Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
(141 min; 2013; English)
Director: Justin Chadwick

With Idris Alba, Naomie Harris, Terry Pheto

Multiple award winner including Audience Award, Aspen Film Festival 2013; Bernhard Wicki Film Award for Best Film, Munich Film Festival 2014; SAFTA Golden Horn for Best Achievement in Costume Design-Feature Film, Best Achievement in Make-up and Hairstyling-Feature Film & Best Achievement in Production Design-Feature Film, South African Film and Television Awards 2014; Audience Award, Twi City Film Fest, USA 2013; among others

A chronicle of Nelson Mandela's life journey from his childhood in a rural village through to his inauguration as the first democratically elected president of South Africa.

Sri Aurobindo: The Beginning of Spiritual Journey
(38 min; 2022; English)
Directed by Suraj Kumar who will introduce the film

Screening will be followed by a discussion

The film is based on Sri Aurobindo’s arrest for conspiracy on 5th May 1908 and the one full year that he spent in Alipore jail while the British government, in a protracted court-trial (which came to be known as the “Alipore Bomb Case”), tried to implicate him in various revolutionary activities. He was acquitted and released on 6 May 1909. The film has been shot on location in Alipore Jail
 

By K. Bharat Sundar from Chennai, Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar Awardee

Accompanied by Delhi R. Sridhar on the violin; and Trivandrum Balaji on the mridangam

(Collaboration: Gurukulam Foundation)
 

Flute concert by Hiroki Okano, renowned Japanese musician and sound artist, globally recognised in the ambient and new age music scene. His music blends electronic sounds, traditional music, and world music, centred on themes of earth consciousness, cosmic consciousness, and prayer.

Okano’s music offers a unique and immersive soundscape, providing audiences with a one-of-a-kind experience. Through his music, Okano aims to help audiences feel the healing power of music, connect deeply with life and nature, and spread the message of peace and harmony

(Collaboration: The Japan Foundation, New Delhi)
 

Speakers: Cmde. C. Uday Bhaskar, Director, Society for Policy Studies; Lt. Gen. Satish Nambiar Retd., former Deputy Chief of the Army Staff,  former Head of Mission of UNPROFOR, the United Nations Protection Force and Director, United Services Institute; Shri A.S. Dulat, former Secretary, RAW; and Shri Sushant Singh,  Lecturer, Yale University

Chair: Shri Shyam Saran, President, IIC

Seed Stories

(42 min; 2024; Odiya/Kui/English)

Directed by Chitrangada Choudhury who will introduce the film

Screening will be followed by a discussion with Suhas Borker, Editor, Citizens First TV (CFTV) and Trustee, IIC

In a village in the Niyamgiri mountains of the Eastern Ghats of Odisha, a heroic effort is underway: ecologist Dr. Debal Deb and his 3-member team are conserving over a thousand endangered ancient rice varieties. The Eastern Ghats region of Odisha is one of the surviving biodiversity hotspots in the world, where (indigenous) Adivasi communities, such as the Kondhs, possess knowledge that allows them to grow multiple crops with their seeds, which have evolved over the centuries.

Meanwhile, the village and the wider region are changing irreversibly due to the arrival of genetically modified cotton seeds and their associated agrochemicals. “Seed Stories” offers deep insight into how this is reshaping a geography and a people immersed in agroecological knowledge, and altering their attitudes towards agriculture, food and ecology. 

Indu (36 min; 2024; Hindi with English translations)

With the poetry of Indu Jain (Indu Jain ki Kavita ke saath)
A film by Sameera Jain who will introduce the film

Screening will be followed by a discussion with the filmmaker

The film is a homage to the beauty, depth and spirit of Indu Jain’s poetry. Her work seamlessly navigates the personal and political, words moving to keep pace with her energy, permeated with an innate sense of freedom. Indu Jain’s poetry is immersive, mesmerizing, sensuous. The film reflects this essence in an experiential, experimental way.

Indu Jain (1935-2008) was a strong presence on the Hindi literary scene, and wrote for close to fifty years. She had to her credit more than ten volumes of poetry and seven of prose, Her work has been widely anthologized and translated in Japan, Czechoslovakia and Pakistan 

Presented by Mooralala Marwada, celebrated folk singer from Gujarat, who belongs to a lineage of Meghwal singers who migrated from Rajasthan to Khadir island in Kutch four centuries ago. With a rich repertoire of Nirguni bhajans, sufi kalaam and other traditional folk songs, Mooralala also plays the ‘santaar’, a traditional stringed instrument.
 
Accompanists: Kanji Rana (algoza); Naran Haja (ghado ghamelo – percussion); and Sukhdev Lakha (zanz-percussion)

The programme will be in the format of lecture-demonstration. Alongside the songs performed by Mooralala ji and his troupe, Kartikay Khetarpal from Nayi Dhara, will offer a commentary on the songs, which will illuminate their literary and cultural significance especially in relation to the evolution of Hindi. Through bhajans of Kabir, Mirabai, and Ravidas, the programme will look at the role of the Bhakti movement in Hindi’s development, and also explore Hindi’s relationship with languages like Gujarati and Sindhi.  

(Collaboration: Nayi Dhara)

“Because it’s There”
Centenary of the historic 1924 British Everest Expedition and the intriguing mystery of the disappearance of George Mallory and Andrew Irvine

Illustrated lecture by Brig. Ashok Abbey (retd.), passionate skier-mountaineer who has climbed extensively, for over 43 years in the Karakoram, Great Himalaya, and adjoining mountain ranges, including overseas

Guest of Honour: Shri N.N. Vohra, former President, Indian Mountaineering Foundation and Life Trustee, IIC

Chair: Shri Shyam Saran, President, IIC

Moderator and Host: Shri Sudhir Sahi, former Editor of “Indian Mountaineer”, former Honorary Secretary, Indian Mountaineering Foundation, and former Delhi Secretary of the Himalayan Club

A fascinating historical perspective of the pioneering attempts of 1921, 1922, and the 1924 British Everest Expeditions, the mystery of the disappearance of George Mallory and Andrew Irvine, and the tantalizing question as to whether they were the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
 

Hindustani Vocal Recital
By Dr Kaustuv Kanti Ganguli from UAE, disciple of Pt. Ajoy Chakrabarty