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Prakriti Foundation presents its third
edition of 'One Billion Eyes', an annual festival of short and
documentary films. The theme this year was 'Caste'. This fest
was on from August 15-19, 2007, in association with Alliance
Francaise, Chennai.
This was a theme which was very contemporary
yet taking us back to the vamas of the Vedic times - bringing us
face to face with issues like OBC/Dalit reservations, the Gujjar
agitation, and the 'social engineering' seen in Mayawati's
recent election victory.
The theme of 'Caste' was explored during 'One Billion Eyes'
through screenings of the documentaries that have been received
as competitive entries for the festival. Besides, there was
poetry readings, theatre performances, a photographic exhibition
and a show of paintings as well as panel discussions, lectures
and testimonies ttom experts who have engaged critically with
caste such as Kancha Ilaiah, Namdeo Dhasal, Dilip Chitre, Ruth
Manorama, Bezwada Wilson, Gopal Guru, Bama and others. This
exploration of a single theme across multiple media was part of
Prakriti Foundation's approach to art, culture and contemporary
issues, said Ranvir Shah of Prakriti Foundation.
The festival
jury, consisting of four judges, awarded the best film a prize
of Rs 25,000.
On August 15, 'Everyday Bhopals: Shit, Piss and Methane', an
exhibition of photographs on manual scavenging by Bezwada Wilson
of Safai Karamchari Andolan, was inaugurated by Senthil Kumaran.
Culture critic Sadanand Menon spoke.
There was a painting show by students of Govt College of Fine
Arts, Chennai, which was followed by the screening of 'Faces of
Change', produced and directed by Michele Stephenson, and an
interaction with A. Kathir, one of the protagonists of 'Faces of
Change'.
The other film that was screened that evening was 'Seruppu'
by Amudhan (Tamil)
On August 16, 'We are not your Monkeys' by Anand Patwardhan,
'Acting like a Thief' by Bhudan Theatre and Deepa Dhanraj's 'Basava'
were screened. This was followed by Ajay Kumar Singh from AIIMS
presenting a testimonial of everyday anti-Dalit discrimination
at AIIMS. There was the screening of a five-minute video on the
burning of Babasaheb Ambedkar's works by some AIIMS students.
Kancha Ilaiah, author of 'Why I am not a Hindu', spoke, and
then came Ruth Manorama, national convenor, National Dalit
Women's Federation.
'Taza Khabar', was screened for half-an-hour, followed by the
screening of Sanjay Kak's 'Bant Sing Sings'.
August 17 saw the screening of films, poetry reading and
discussion.
The films shown were 'Dalit Bhoomi' by Omprakash, 'One
Weapon' by Sanjay Kak, The 'Die is Caste' by Ranjan Kamath and
'Making a Difference' by Reena Mohan.
There were readings from Dilip Chitre's translation of 'Namdeo
Dhasal: Poet of the Underworld'.
On August 18, there were film screenings, panel discussion on
Dalit Visual Culture and Literature and a theatre performance.
Sameera Jain's 'Born at Home' and Srinivasa Panthakula's 'Dandorra'
were screened in the evening.
There was a panel discussion on 'Dalits in Visual Culture and
Literature' with R Azhagarasan, Bama, Gopal Guru and Ravikumar.
There was a performance by Tejgarh-based Bhudan theatre group
of 'Choli Ke Piche Kya Hai' based on Mahasweta Devi's play. It
was directed by Alok Gagdekar. Bhudan theatre is founded and run
by Adivasis.
August 19 saw film screenings and play reading. 'Cry for
Change' by V B Rawat and 'Puduyugam' by Omprakash were shown in
the morning. In the evening there was 'Ramiahvin Kudisai' by
Bharati Krishnakumar and 'India Untouched' by K Stalin, followed
by the reading of Ramu Ramanathan's play by Pralayan and Rajiv
Krishnan.
R Rangaraj |
