THRISSUR CHALACHITRAKENDRAM

a unit of janasamskara chalachitrakendram R 344-04

Thekemadhom, Thekemadhom Road

Thrissur 680001 Keralam, India
09496168654, 9895788867, 9447375573 E-mail ifftinfo@gmail.com, website: www.ifft.in

10
2004-14

th year

KASHMIR BEFORE OUR EYES

Documentaries, features, shorts discussion on two decades of Kashmir conflict 2013 August 29, 30, 31 Kerala Sahitya Akademy Changampuzha Hall 10 am 8 pm
Kashmir festival is painstakingly curated for Films Division, by Ajay Raina and Pankaj Rishi Kumar. It was possibly the first ever festival of films on Kashmir. The endeavour is to take the festival to different cities in India. It will evolve as it travels from one city to another. Different editions will include different films (shorts, documentaries and features) But the dream is to take the festival to Kashmir where it belongs, despite the fact that there are no cinema halls and theatres there. Kashmir has never had a thriving film industry. Yet the makers of these films have defied all odds and made these wonderful films. The last ten years have seen a resurgence of art, photography, literature and cinema on Kashmir by Kashmiris. Good films are being made by amateurs and professionals who are passionate about bringing to celluloid their artistic visions and presenting their stories to film loving audiences across the world. Interestingly, the characters in many of these films are no victims but survivors who, like the filmmakers, in the face of adversity have the courage to pursue their dreams, fight for their rights and go on living. For the emerging Kashmiri filmmakers the quest continues. The quest for art and artistic excellence in cinema. Aamir Bashir's critically acclaimed and National award winning debut feature film 'Harud' (Autumn) (2012), works perfectly not only as an anti-war film but also as an anti-pastoral in its delineation of the brutalization of Kashmir that is juxtaposed against its natural beauty and idyllic lifestyle of its people. Ajay Raina's autobiographical documentary 'Tell them the Tree They Had Planted Has Now Grown' (2001) is about the unusual homecoming of a migrant. Ajay's other film 'Apour Ti Yapour. Na Jang Na Aman. Yeti Chu Talukpeth' (Between Border and the Fence. On the Edge of the Map) questions the very relevance of borders, of lines of control, in context of the lives of people who find themselves caught between India and Pakistan. Iffat Fatima's 'Where Have You Hidden My Crescent Moon' (2009) and Sonia Jabbar's 'Autumn's Final Country' (2005) narrate heartrending stories of Kashmiri women who have braved years of violence and turmoil, lost their loved ones and yet continue their struggle to reclaim their honour and identity in the society. Will they ever find justice? Will they ever find redemption? Rajesh Jala's film '23 Winters' (2013) narrates a disturbing and haunting tale of a Kashmiri Pandit refugee, a schizophrenic, who returns to his homeland after 23 years only to end up in a psychiatric ward.. Set in 1994 in a camp for Kashmiri Pandit exiles, 'The Last Day' (2013) Siddhartha Gigo portrays four frayed lives in a scrawny 8 x 10 tent. Sanjay Kak's 'Jashn-e-Azadi' (2007) generated a heated debate on the issues raised in the film. Pankaj Rishi Kumar's 'Pather Chu Jaeri (The Play is On) (2001) documents the lives of Bhands, the traditional folk entertainers of Kashmir, in the wake of conflict and turmoil. Some of these films were shot in difficult conditions in Kashmir, during protests, violence and curfew.

Festival Sub-committee: Cherian Joseph, P.N. Gopikrishnan, A. Radhakrishnan Chairman: Sulaiman A.V., General Convener: Abdul Razack M.M. (9961144344) Festival Co-ordinator: K.R. Indira (9447021885)