support of the Arts and Humanities Research Council, UK; the Asian Arts Agency, UK; the British Council in India; and the University of Exeter, UK

Exhibition
The Southall Story
The exhibition celebrates the West London town of Southall which has been a place of migration for many different communities particularly from the South Asian diaspora. Panels, photographs and audio-visual material will present the art forms including music, and in particular, the development of the British sound of bhangra; film, theatre and dance; as well as social organizations such as story of the Indian Workers Association; the National Association of Asian Youth; and the Southall Black Sisters. The exhibition tells of life in Southall today with its mixture of communities and stories of migration

Preview on Tuesday, 12th November 2013 at 18:30

Exhibition on view in the Art Gallery, Kamaladevi Complex until 22nd November 2013, 11:00 to 19:00

Film Festival - BRITISH ASIAN FILM AND TELEVISION RETROSPECTIVES
Curator: Shakila Maan

At 18:30 in the Auditorium
I'm British But"¦(30 min; 1989; dvd; English)
Director: Gurinder Chadha

An exploration of the complex issue of identity for second generation British Asians, I'm British But"¦ was the first film of Gurinder Chadha

Bhaji on the Beach (101 min; 1993; dvd; English)
Director: Gurinder Chadha

 A group of women of Indian descent take a trip together from their home in Birmingham, England, to the beach resort of Blackpool. The women vary in ages from mid-teens to elderly, and initially have little in common. But the events of the day lead then to better mutual understanding and solidarity
 

Panelists: Prof. Ashis Nandy, Political Psychologist and Social Theorist; Prof. Neera Chandhoke, former Professor of Political Science and Director, Developing Countries Research Centre, University of Delhi

Moderator: Shri Suhas Borker

Presented by Sathyanarayana Raju, well-known Bharatanatyam dancer from Bangalore

The solo dance drama is an elaboration on the various characters that have impacted and become an integral part of the life of Sri Rama

Conceptualised by Usha R.K.
Dance choreography: Sathyanarayana Raju
Music coordination: D. S. Srivatsa
 

COMMEMORATION ?GANDHI-KING PLAZA & AUDITORIUM FROM 10:00 ONWARDS
Commemoration of Public Service Broadcasting Day
Commemorating the day in 1947 when Mahatma Gandhi addressed two lakh refugees in Kurukshetra from Broadcasting House, New Delhi

From 10:30 to 11:15 in Gandhi-King Plaza
Commemoration

From 11:30 to 13:00 in the Auditorium

Recalling Usha Mehta's Tryst with Freedom
Quit India Movement and the Underground Radio Transmitter in Bombay, Usha Mehta was arrested on 12 November 1942 and the Radio Transmitter confiscated

Discussion on: Social Contract, Public Service Broadcasting and Transforming India
Lead presentation: Shri Suhas Borker

Broadcasting policy experts, broadcasters, social scientists, academicians, activists, and media persons will participate. Media students are encouraged to participate in the programme so that they are exposed to the concepts and values of Public Service Broadcasting

Speaker: Prof. Andrew Meltzoff, University of Washington, USA

The Linguistic Genius of Babies
Speaker: Prof. Patricia Kuhl, University of Washington, USA