The City is all set to host a film festival with a difference from November 23 to 25 at the Goethe-Institut.
The festival of documentaries and short movies is an initiative of the International Association of Women in Radio and Television (IAWRT), 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.
Reena Mohan, Managing Trustee of IAWRT, India chapter, said, "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".
The festival has been designed by Smriti Nevatia and coordinated nationally by Uma Tanuku.
The opening film ‘Saving Face’ is an 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 comes 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.
Filmmaker Deepa Dhanraj in ‘Invoking Justice travels to Tamil Nadu’ shows 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.
