Dear Friends,
Over the last 8 years Tasveer has brought some amazing films from South Asia to Seattle and many of you have gotten to know me in the process. But no other film has meant as much to me as the film we are screening Sunday, June 27th.
The Living Ghost is more than just a spectacular film about the endangered way of life of tribal people in India, it is a film about the tribe my parents came from.
Every year during Summer vacation we would go to my dad's village. As kids, we hated going there-- no electricity and walking 3km to the river for a bath felt more like a boot camp than a vacation. Now looking back it is that very way of life that makes me so nostalgic. Orissa is one of the few places left where tribal peoples still live in the way they had for thousands of years. These cultures are fading fast as corporate interests take over. The Living Ghost not only highlights the plight of my people, but it also beautifully preserves a glimpse of their culture in 35mm.
I am so excited and proud to have the opportunity to share a part of my heritage, through this film, with my dear friends in the Seattle community. The combination of breathtaking photography by A.K. Bir and the legendary directing of Prashanta Nanda won this film the most prestigious National award of India - the Silver Lotus Award.
My big thanks to Mr. Debadutta Dash from WASITRAC to help organize this film screening.
Rita Meher, Co-founder of Tasveer
Executive Director
The Living Ghost
Prashanta Nanda, 2008, India, 35mm, 90min
2:30pm; Sunday June 27, 2010
SIFF Cinema
$10 (supports Tasveer film festivals! )
Recepient of the Indian "Silver Lotus Award" for the best film on Environmental Issues.
Along the border of South-West region of Orissa, a hill named Niyamgiri is home to a tribe called the Dongria Kandha. The current plight of the Dongria Kandha tribe is weaved through a love story of a simple villager Bangaru and his love interest Singari. How the modern man's mind intrudes into their innocence to exploit the value of the tribe and the natural resources of the hills.
Niyamgiri hills, with its natural beauty of flora and fauna, is also rich of minerals which can be processed and produced as aluminum. The film starts with the controversial government's announcement for the take-over of the mountain, handing it to a multinational company.
The film is directed by the Legendary Oriya director, Prashanta Nanda
Here are some links to know more about the people of Niyamgiri.
Orissa tribe to Avatar director: now you watch our film
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4tuTFZ3wXQ
Vedanta Aluminium (mining company) recognized as Green Leader in mining and metal industry
http://www.orissadiary.com/ShowBussinessNews.asp?id=18984
Community Event
*********************
June 19th, 9pm, 1701 E Olive Way $5-$10
Trikone Northwest proudly presents
BollyQ: Seattle’s premier Queer Bollywood Party
featuring DJ Anjali
This June, Bollywood goes Gaga: taking ‘theatricality’ to new levels! Kickoff your PRIDE week celebrations dancing to your favorite Gaga and Madonna tunes mashed up with Bollywood hits!
Drink specials, jell-o shots, live music & performance, dance instruction, and a helluva good time!
*********************
June 24th, 7pm, Seattle Asian Art Museum
William Darlymple at SAAM (Presented by Gardner Center and Elliott Bay Book Store)
William Darlymple makes this first Seattle appearance for his newest work, Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India (Knopf), a book which has already been a top-ranked bestseller in India and the UK. " Nine Lives is different from his other works; it is not so much about places as about the religious lives of people who live in those places, and is a glorious mixture of journalism, anthropology, history, and history of religions, written in prose worthy of a good novel." - Wendy Doniger, Times Literary Supplement.
**********************
June 22nd, 7pm,
Parkplace Books,
348 Parkplace Center,
Kirkland
Shahana Dattagupta reading from her latest book " Ten Avatars"
Seattle-based writer, artist, classical vocalist and designer Shahana Dattagupta has published her first book of fiction, Ten Avatars. She will be discussing as well as signing copies of her book at this book reading. This collection of short stories weaves together intimate cross-cultural experiences unique to the Indian-American expatriate experience in contemporary times, yet revealing the universal essence of being female.
*********************
|
