Advent of the Truth (India)
(40 min; 2006; English and with English subtitles)
Director: Monty Gupta

Auroville was envisioned as an international community free of government, money, religion, and strife. A place where this new way of living is being worked out; as a new centre of accelerated evolution where man must begin to change his world through the power of the inner spirit.

Screening will be followed by a discussion on The Idea of Community Living Sustained by Shared Convictions

Curated by Rajiv Mehrotra

Still Tibet (USA)
(52 min; 2025; English)
Director: Miguel Angel Cano Santizo

Filmmaker Miguel Cano embarks on a journey through one of the most remote ethnically Tibetan areas of China’s Sichuan Province. Using a mix of hitchhiking, motor biking, and hiking, he reaches parts of the region typically untouched by tourists. Through stunning cinematography, Cano explores this sacred land, meeting those fighting to preserve their spiritual and national identity, while revealing a vulnerable civilization that still retains an extraordinary mystical essence

(Collaboration: Foundation for Universal Responsibility of His Holiness The Dalai Lama)
 

Hindustani Violin Recital
By Johar Ali from Delhi, disciple of Ustad Gohar Ali Khan    

At 19:00
Odissi Recital
By Susmita Bhattacharya from Kolkata, disciple of Guru Ratikanta Mahapatra
 

Illustrated lecture by Dr. Stephen Huyler, well-known cultural anthropologist and art historian who has spent the past fifty-one years traveling the length and breadth of India conducting field research in almost every district.

Dr. Huyler’s areas of expertise are rural Indian arts and crafts, Hindu devotional rituals, and Indian women’s identity and art. He has served as a guest curator for thirty separate exhibitions of Indian art in museums in the United States, Britain and India, among other countries

Introduction: Minhazz Majumdar, author, Curator and Art Activist
 

Vichitra Veena Recital
By Gianni Ricchizzi

Followed by
Dhrupad Recital
By Ustad F. Wasifuddin Dagar
With Pt. Mohan Shyam Sharma on the pakhawaj

(Collaboration: Dagar Brothers Memorial Trust)

Shilpanatanam is a style of movement and choreographic vision conceived by Dr. Maya Kulkarni that departs from the structures of classical dance technique and conventional dramaturgy. Shilpanatanam taps into the wider world of literature and poetry.

Dance presentations by Mesma Belsare and Dr. Kaustavi Sarkar
 

Bhavai of Gujarat: Traditional Theatre of India
(138 min; 2025; English)
Directed by Dr. Svetlana Ryzhakova who will introduce the film

Screening will be followed by a discussion with Dr. Ryzhakova, leading research fellow in the Institute of Ethnography and Anthropology, Russian Academy of Science, Moscow. She is a life member of the Indian Anthropological Society and a member of European Association of Social Anthropologists

Bhavai is one of the traditional folk theatres of India, performed in rural areas of northern and central Gujarat by troupes of artistes who belong to the Targala community. This ethnographic documentary is based on Dr. Ryzhakova’s long term research and field material collected from 2014 to 2023 in the villages and cities of Gujarat. The film is richly illustrated with interviews, conversations, songs and dance that make this documentary a unique tapestry of Bhavai theatre

(Collaboration: Russian House of Culture)
 

Shilpanatanam is a style of movement and choreographic vision conceived by Dr. Maya Kulkarni that departs from the structures of classical dance technique and conventional dramaturgy. Shilpanatanam taps into the wider world of literature and poetry. 

Dance presentations by Mesma Belsare and Dr. Kaustavi Sarkar

Children’s cultural film festival, a screening of the best films on heritage made by children across different schools in Delhi-NCR

(Collaboration: Heritage Education and Communication Service, INTACH)
 

Hindustani vocal recital by Meeta Pandit who will present compositions intrinsic to the Gwalior Gharana

Showcasing rare and exquisite genres such as tapp-khayal, tappa, ashtapadi, tapp-thumri, tapp-tarana, chaturang, the program offers a glimpse into the profound beauty and versatility of this illustrious musical heritage and its relevance today.

Accompanists: Pt. Shailendra Mishra on tabla and Ustad Kamal Ahmad on Sarangi