A

Antarmahal
Contested Terrains
Narrative Feature, 2005, 118 min
Directed by: Rituparno Ghosh
Interests: Narrative Feature Film

Set in late nineteenth century Bengal, creative director, Rituparno Ghosh’s Antarmahal is near perfect cinematic exploration of the colonial landlord’s (Jackie Shroff) two main obsessions: his desperate attempts for an heir, which even his newly married second wife Jashomati seems unable to deliver; and competing with his regional rivals to produce the most magnificent effigy of a goddess for the annual Durga Puja ceremony. This year he concocts a master plan - why not change the face of the goddess for the most powerful woman on Earth - Queen Victoria. Read More

H

House of Memories
Contested Terrains
Narrative Feature, 2000, 133 min
Directed by: Aparna Sen
Interests: Narrative Feature Film, Panel Discussion

Paromitar Ek Din explores the dual themes of loneliness and friendship. Sanaka (Aparna Sen) and Paromita (Rituparna Sengupta) are mother and daughter-in-law who form a strong bond despite differences in age, background, and temperament. However, this bond begins to break as Paromita’s marriage to Sanaka’s son begins to deteriorate. Read More

I

I Am
Contested Terrains , Queeristan: Exploring the Other
Narrative Feature, 2010, 95 min
Directed by: Onir Ainban
Interests: Narrative Feature Film, Opening Night Film, Red Carpet, Trade Screening

The film I AM is divided into a series of four short stories about issues and dilemmas that bruise modern Indian society, ranging from policing of homosexual men to adult survivors of childhood sex-abuse, and unmarried motherhood. It follows the tales of four individuals, Afia, Megha, Omar, and Abhimanyu, who are struggling to find their identity and uphold their dignity in a world that is cold and unsympathetic.

Note: I Am Omar; an excerpt from this film will play as part of Shorts & Docs IV on September 22nd and September 24th
Shorts & Docs IV on September 22nd includes the panel "‘Otheristan’; Exploring Queerness in South-Asian Cinema." Read More

Ijjodu
Contested Terrains
Narrative Feature, 2010, 96 min
Directed by: M.S. Sathyu
Interests: Narrative Feature Film

The film is set in a remote village where Chenni (Meera Jasmine) is offered to the village deity as a ‘Basavi’, or ‘Devdasi’ (God‘s Servant), in hopes of saving the village from an epidemic. A photographer, Ananda (Anirud Jatkar) accidentally meets her and is attracted to her. He subsequently goes on a quest to find her true story, which changes the life of the village altogether. Read More

Ishqiya
Superdevis, Virgins, and Vamps , Contested Terrains
Narrative Feature, 2010, 120 min
Directed by: Abhishek Chaubey
Interests: Narrative Feature Film, Panel Discussion

Ishqiya explores desire, greed, and revenge. Khalujan (Naseeruddin Shah) and Babban (Arshad Warsi) are two thieves on the run from their boss. They seek refuge with an old friend and subsequently meet his widow, Krishna (Vidya Balan). Both are drawn to her – what ensues is an intense and at times surreal drama that reverses tropes of the widow as the “victim”. Read More

L

Love Sex aur Dhoka
Contested Terrains
Narrative Feature, 2010, 150 min
Directed by: Dibakar Banerjee
Interests: Narrative Feature Film, Trade Screening

Following its name explores the emotions of love, sex, and betrayal through very candid points of view. This film is told through the chaos of the camera that has invaded all our lives – through handy cams filming home movies, security cameras shooting every inch of existence, mobile phones transmitting love messages, and sting cameras uncovering uncomfortable truths. Read More

M

Maqbool
Superdevis, Virgins, and Vamps , Contested Terrains
Narrative Feature, 2004, 132 min
Directed by: Vishal Bhardwaj
Interests: Narrative Feature Film

Macbeth meets the Godfather in present-day Bombay. The Scottish tragedy set in the contemporary underworld of India's commercial capital; two corrupt, fortune telling policemen take the roles of the weird sisters, and "Duncan" is Abbaji, the head of a crime family. Abbaji's mistress and Maqbool plot and carry out his death; the sea plays the role of Birnham Wood. Read More

Mirch
Contested Terrains
Narrative Feature, 2010, 128 min
Directed by: Vinay Shukla
Interests: Closing Night Film, Narrative Feature Film, Red Carpet, Trade Screening

Mirch, directed by Vinay Shukla, is a series of four short stories about infidelity, woven together by a common story. The four stories are proposed by a struggling film-maker (Arunoday Singh) to impress a successful film-producer (Sushant Singh). Ultimately the film invokes larger trope of women’s emancipation. Read More

Morality TV aur The Loving Jehad: Ek Manohar Kahani
Contested Terrains
Short Narrative, 2005, 25 min
Directed by: Paromita Vohra
Plays In: Shorts and Docs III
Interests: Short Film

In the winter of 2005 Indian viewers switched on their TV sets to watch yet another “breaking news” story, but one which shocked them. What is the story of this news story? The film looks outside the frames that weave the frenetic tapestry of Breaking News on India’s news channels to uncover a town’s complex dynamics – the fear of love, the constant scrutiny along with control of women’s mobility and sexuality, a history of communal violence, caste brutalization and feudal equations.

Note: $15 includes this film along with The Other Song Read More

N

Naach
Roti Kapda aur Makaan; Rethinking Labor, Migration & Economic Justice , Contested Terrains
Documentary Feature, 2008, 84 min
Directed by: Saba Dewan
Plays In: Shorts and Docs I
Interests: Documentary Film

The Sonpur cattle fair in Bihar comes alive every evening when more than fifty women take to the stage and dance to the latest Bollywood songs. A barbed wire fence separates the girls whose performance is charged with sexual energy. In a very candid camera style the director follows the women dancers, whose survival raises questions related to contemporary constructions and practices of gender, sexuality, labor and popular culture.

Note: $15 includes this film along with Delhi Mumbai Delhi and Office Read More

O

Office
Contraband Pakistan: Debunking the Stereotype , Contested Terrains
Short Narrative, 15 min
Directed by: Mehreen Jabbar
Plays In: Shorts and Docs IV
Interests: Short Film

It traces the life of a prostitute in Karachi on her typical work day, the men she meets and the different roles she plays to satisfy her clients.

$15 includes this film along with You Can't Curry Love, Amen, I Am Omar as part of Shorts & Docs IV Read More

The Other Song
Contested Terrains
Documentary Feature, 2009, 120 min
Directed by: Saba Dewan
Plays In: Shorts and Docs III
Interests: Documentary Film, Panel Discussion

In 1935 Rasoolan Bai, the well- known singer from Varanasi recorded for the gramophone a ‘Thumri’ (specific style of classical Indian music) that she would never sing again- “Lagat jobanwa ma chot, phool gendwa na maar” (My breasts are wounded, don’t throw flowers at me). More than seventy years later the film travels through Varanasi, Lucknow and Muzzafarpur in Bihar to search for the forgotten Thumri and opens a Pandora’s Box of life stories, memories, half remembered songs, and histories that for long have been banished into oblivion.

Note: $15 includes this film along with Morality TV aur Loving Jehad: Ek Manohar Kahani Read More

P

Paroma
Superdevis, Virgins, and Vamps , Contested Terrains
Narrative Feature, 1984, 140 min
Directed by: Aparna Sen
Interests: Narrative Feature Film, Panel Discussion

National Award winning film-director Aparna Sen takes us on a cinematic journey into the life of Paroma (Rakhee Gulzar). Frozen in her middle class, housewife existence, she falls in love with Rahul (Mukul Sharma), an expatriate photo-journalist working for glossy magazines. Their affair, and the invasion of the glamour machine into her life, becomes a problem when some of the photographs, earlier admired by the family, are published in a journal. Read More

Pooranmashi
Contested Terrains
Short Narrative, 2007, 7 min
Directed by: Meghna Gulzar
Plays In: Shorts and Docs II
Plays In: Shorts and Docs V
Interests: Short Film

A doting mother’s only daughter is about to get married; she would do anything to make her happy, but an impulsive act of hers is about to lead their life to drastic consequences. Pooranmashi is a story of intricate and often violent policing that women have to navigate in their daily lives.

Note: $15 includes this film along with Harvest of Grief, After the Rape, and Unveiled Views in Shorts and Docs II

Note: $15 includes this film along with Naamkoron: The Naming Ceremony and Rato Jhilko: The daughter of Nepal in Shorts and Docs V Read More

R

Rato Jhilko: The Daughter of Nepal
Contested Terrains
Short Narrative, 2010, 20 min
Directed by: Surbhi Dewan
Plays In: Shorts and Docs V
Interests: Panel Discussion, Short Film

Rato Jhilko, meaning ‘the Red Spark’, traces the growth story of a young woman shaped by the history of her family and country.

Note: $15 includes this film along with Saayen and Naamkoron: The Naming Ceremony Read More

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