Documentary Film Festival: OUR LIVES...TO LIVE - NO! to gender violence
Films of Courage, Protest, Hope
OUR LIVES...TO LIVE...
Bangalore will play host to a film festival with a difference from November 23 to 25 at the Goethe-Institut. The festival comprising of documentaries and shorts is an initiative of the IAWRT (International Association of Women in Radio and Television), India Chapter. In all, 30 films from Afghanistan, Congo, Denmark, Finland, Germany, India, Iran, Kenya, Nepal, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Senegal, UK and USA are up for viewing.
"It is a unique, first-of-its-kind year-long event with screenings at multiple venues, in multiple cities, and a diverse selection of films for each location... OUR LIVES...TO LIVE is part of the One Billion Rising (OBR) campaign - a global effort for drawing attention to Violence Against Women and all kinds of gender-based injustice, within homes and communities as well as in other spaces" says Reena Mohan, Managing Trustee of the IAWRT, India chapter. Films of Courage, Protest and Hope is the slug of this film festival and the clear message emerging from the films is Say NO to Violence Against Women. The festival is curated by Smriti Nevatia and coordinated nationally by Uma Tanuku.
The opening film is Saving Face the Academy Award-winning documentary from Pakistan directed by Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid - Chenoy. The film follows the battles for justice by women survivors of acid attacks in Pakistan and their facial reconstructive surgery by Dr. Jawad who regularly returns from London to work with the survivors.
In Labels from a Global City, Surabhi Sharma documents the chilling testimonies that emerge from within large factories producing garments for global labels. In 2006, a small but significant trade union was formed in Bangalore - The Garment and Textile Workers' Trade Union.
Filmmaker Deepa Dhanraj in Invoking Justice travels to Tamil Nadu where family disputes are settled by all-male Jamaats which function without allowing women to be present. A group of women have established a women's Jamaat which works to reform a system that allows men to take refuge in the most extreme interpretations of the Qur'an to justify violence towards women.
Other Indian films include Lightening Testimonies by Amar Kanwar, Morality TV aur Loving Jehad: Ek Manohar Kahani by Paromita Vohra, Bol by Shabnam Virmani, Shit by Amudhan R. P., Lakshmi and Me by Nishta Jain, India Unheard: Defenceless Woman Branded 'Witch' by Mukesh Rajak and many others.
International entries include Bastion of Sin (Germany), Sari Soldiers (Nepal-USA),Three Dots (Afghanistan), Going up the Stairs: portrait of an unlikely Iranian artist (Iran), Fighting the Silence (Netherlands-Congo), Treyf (USA), Kung Fu Grandma (UK-Kenya), The day you love me (Nicaragua) and others.
On Saturday November 24, there will be a Panel Discussion moderated by journalist Nupur Basu on the topic: "Violence against women: 21st century's chronicle of shame". The panellists are Shashi Deshpande, Deepa Dhanraj, Donna Fernandes, Parvathi Menon and Dr. Shaibya Saldanha.
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