A festival of 14 exceptional nonfiction films from South Asia produced in the last two years. The festival encapsulates the flavors of the Subcontinent with films about people from India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The festival includes the award winners of Film Southasia Festival 2022, Kathmandu as well as other films selected to showcase the variety, treatment and intensity that marks the world of Southasian documentary and non-fiction. Organised with Film Southasia, Kathmandu. The festival also includes an exhibition by Hri Institute for Southasian Research and Exchange, Southasian Trust, Kathmandu

COMPLETE SCHEDULE

At 18:00
Introduction
By Kanak Mani Dixit

The Secret Life (Pakistan)
(13 min; 2020; Urdu with English subtitles)
Director: Nadeem

A glimpse into the lives of indigenous people in the Hunza valley of Pakistan

AT 18:35
Gurkha Girl (Nepal)
(35 min; 2021; Nepali with English subtitles)
Director: Bishal Rokka Magar

Co-Recipient of the Tareque Masud Award for Best Debut Film, Film Southasia Kathmandu 2022

As news surfaces that Britain is recruiting Nepali girls in its British Gurkha regiments, Dilmaya, a young girl from a mountain village, sees it as a life changing opportunity and devotes all her time in preparation.

AT 19:15
The Casteless Collective – Prologue (India)
(90 min; 2021; Tamil/English)
Director: Monesh

Music breaks barriers of caste and class in performances by a revolutionary band. The documentary chronicles the story of India’s most revolutionary political musical outfit The Casteless Collective (bold) from its inception through the release of its debut album “Magizhchi” (Joy) in 2019.
 

Curated by Rajiv Mehrotra

The Last Dalai Lama? (USA)
(82 min; 2016; English)
Director: Mickey Lemle

Recipient of the Audience Award, Mill Valley Film Festival 2016

Screening will be followed by a discussion with Rajiv Mehrotra
 
His Holiness turns 88 in July. The film reflects on the 14th Dalai Lama, his ongoing confrontation between Tibetans and China; His Holiness’s influence in political and spiritual spheres; his work with educators and neuropsychologists; and his personal feelings on ageing, dying and the question: Will there be a fifteenth Dalai Lama, or will he be the last Dalai Lama?

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

Concert by Ishaan Leonard Rao, young pianist and composer, a prodigious talent in the world of music

The only Indian recipient of the Sony Music Group Global Scholar, Ishaan is currently studying piano under Georgian pianist, Girogi Mikdze at Berklee College of Music, Boston where received the prestigious certificate for ‘outstanding achievement’ by the piano department
 
 

From 75 Years of Marg, co-edited by Anita Cherian and Urmimala Sarkar Munsi

Speakers: Anita Cherian, Ambedkar University, Delhi; Urmimala Sarkar Munsi, School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University; and Navtej Singh Johar, artist and Founder, Studio Abhyas

Chair: Urmimala Sarkar Munsi

From its earliest issues, Marg has devoted considerable space to writings on dance. It has played a significant role in the classicization and canonization of forms that are known today as the eight classical dances of India. In a country like India, replete with its complex mesh of histories, living traditions, languages, and regional calendars, these writings have created awareness about traditions and transitions while keeping the aesthetics of presentation as a priority

(Collaboration: Marg Publications)

Klemperer Conducts Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125
(72 min; 1964; dvd; Black & White)

With Agnes Giebel (soprano); Marga Höffgen (contralto); Ernst Haefliger (tenor); Gustav Neidlinger (bass)

New Philharmonia Chorus and New Philharmonia Orchestra
Conductor: Otto Klemperer

A monumental interpretation of Beethoven’s iconic Choral Symphony that concludes with the Ode to Joy, conducted by one of the most towering Beethoven interpreters of his generation. Recorded live at the Royal Albert Hall, London, on 8th November 1964.

Introduced by Sunit Tandon

Spartacus (92 min; dvd)
Ballet by Yuri Grigorovich
With Vladimir Vasiliev, Natalia Bessmertnova, Maris Liepa, Nina Timofeyeva (The Bolshoi Ballet 1977)

Music: Aram Khachaturian 
Conductor: Algis Zhuratis

“The inherent cinematic approach in Grigorovich’s staging of Khachaturian’s score falls perfectly in place. Vladimir Vasiliev, as the slave who leads an unsuccessful revolt against the Romans, dances and acts at a heroic level that is the performance of a lifetime. …. It is also one of the best dance films ever made.” Anna Kisselgoff (The New York Times)

Introduced by Samaresh Chatterji

SCREEING SCHEDULE

The Tiger Poet: New and Selected Poems

By Amit Dahiyabadshah (2021)

The poems in the The Tiger Poet implore with an intimate immediacy beyond the borders of a virus and the country of India. The book brings the low growl of the regal tiger, the defiant cry of long-suffering humanity, and the proud heritage of his farmer-warrior Jat people from mountainous northern India to our wide world in this stunning volume.

Speakers : Shri Murad Ali Baig, Writer and Columnist, Ms Vinita Agrawal, Poet & Editor, Prof. Jaibir Singh Hooda, Prof. of Faculty of Interdisciplinary Studies & Director, UCCE, M. D. University, Rohtak, Dr Priyanka Lamba, Associate Prof ., Dept of English, Dronacharya Govt PG College, Gurugram,Shri Amit Dahiyabadshah, Poet & Author of the Book

Presented by Ramchandra Gangoliya and party from Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh

Ramchandra Gangoliya is a well-known folk singer and musician from Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh. He is accompanied by artists on traditional folk instruments – manjira, dholak, timki, and kartal among others
 
Organised to mark World Music Day 2023

Puccini: Tosca
(120 min; 2011; dvd; English subtitles)

With Angela Gheorghiu (Flora Tosca); Jonas Kaufmann (Mario Cavaradossi); Bryn Terfel (Baron Scarpia); Lukas Jakobski (Cesare Angelotti); Jeremy White (Sacristan); Hubert Francis (Spoletta); Zheng Zhong Zhou (Sciarrone); William Payne (Shepherd Boy); John Morissey (Gaoler)

A Royal Opera House Production in association with the BBC
Stage Director: Jonathan Kent
Royal Opera Chorus and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
Conductor: Antonio Pappano

Jonathan Kent’s atmospheric and evocative production of Tosca features three of the finest singers; Angela Gheorghiu’s sensitively portrayed Tosca is paired with Jonas Kaufmann’s intense and compelling Cavaradossi, while Bryn Terfel is thrillingly malevolent as Scarpia. Antonio Pappano’s masterfully paced conducting captures all the drama and beauty of Puccini’s exhilarating opera.

Introduced by Sunit Tandon

SCREEING SCHEDULE

Sitar Recital

By Soumendra Goswami from Delhi, disciple of Pandit Kushal Das

At 19:00
Hindustani Vocal Recital

By Shatavisha Mukherjee from Kolkata, disciple of Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar