JEEVIKA
Synopsis
GENERAL CATEGORY
1.
Pretty Dyana
(Pretty Dyana/ Serbia /DV/45 minutes/2003/Dir: Boris Mitic/Serbia)
An intimate look
at gypsy refugees in a Belgrade suburb who make a living by transforming
Citroen’s classic 2cv and Dyana cars into Mad-Max-like recycling
vehicles, which they use to collect cardboard, bottles and scrap metal.
These modern horses are much more efficient than the cart- pushing competition,
but even more important – they also mean freedom, hope and style
for their crafty owners. Even the car batteries are used as power generators
in order to get some light, watch TV and recharge mobiles! Almost an alchemist’s
dream come true! But the police doesn’t always find these strange
vehicles funny……..
2.
In Search of a Job
(In Search of a Job/ English /Beta/ 14 minutes/2005/Dir: Mrinal Talukdar/
India)
Assam has long tradition
of domestic elephant used for logging business for centuries. Unlike other
parts of india, even middle class people used to keep domestic elephants
like their family members. There are still 1200 of them. The 1997 Supreme
Court order of banning all sorts of felling of trees has changed the whole
scenario. Overnight these elephants and their mahouts have become jobless.
All others involved in the timber business have changed their livelihood,
but not the elephant and mahouts. Desperate attempt to sell them or transfer
to Kerala and Rajasthan where there is a demand of elephants for tourism
and religious purpose, it is not happening because of a law that does
not allow transfer sale of any animals like elephants. So these 1200 elephants
are in search of job for an honest livelihood.
3.
Gadia Lohar:A Life and Livelihood in Question
.(Gadia Lohar: a Life and Livelihood in Question ?/Hindi/Mini DV/ 24 minutes
/ 2005/Dir: Meenakshi Vinay Rai / India)
This film is an effort
to understand the reasons behind the failures of government initiatives
in providing better life and livelihood to Gadia lohars, a nomadic community
of Rajasthan. Examining the deeper layers of the issue in context of psycho
– social perspectives, the film provokes a thought and aims to create
a space for this community in mainstream. This film clearly brings out
that understanding culture context is vital before formulating policies
to improve life and livelihood of any segment
4.
Lakshmi and Vishwakarma
( Lakshmi and Vishwakarma / Oriya/ 3 minutes/ 2005/ Dir: Vasudha Joshi
/ India)
5.
Of Hawks and Hawkers
(Of Hawks and Hawkers/English /DVD/3 minutes/1996/Dir:Shankar.S/ India)
For over two decades,
the pavements of Calcutta were the lifeline for hawkers. Most of them
operated through structures, though technically temporary, de facto permanent.
Then towards the end of 1996 came ‘Operation Sunshine’. All
structures were bulldozed to clean up the city. And there was more sunshine……..
Sunshine for whom?
Post Operation Sunshine
the hawkers used to come and go but were always on their toes. There were
only two colours dominating the locale, brown and grey. In the year 2005
the hawkers appear to have come up with new colour and dimension which
goes to show that
“Sunshine or
no Sunshine, survive we must”
6.
Fight for Survival
(Fight for Survival/Gujarati-Hindi/MiniDV/20minutes/2004/Dir:Dakxin Nandlal
Bajarange/India)
In Gujarat, there
are approximately 3 lakh members of the Madari community. They live a
nomadic life and so are scattered throughout the state while retaining
strong ties of tradition and culture. The Madaris believe in Lord Shiva
and follow their own Panchayat system. The Panchayat has its own constitution
and there are specific rules and provision about catching, keeping, performing
with and releasing snakes in jungle. For their survival the Madaris depend
on their traditional business of snake exhibition and performance in villages
and cities, fairs and haats. Madaris treat the snakes as their children.
They know how to keep each snake with them, how to take care of it and
when to release it in jungle. For example, cobras were kept for 3 months
and then released with respect in the jungle. This is how the Madaris
have lived for thousands of years.
Now, the Animal Cruelty
Act and other animal acts have made it difficult for the Madaris to keep
snakes with them for public performance. Due to this law, the entire Madari
community is facing a problem of survival. Animal rights activists and
Animal Help Foundation, along with police and forest department, raid
Madari ghettoes or where Madaris are performing shows. So now there is
a fight for survival between community tradition, the law and NGO services.
Many people in this community are becoming unemployed and have started
begging dressed up as Sadhus. Even in this, they are often arrested by
the police as child-kidnappers.
7.
Treacling Down
(Treacling Down/Sinhalese/14 minutes/2005/Dir: Upali Gamlath/Sri Lanka)
The remote village
“Meemure” surrounded by a range of mountains is a place famous
for the production of jaggery. This village is rural setting still retains
old cultural habits mainly because of the poor facilities there. Meemure
in certain respects is self sufficient, but its excess production is sold
after, a tiresome journey from the village. Highly commercialized town
bags their cherished products for a mere pittance and sold in luxury supermarkets
at exorbitant prices.
This production attempts
to generate a total feeling on the Meemure villager using only a combination
of the rhythm of the nature and the economic shape and the cultural angle
and expression interwoven with nature. The film shows the villagers tapping
the “Kithul tree” to make jaggery and the bees, wasps and
butterflies collecting nectar from flowers. The bee does a lot of works,
an outsider reaps the benefit. The bee gets no honey. The bee and the
Kithul taper suffer the same late.
8.
Manhole Workers Union
(Manhole Workers' Union/Gujarati-Hindi-English/VCD/20 minutes/2005/Dir:
Rappai Poothokaren / India)
They are called manhole
workers; they work below the manhole, invisible. With the haphazard ways
our gutter system has built, Ahmedabad may have to be evacuated if the
manhole stopped work! Yet they get a very raw deal.
Most of them belong
to the so – called ‘outcastes’. Indian constitution
not with standing, they are still very much ill-treated and discriminated
against. Their working conditions are terrible. Sometime they have to
drive into the filthy gutters, with no protective gear. They are exposed
to all kinds of diseases; the threat of death from poisonous gas is ever
present.
KSSM (Kamdar Swasthya
Surakhsa Mandal) have helped the manhole workers of Ahmedabad to form
the manhole Kamdar union, with the financial support of Indo-global Social
Service Society. The elected zonal and central representatives of the
union now negotiate with Ahmedabad Municipal Corporations. Although they
have little education, they have learnt to dialogue and bargain with the
powers at the executive and political level. Systematic training and education
are important components of the union’s work. Contact with the media,
exhibitions, demonstrations, educates the public about the importance
of their works, and the treatment they receive. Above all the union has
enhanced their self – respect and self – confidence. They
have a long way to go, but the journey has begun.
9.
Healers For All Reasons
(Healers for all Reasons/English/DVD/28 minutes/2005/ Dir:Vijay S. Jodha
/ India)
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Healers for all
reasons is a fascinating portrait of Rehmat Khan Solanki and Karimbhai
Sumra – two village healers of Gujarat , whose lives and works embody
respect for biodiversity, Gandhian selfless service and promotion of communal
harmony at the grassroots. Rehmat Khan Solanki of Chur village (northern
Gujarat) uses traditional and eco-friendly methods to cure animals and
is called “Gopal bapa” by Hindu villagers for being a benefactor
of cattle like Hindu deity Lord Krishna. Karimbhai Sumra of Virampur village
(southern Gujarat) uses herbs to treat humans, animals and even plants
(herbal pesticides). He has also gone to the extent of creating a forest
of 12,000 plant varieties that have great medicinal value. Men of modest
means, these healers serve tribal forest dwellers, villagers and others
who have little access to modern medical facilities. Yet these healers
demand no fee for their services and sustain themselves by doing other
jobs on the side. Mainstream scientists and organisations have recognized
their work.
This films is as
much their personal story as the larger story of knowledge- rich but economically
poor people all over the world who have been serving society for generations
but are now increasingly being marginalized by a corporate and market
driven system that exploits the same knowledge and the forests that sustains
these people, while giving back little in return.
10.
Sea City
(Sea City/English-Hindi-Marathi/DVD/30 minutes/2005/Dir: Lalitha Krishna/
India)
Bombay was once just
seven islands separated by low-lying creeks over-grown with mangroves
where fish and crab abounded. The Kolis- a fishing community - were the
original inhabitants of these islands. Sea City is an exploration of the
relationship between Bombay city and this fishing community that were
once the only inhabitants of these islands.
Over the years as
Bombay grew in importance first as a port and then a major industrial
and commercial capital, the creeks were filled to build roads, factories
came up and the population grew as people migrated here seeking work.Today
Mumbai is a mix of people and communities from all over the nation. And
the Kolis are exactly where they have always been...clinging to the coasts
as their livelihood demands.They go out to fish throughout the year except
during the monsoons and bring in the fish for which Mumbai is famous.
And as before, they pray to the oceans for their safe returns.
While roads, reclamations,
coastal rules and rising land prices have affected their way of life,
they as an urban community also face the challenges of new aspirations
and a media manufactured self-image.
STUDENT CATEGORY
1.
Mela-The Musical
(Mela-The Musical /Hindi/ 22 minutes/DV Format/ 2005/ Dir:Rakesh Bhatram
Semwal / School Of Architecture, CEPT Ahmedabad)
‘Mela –the
musical’ bring you all visuals...people working in the mela and
also visitors who come to enjoy these funny rides. See what happens when
the mela doesn’t function, and how the workers involved in the mela
carry out their morning activities and actually prepare for the mela to
start.
2.
Life on Four Wheels
(Life on Four Wheels/Hindi-Eng/ 38 minutes/DV Format/2005/Dir: Anshuman
Jha / St. Xavier College, Mumbai)
“Life on Four
wheels” is an insightful, and frequently hilarious, first hand account
of the lives of Mumbai’s taxi drivers. It reveals how, very few
of these men are actually living the life they once aspired to. Through
a series of honest interviews, the documentary delves deeper not just
into their existence but also gives the viewer a sense of Mumbai as seen
through the eyes of these common people.
3.
Dawn to Dusk, and further…..a story of horse-cart pullers
(Dawn to Dusk, and further…..a story of horse-cart pullers/Eng/13
minutes/ DV Format/ 2005/Dir: Anshul A.Ojha & Neal Kartik / Madhubala
Institute of Communication & Electronic Media)
This student production
is about dying culture of Tangawalas on the road of Delhi. “From
dawn to dusk these tangawalas move…look for passengers….drop
them to their destination…with so many problems and the biggest
question mark on their survival…the tangawallas manage to be blissful,
satisfied……they keep on moving…singing their own songs…symphonizing
their life around the galloping horse, the companion for life.
4.
Aamchi Kasauti
(Aamchi Kasauti/ Hindi-Marathi/ 12 minutes/ DV Format/2005/ Dir:Rrivu
Laha / Film and television Institute of India, Pune)
Dawn breaks in the
city of Pune….Sita, Shewanta, Kaushalya are seen dusting the streets
around the town. …What could they be possibly looking or? They are
a rare bread of traders. They scavenge dust from daybreak to dusk and
take their harvest at the end of the day to the gold traders who mark
it against a kasauti or a testing stone to evaluate the harvest. The film
is their story-Aamchi Kasauti…Our Test
5.
One show less
(One show lss/Hindi/19minutes/MiniDV/2005/Dir:Nayantara.C.Kotian/National
Institute of Design, Ahmedabad/ India)
‘One show less’
concerns itself with the increasing numbers of single screen cinemas that
are shutting down, all over the country. The film focuses on one theatre,
Usha Talkies, whose spirited employees and raucous, seat-breaking public
make it one of a kind. As the ticket seller puts it, this cinema is meant
for the masses- if this theatre shuts down as well, the question raised
is ‘are the masses to be deprived of the incomparable experience
of watching cinema on the big screen?’ Through a series of evocative
arguments put forth by the employees of Usha Talkies, a vivid portrait
is painted of a unique way of life,which might soon become extinct.
6.
Refugees of War
(Refugees of War/Singhalese/30 minutes/DVformat/2005/Dir: M.W. Geethani
Senavirathna/ National Youth Centre/ Sri Lanka)
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Delft is the largest
island In the North of Sri Lanka. People had inhabited this island from
the ancient times and old commercial lines lay across this island. The
inhabitants of this island have been put into severe hardships because
of the existing war is the North East of Sri Lanka. The majority of the
in habitants are fisherman. Mary of them have left their home. The first
sequence of the documentary opens a dialogue on the living conditions
of these fisherman battered by the war. Portuguese brought horses to this
island in 1600 A.D. for their warfare. When the invaders left Sri Lanka,
they left behind these horses. These horses lived in the jungles of the
island for about 400 years. The population of the horses today stands
4000 in number. But today they are on the path to extinction due to the
scarcity of food and water. The island gets little rainfall. The second
sequence of the documentary brings to light the life style of these horses.
This documentary brings to light its attention on the horses. This documentary
brings to light the life style of these horses, the tragic situation they
are in, the hopelessness of the people resulting from the war and the
collapse of their life style. This documentary develops a comparative
analysis on broth the horses and the people of the island being reduced
to refugee status and the collapse of their life. The program while looking
in to the impact the war has on the life of the people as well as the
animals. The socio economics problems and the environmental problems in
the island takes the form of a tour by an explorer.
7.
The Real Pillars
(The Real Pillars/Gujarati/mini DV/20minutes/Dir: Charmi Soni, Chetan
Pagi, Pritesh Luhar, Radhika Raol, Vishal Patadiya / Gujarat University/India)
2005/
“The real pillars…”
first time reveals the tough lives of construction labourers, migrating
every year from Dahod to Ahmedabad (200 km) to earn their bread and butter.
These labourers are mostly Bhil adivasis (tribals). Every year more than
half a million tribal leave their homes, native land and social traditions.
Despite the whole year’s drudgery, they can not even save reasonable
amount to take back to home.
The film discloses
their lives. How is their life in Dahod-their native place? What forces
them to migrate? How they live at their working place? What kind of problem
they have to face?
8.
Flight of Distress
(Flights of Distress/Bengali-English/mini DV/ 32 minutes/2005 /Dir: Somdev
Chatterjee/ Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute /India)
When the government
of India banned catching and trading of Indian birds more then three decades
ago, it did not take adequate measures to rehabilitate the people associated
with this trade. Instead the whole community of Byadhs (bird catchers)
found themselves deprived of their livelihood overnight.
The film follows
Kalo, a Byadh, as he goes on his daily trips to catch birds and sell them.
He talks about the hardships he and his community has had to face due
to the negligence of the government. He has tried to get into some other
profession a number of times, without success. The fact that he, like
most of his community, is illiterate and has never practiced any other
trade in his life does not help matters.
The films goes on
to explore the roles of the other players in this game – the traders,
the forest department and the police, and reveals the web of conflicting
interests, ignorance and sheer callousness that together ensure that people
like Kalo are forced to be perpetually on the run from the law and our
feathered friends continue to live under threat from the poacher’s
nets and the terrible glued sticks
9.
Kaagda Peeth – The Crow’s Back
(Kaagda Peeth -The Crow's Back/Gujarati-English/mini DV/27minutes/2005/Dir:
Ipsit Patel, Balaji Mohan R., Rika Chaudhry, & Sagarika Suri/Ahmedabad
School of Architecture, CEPT/India)
The movie begins
to establish awareness about how garbage travels through our city and
where it finally reaches. On its way it encounters sweepers, municipal
workers and the indispensable rag pickers who spend theirs days looking
through waste to salvage what can be used again. It gets more involved
and personal as the amount of garbage grows and the stories of the rag
pickers reveal their hardship, thereby hoping to obtain a certain level
of sampathy from the audience. The movie then switches to an optimistic
tone where interviews reveal ways and means of changing the prevalling
conditions, and how an individual may contribute.
10.
Virus in the Antidote
(Virus in the Antidote/42 minutes/DV format/2005/Dir: Sukriti Saha Kolkata/
National Institute of Design , Ahmedabad/India)
The Dokras are one
of the tradionally nomadic tribes who have been engaged in the craft of
metal casting for centuries. The dokra smiths have now settled down in
different parts of West Bengal, such as Dariapur, in the district of Burdwan.
This extremely poor craft community of West Bengal are also most interesting
and highly creative. In the recent years, because of the pressures of
all embracing industrialization and changing social values, they have
been forced, by the loss their art is facing. Greedy dealers in handicrafts
take advantage of this predicament.
11.
A Page from the Red Data Book
(A Page from the Red Data Book/15 minutes/DV format/2005/Dir: Saurav Dey/
Film & TV Institute of India/India)
The hand-pulled rickshaw,
a heritage vehicle of Kolkata, would be abolished soon from the city.
The documentary explores the emotions of one rickshaw puller, Rambahadur,
hoping that it would epitomize the emotions of the rest of the fraternity
as well. It also examines whether the ideological principle behind the
abolition-that ‘man carrying man is unacceptable’ holds true
for the people who do it themselves.
Rambahadur is about
45. He has been pulling rickshaws in the streets of Kolkata from his youth.
The film captures a day in his life to get an insight into his mind and
his way of life. It also tries to find out his emotional attachment with
the vehicle in question. Is it just a mere loss of occupation that Rambahadur
is afraid of, or will the ‘abolition’ have a much greater
psychological impact on his being? The Red Data Book keeps an account
of all the endangered species of the world-the rickshaw –puller
seems to be highly endangered right now.
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