[Reader-list] documentary film " INDIA UNTOUCHED- Stories of a People Apart"

Avinash Kumar avinashcold at gmail.com
Tue Apr 3 12:36:13 IST 2007


NAZARIYA

DRISHTI-NATARANI FILM CLUB

* *
Invites you to the premiere of Stalin K's new documentary film
*"* *INDIA* *UNTOUCHED-* Stories of a People Apart*"*

* *

On 14th April, 2007 at 8:15pm

Natarani, Usmanpura, Ahmedabad



Please call Gaurang @ 98799-19549 and book your free passes.

* *

* *

*INDIA** UNTOUCHED- **Stories of a People Apart *

110 minutes. Hindi, Bhojpuri, Gujarati, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalm
with English sub-titles

*Directed by Stalin K., Produced by Drishti, Presented by Navsarjan *



"INDIA UNTOUCHED-Stories of a People Apart" is perhaps the most
comprehensive look at Untouchability ever undertaken on film.   Director
Stalin K. spent four years traveling the length and breadth of the country
to expose the continued oppression of 'Dalits,' the 'broken people' who
suffer under a 4000 year-old religious system.   The film introduces leading
Benares scholars who interpret Hindu scriptures to mean that Dalits 'have no
right' to education, and Rajput farmers who proudly proclaim that no Dalit
may sit in their presence, and that the police must seek their permission
before pursuing cases of atrocities.   The film captures many
'firsts-on-film,' such as Dalits being forced to dismount from their cycles
and remove their shoes when in the upper caste part of the village.   It
exposes the continuation of caste practices and Untouchability in Sikhism,
Christianity and Islam, and even amongst the communists in Kerala. Dalits
themselves are not let off the hook: within Dalits, sub-castes practice
Untouchability on the 'lower' sub-castes, and a Harijan boy refuses to drink
water from a Valmiki boy. The viewer hears that Untouchability is an urban
phenomenon as well, inflicted upon a leading medical surgeon and in such
hallowed institutions as JNU, where a Brahmin boy builds a partition so as
not to look upon his Dalit roommate in the early morning. A section on how
newspaper matrimonial columns are divided according to caste presents urban
Indians with an uncomfortable truth: marriage is the leading perpetuator of
caste in India. But the film highlights signs of hope, too: the powerful
tradition of Dalit drumming is used to call people to the struggle, and a
young Dalit girl holds her head high after pulling water from her village
well for the first time in her life.



Spanning eight states and four religions, this film will make it impossible
for anyone to deny that Untouchability continues to be practiced in India.



*Directed by Stalin K:* Stalin K. is a human rights activist and
award-winning documentary filmmaker. In recent years, he has become known
for his pioneering 'participatory media' work with urban and rural
communities, in which local people produce their own videos and radio
programs as an empowerment tool.   He is the Co-Founder of DRISHTI- Media,
Arts and Human Rights, Convener of the Community Radio Forum-India, and the
India Director of Video Volunteers.  He is a renowned public speaker and has
lectured or taught at over 20 institutions ranging from the National
Institute of Design and the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in India, to
New York University and Stanford and Berkeley in the US.



'INDIA UNTOUCHED' is Stalin's second film on the issue of caste—his earlier
film 'Lesser Humans,' on manual scavenging, won the Silver Conch at the
Mumbai International Film Festival and the Excellence Award at Earth Vision
Film Festival, Tokyo, and helped to bring international attention to the
issue of caste.


*Produced by DRISHTI-Media, Arts and Human Rights: *DRISHTI is a leading
media and human rights organization in India, with program areas of
community radio, campaign design, documentary filmmaking, street theatre,
participatory video, community arts and youth activism. Drishti has produced
over 25 films on development issues, designed over a dozen rights-based
campaigns, and conducted over 300 training workshops with more than 100
NGOs. Drishti's films are used by more than 1000 groups around the world,
and the organization is a leading proponent of community radio, having set
up one of the most renowned and successful community radio programs in the
country.



*Presented by Navsarjan Trust: *Navsarjan Trust, a leading Dalit human
rights organization, works in over 3000 villages in Gujarat.  Its mission is
to eradicate Untouchability through legal remedies and struggles against
forced occupations such as manual scavenging, and by ensuring Dalits' access
to education and livelihood.   Navsarjan's Founder, Martin Macwan, was the
recipient of the prestigious Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Award for Human
Rights.  He has led the Dalit struggle at an international level as the
Convener of the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights, when he led a
delegation of 200 Dalit activists to the World Conference against
Racism in South
Africa

-- 
In Peace,
Gaurang
Drishti Media,Arts & Human Rights
103, Anandhari Towers,
Sandeshpress Road,
Bodakdev, Ahmedabad. India.38854
www.drishtimedia.org
Tel : 91-79-26851235
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