FILM FESTIVAL

Wednesday, October 1, 2008, 5.00pm to 7.00pm, at Open Space
Welcome to PUNE FIRST!

Pune city, the erstwhile ‘pensioner’s paradise’ has over the years rapidly transformed 
into a bustling mega city. There is rapid change to be seen everywhere. Be it the city’s 
roads, its educational institutions, the IT boom, the building industry, the cosmopolitan 
profile of its people, there is a ‘work in progress’ board to be seen everywhere!

To address some of these concerns, Open Space has initiated a series of six monthly
workshops titled, ‘Pune First’ that are intended to bring the city’s Gen Next, face-to-face
with the rapidly changing face of Pune city. Through guided lectures and interaction by
city-based experts in the fields of geography, heritage conservation, town planning,
air pollution, sociology and urban planning, the workshop will enable young people to
get to know Pune, walk its streets, talk to its people, measure its pollution, count its
trees and report on its history, heritage and environment. 

Workshop on Air Pollution!
With as many as 750 new vehicles entering Pune roads every single day, any wonder
that the city is becoming a gas chamber. It already has the ignominy of being dubbed,
as one of the most polluted cities in the country (ranked 13th a few years ago…).

Of course, vehicular pollution is not the only cause for Pune’s woes. The increased building
construction and road building, the resultant dust generated and the non-adherence to pollution
control norms by both vehicles and industry are giving us the foul air we breathe.

It is for this reason, that Open Space as a part of its six-part series titled ‘Pune First’ has
invited Air Pollution expert, Dr Sundeep Salvi, director, Chest Research Foundation (CRF),
Pune, to introduce young Puneites to issues connected to air pollution in a workshop
scheduled for Wednesday, October 1, 2008.

Salvi will guide the workshop participants through various causes of atmospheric pollution
in Pune, namely caused by automobiles, building industry, road building, dust etc.

Student volunteers will be encouraged to undertake the following projects:

• Two/three students will travel by PMPL buses on four, important routes of Pune
  and monitor the air pollution inside the bus on a special pollution-monitoring machine
  to be provided by CRF.
• Another two students will cover the same routes on a motorcycle and measure the
  pollution with a second machine.
• The students will also measure the pollution levels in the residential societies
  adjoining the IT CLUSTERS in the Chatushrunghi area of Pune.

Besides working on a project report, the student volunteers will also be encouraged to write a
newspaper report for a city based national daily. 

Through the ‘Pune First’ series, Open Space (OS) has been exposing Pune youngsters to areas
like history, heritage, carbon mapping, town planning, air pollution and sociology over six separate,
monthly workshops.

City based freelance journalist and Lead Fellow, Rahul Chandawarkar is facilitating the
‘Pune First’ workshops. 

Day & Date: Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Time: 5 pm to 7 pm
Venue: Open Space, B-301, 2nd floor, Kanchanjunga Bldg, Kanchangalli, Off Law college road
(near Krishna Dining Hall),
Pune 411 004, Tel No: 020-25457371

All ‘Pune First’ workshops are held at Open Space. There is no registration fee.
Entry is free on a first-come-first-served basis only!

IAWRT 2- DAY DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL

Friday - Saturday, October 10 -11, 2008, 3.00pm to 7.30pm, at the Namdeo Sabha Griha, Kher Wangmai Bhawan, University of Pune, Ganeshkhind, Pune 411 007.

Open Space – CCDS, Pune, in collaboration with the Dept. of Sociology, University of Pune invites you to a 2-day documentary film festival, titled, ‘Insights and Aspirations’, the annual film festival of the International Association of Women in Radio and Television (IAWRT) in partnership with IIC Asia Project, Delhi.

The aim of the festival is to open up a cultural space for discussion on creative processes enriched by women’s quest for documenting their experiences. Open Space has selected 15 films from the festival package documenting the unique perspectives of women, looking at self, relationships, family, traditions, politics, urbanization and development.

Women filmmakers are widening the frame, negotiating and documenting social and political events and issues of concern bringing in new insights into the ordinary events, challenging beliefs and views.

Recognizing women’s contribution to the unique documentary film form, the festival showcases the best of documentaries created by women, covering a whole range of genres and expressive styles. Most of the films are recent and are being screened in Pune for the first time.

The IAWRT is a not-for-profit organization, in consultative status with United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

FILM FESTIVAL SCHEDULE:
DAY 1: 3pm to 8.00pm

Everyday [7m / 2007 / India]
Anupama Srinivasan
A reflection on relationships. A story of a pigeon.

Manpasand – The Perfect Match [11m / 2006 / India] Dhwani Desai An animation film about the journey of a father in search of a suitable groom for his daughter.

The Cheese & the Worms [98 m / 2005 / Japan] Haruyo Kato
The director affectionately captures her sick mother's final days with her grandmother and brother's family.

Leap Frog [4m / 2007 / India] Nandita Das
3 spots on education and water harvesting.

10 min break

M S Amma: A Shy Girl From Madurai [22m / 2007/ India] Swati Thiyagrajan NDTV
A journey into the life and times of the legendary M S Subalakshmi through the eyes of her granddaughter.

Taaza Khabar [31m/ 2006/ India] Bishakha Dutta
An all-woman team of journalists publish “Khabar Lahariya” from a small town in Uttar Pradesh, covering all the news that the mainstream media forgot.

Shadows of Freedom [36 m / 2004 / India] Sabina Kidwai
Traces the history of three women in a Muslim family and how the issues of identity and gender conflict with their lives and that of their family. 

DAY 2: 3pm to 8.00pm

Word Within The Word [74 m / 2007 / India] Rajula Shah
The film witnesses how Kabir, the 14th century mystic poet resonates ordinary lives in 21st century India.

Ayodhya Gatha [62 m / 2007 / India] Vani Subramanian
What does it mean to belong to a city that has become a symbol of religious intolerance, majoritarian
aggression and communal tumult in India – Ayodhya?

Goddesses [42m / 2007 / India] Leena Manimekalai
Notes from the lives of three extraordinary women – a funeral singer, a fisherwoman & a graveyard worker.

10 min break

Migration [18 m / 2007 / India] Mira Nair shenny
The film deals with the AIDS virus as a great class leveller in society by following its transmission through interweaving stories linking urban and rural India.

Ek Ajeeb Si Jhunjlahat [3 m / 2007 / India] Ein Lall
The covered face, the pestle, the mortar; the excessive force with which the pestle swings down; the remorseless regularity of stone pounding on stone; all contribute to a strange tremor of unease….

Morality TV & the Loving Jehad [29m / 2007 / India] Paromita Vohra
The film looks outside the frames that weave the frenetic tapestry of Breaking News on India’s news channels to uncover a town’s complex dynamics – the fear of love, the constant scrutiny and control of women’s mobility, a history of communal violence, caste brutalization and feudal mindsets.

ENTRY IS FREE ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS ONLY

Day & Date: Friday – Saturday, October 10 & 11
Time: 3.00pm to 8.00pm
Venue:Namdeo Sabhagriha auditorium, Kher Wangmai Bhawan, University of Pune, Ganeshkhind, Pune 411 007.

FILM SCREENING

MONTHLY WORKSHOP

Thursday, October 2, 2008, 5.00pm to 7.00pm, at Open Space
To mark the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, Open Space invites you to a screening of the documentary film, Lines of Mahatma (Dir: R. V. Ramani) English (subtitled), 20 minutes, 1999, India. The film is a tribute to the spirit of Mahatma Gandhi through the drawings of Chennai-based artist,
Adimoolam.

Entry free on a first-come-first-served-basis-only!