Mardistan
Mardistan (Harjant Gill, India, 28mins)
Mardistan (Macholand) is an exploration of Indian manhood articulated through the voices of four men from different generations and backgrounds. A middle-aged writer trying to make sense of the physical and sexual abuse he witnessed studying in an elite military academy, a Sikh father of twin daughters resisting the pressure to produce a son, a young 20-year-old college student looking for a girlfriend with whom he can lose his virginity, and a working-class gay activist coming out to his wife after twenty years of marriage. Together, their stories make up different dimensions of what it means to be a man in India today. Mardistan (Macholand) starts a conversation on critical issues including patriarchy, son preference, sexual violence and homophobia in a nation increasingly defined by social inequalities.
Director’s Bio
Dr. Harjant Gill is an assistant professor of anthropology and cultural studies at Towson University, Maryland. He received his PhD from American University in Washington DC. His academic research examines the intersections of masculinity, modernity and migration in India. Dr. Gill is also a documentary filmmaker and has made several films that have screened at film festivals worldwide and won numerous awards. His previous documentary, Roots of Love explored the changing significance of hair and turban among Sikhs and is being screened on BBC World News, BBC America, and Doordarshan (Indian National TV). He is currently also the co-director of Society for Visual Anthropology Film and Media Festival.
Sent Away Boys
Harjant Gill, India, 43mins
What happens to families in the absence of sons? What happens to land in the absence of farmers? What happens to communities in the absence of men? Sent Away Boys weaves together testaments of individual ambitions and family biographies from Punjab, India to chronicle the gradual transformation of agrarian landscape and patriarchal traditions through ongoing transnational migration. As the promise of a secure future in agriculture grows increasingly uncertain for young men across the region, escaping India to join the low-wage labor in countries like Canada and USA becomes their sole aspiration. In rural Punjab, being a successful man now entails leaving their village, traveling abroad, and sending money home. Through interviews with men preparing to undertake often risky journeys and women awaiting the return of their sons, brothers and husbands, Sent Away Boys shows how young men’s decisions to emigrate implicate families and communities across North India.
Director’s Bio
Harjant Gill is an assistant professor of anthropology and cultural studies at Towson University, Maryland. He received his PhD from American University in Washington DC. His academic research examines the intersections of masculinity, modernity and migration in India. Dr. Gill is also a documentary filmmaker and has made several films that have screened at film festivals worldwide and won numerous awards. His previous documentary, Roots of Love explored the changing significance of hair and turban among Sikhs and is being screened on BBC World News, BBC America, and Doordarshan (Indian National TV). He is currently also the co-director of Society for Visual Anthropology Film and Media Festival.
Saturday, Feb 18, 2017, at 2 p.m.