21st Social Justice Film Festival, Bengaluru

21st Social Justice Film Festival 2023

St.Joseph’s University, Bengaluru 

6,7 October 2023

Curated by Amudhan R.P.

Organised by Department of English - St.Joseph’s University, Bengaluru 

Schedule 

Day 1, 6 September

9 am : Inauguration 

9.30 am to 12.40 pm 

The Leopard’s Tribe 

Dir : Miriam Chandy Menacherry; 40 min; Documentary; India 

Mumbai authorities axe thousands of trees to expand a mass transit system. Home to 10,000 indigenous tribals led by Prakash Bhoir a scuffle unfolds to protect forest and the leopard they worship. A battle to save the green lungs of India’s financial capital unfolds. 

Our Film 

Dir : Dakshin Chhara; 48.35 min; Documentary; India 

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a collective of indigenous artists belonging to India’s ‘ex-criminal’ De-notified Tribes and associated with Budhan Theatre, decided to produce video-podcasts of the impact of the pandemic on the margins. 

Malipura Dam 

Dir : Laxminarayan Devda, Deepak Verma; 53.52 min; Documentary; India 

As the water level in the earthen dam steadily goes down in the hot summer months, the resentments and undercurrents amongst the beneficiaries begin to rise. The protocol to stop using the water directly after a certain level has been violated by the most affluent and the powerful amongst the 7 beneficiaries and the rest are hesitant to bell the cat. How does the process of filming the undercurrents help resolve the predicaments? 

Pehla Anda 

Dir : Vritti Bhardwaj, Koshika; 11.28 min; Short Fiction; India 

The story revolves around a family of a 10 years old girl named Bhoori who gets her first period, and her mother, the only female in the house, not being home. Knowing nothing about it, she comes to the conclusion that she might die and makes different conclusions in her head to its reasoning. The situation causes chaos between her brother, father, and her. Getting a packet of pads made it worse when none of them knew how to use it. The blunder was solved when their neighbor, Simmi Aunty, comes to the rescue. 

Fantasy Parks

Dir: Ardehl Nainan; 23:27; Documentary; India

Two unseen, conflicting narrators recount the many ways in which a humble amusement park in Ahmedabad would be forced to shut down. Whilst a wayward filmmaker documents the attractions, workers and visitors at the park, the rambling duo explore its infinite identities and reflect on the strange times they exist in. With each fable graver than the last, the truth soon becomes quite irrelevant.

12.40 pm : Interaction 

 1 pm Lunch break

2 pm to 4 pm

Awadagin Pratt: Black in America 

Dir: Michelle Bauer Carpenter; 25:25; Documentary; United States

Awadagin Pratt: Black in America is a moving documentary that combines performance and interview footage to provide an intimate view of prejudice in America and the racial injustice faced by famous concert pianist Awadagin Pratt.

LO QUE QUEDA EN EL CAMINO

Dir: Jakob Krese, Danilo Do Carmo; 01:33:00; Documentary ; Germany / Mexico

LO QUE QUEDA EN EL CAMINO tells the story of Lilian and her four children as they migrate in search for a better life. The family leaves Guatemala, joining a caravan of thousands of other people trying to reach the Mexico-US border. Being a single mother, this is Lilian’s best chance to make the dangerous journey. 

3.30 : Interaction

Day 2, 7 October

9.00 am to 12 pm 

Yaan 

Dir : Satish Sharma; 10 min; Short fiction; India 

YAAN –Is a film about Sukhram and his family, a poor family, living in a small secluded hut near a small town somewhere in the interior of India. 

The Unjust and Beyond 

Dir : Ratheesh Mon Panampatta; 22.43 min; Documentary; India 

Landslides are often conceived as natural disasters. It becomes an issue of justice when it disproportionately affects different sections of society. In the Indian state of Kerala, it disproportionately affects the Dalits (“Lower caste”), Adivasis (Tribes), and the poor. The present work engages with the spatial injustice faced by the lower caste and class people in Kerala. 

Wanted ‘Naxal’ on Demand 

Dir : Maheen Mirza; 23.35 min; Documentary; India 

In the remote village of Nilavaya, nestled in the heart of Bastar, Bhima went to visit his sister on that fateful day, never to return! Filled with anguish and unanswered questions, his family and community gather to narrate their side of the story to a group of activists. Each voice carries a fragment of truth, a piece of the intricate puzzle that haunts their collective memory. 

Tam-brahm Cooking 

Dir : Sraiyanti, Prem Akkattoos; 9 min 20 sec; Short fiction; India 

A man who works as a security guard in an apartment complex goes about his day, while the residents who live there express their views on caste, identity and their own social standing. But actions speak louder than words. 

Miles Away 

Dir : Megha Acharya; 50 min; Documentary; India 

The everyday-lives of three female labourers working in a brick kiln in India takes an upsetting turn after an unexpected rainfall halts their work. What unfolds is a threatening tale of unorganized labour and economic debts in a rapidly urbanizing India. 

Bonded

Dir: Shobhit Jain; 56:19; Documentary; India

The film takes an ethnographic look into the life of a bonded labourer in a remote tribal village in central India.

12 pm : Interaction 

12.30 pm : Lunch break 

1.30 pm to 3.30 pm 

Fikirte 

Dir: Yi Wu; 01:10:10; Documentary; Ethiopia

Fikirte, a 24-year-old single mother in Ethiopia. She lives in a container by the side of the road with her young children and sells coffee for a living. 

After two failed marriages, she became pregnant unexpectedly, But her boyfriend went far away and lost contact. More unfortunately, the place where she lives is facing demolition, and the mother and her children are about to live on the streets. In the face of the cruelty of fate, how can she fight for her rights? Where should she go to find her home? 

Undocumented

Dir :Sampsa Huttunen, Ann-Mari Leinonen; 50 min; Documentary; Finland

In Finland, invisible to the majority, live undocumented people, whose daily lives are filled with hopelessness, uncertainty and fear of what lies ahead. How to build a life in a country, where you don't officially even exist?

3.30 pm 

Interaction and closing remarks