16th Social Justice Film Festival 2023
30, 31 Jan, St Joseph’s College, Bengaluru
Curated by Amudhan R.P.
Organised by Department of English, St.Joseph’s College, Bengaluru
Schedule
30 January
9.30 am Inauguration
10 am
In Search of Gold - a portrait of Kolar Gold Fields
Dir : Basav Biradar; 34.43 min; India; Documentary
Set in the once thriving colonial gold mining township of Kolar Gold Fields (KGF), IN SEARCH OF GOLD attempts to understand the different lived and remembered histories of people who built this highly profitable enterprise. Aided by the grim imagery of now defunct mining operations, the film brings together narratives of collective socio-political struggles of the past, nostalgia for lost privilege, and the anxiety of an uncertain future, of a fragmented society.
10.35 : Interaction with Basav Biradar, filmmaker
10.45 Tea break
11 am
City Girls
Dir : Priya Thuvassery; 28.14 min; India; Documentary
City Girls' is an intimate portrayal of two young girls from small towns of India now living in Delhi. The film attempts to deconstruct the image of ‘the city’ and what it means for a young woman brought up in an 'elsewhere' she's longed to escape from all her life.
11.30
Ruuposh
Dir : Mohd Fehmeed, Zeeshan Amir Khan; 32.25 min; India; Documentary
Ruuposh is an idiosyncratic documentary that features Ruksana Begum- her late father Mehboob Khan and her son- Mohd Fehmeed, who belong to a Muslim minority family of India 2021. The documentary follows a personal narrative of how Mehboob Khan stayed back in India at the time of partition while his entire extended family moved to Pakistan.
12.35
Dews of the Storm
Dir : Akshit Sharma; 13.42 min; India; Documentary
The film explores the struggles faced by the farmers showing dissent on the newly imposed law by the state. The challenges are amplified by the weather as camps of buoyant farmers are disrupted and flooded by storms and heavy rains.
12.50 Interaction
1 pm : Lunch break
2 pm
Longing
Dir : Bani Singh; 89.42 min
Against the backdrop of Partition, newly independent India’s first hockey team defeats England, their erstwhile coloniser, to win the Gold at the 1948 London Olympics.
Six decades later, when Nandy Singh, a member of this iconic team suffers a stroke at the age of 84, his tenacious will to recover inspires his daughter to go on a journey to discover the champion he was before she was born.
3.30 : Interaction with Bani Singh, filmmaker
31 January
9.30 am
Native Place
Dir: Andrew Francisco; 34.59 min; India; Documentary
'Native Place' is a film about movement and economic competition, told through the stories of those who have come to Delhi to earn. From day laborers to a stock broker, these characters are all compelled by the push and pull of the need to make a living.
Ripples Under the Skin
Dir : Farha Khatun; 29 min; India; Documentary
‘Ripples of water’ tells the story of this man and this city – it tells the story of the Calcutta that lurks behind the glitz and glamour of today’s Calcutta, it tells the story of a community of migrant workers who had come to this city to make a living, a city that never invited them yet somehow they made home, a city that they built with their blood and sweat, yet ‘home’ remained elusive, a city that nourishes, waters itself through the toils of people like Nazim kaka, yet conveniently forgets, casts them away when it chooses to walk towards the future.
10.45 Tea break
11 am
We Make Film
Dir : Shweta Ghosh; 80 min; India; Documentary
At a time of ever increasing media access, anyone who wants to make a film should be able to make one. But what happens when you’re assumed as incapable or ‘difficult’ to work with, or need adjustments to make the creative process accessible?
Set across three cities in India, We Make Film explores the creative journeys of d/Deaf and disabled filmmakers Debopriya, Mijo and Anuja.
12.30 Lunch break
1.30
White Slam - a documentary and Carrom
Dir Satish Ganapathy; 31.35 min; India; Documentary
While the game of carrom is global, the world champions of this game extraordinarily come from one single slum community in North Madras! This small area North of Chennai holds the record for the most number of World Champions in carrom. White Slam explores this unique distinction of this community.
Footloose a story of belonging
Dir : Gulshan Singh; 93.38 min
Minorities from Pakistan & Myanmar came to India to save their lives. They had heard that Indian is a secular country where there is no religious discrimination. But, in the last few years, religious discrimination has increased leading to communal riots which ultimately ended up being the sole agenda for contesting elections.
3.30 Homage to KP Sasi
- America America (music video)
- Gaon Chhodab Nahin (music video)
- Breath to Breath (Dir : Amudhan R.P.; 23 min)
4 pm Reflection and Conclusion
