Voices from the Water: 7th International Film Festival on Waters, 2012

Voices from the Waters- 2012

The 7^th International Film Festival on Water

CALL FOR ENTRIES

Bangalore Film Society in collaboration with Alliance Francaise de Bangalore, Max Mueller Bhavan Bangalore, SVARAJ, Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival (FLEFF), Ithaca College, USA), Christ University, Bangalore, VISTHAR, Charter of Human Responsibilities, SAMVADA, Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy, YWCA Bangalore, Pacific Asia Resource Centre (PARC), Tokyo and Water Journeys - Campaign for Fundamental Right to Water are organizing the 7^th edition of the biggest international film festival on water- Voices from the Waters 2012, only one of its kind in the world.

This festival has established its relevance over the last six years and consistently been receiving entries for the festival from countries across the world underlining the global concern for water. The festival is growing in stature year after year with more and more institutions coming forward to collaborate with us and take the festival across India and abroad through the year giving the film makers a chance to exhibit their works to a broader and diverse audience thereby enhancing awareness on water and environmental issues.

2012 does not present a rosy picture at the water front in India as we witness an increasing water scarcity. Climate change is being experienced in different ways: excessive rains to no rains in different parts of India wreaking havoc on normal agricultural activities, causing flood and droughts, cold and heat wave throwing normal life out of gear. This may as well be the case across the developing world. What is hopeful though is the increasing ‘green consciousness’ across the country to reconstruct a sustainable environment by rethinking development.

‘Voices from the Waters’ seeks to add to this consciousness as concerns regarding the existence and well-being of our waterbodies are now being voiced in the mainstream. Now more than ever, there is a call for awareness, dialogue and debate to inform the actions on which the future of our life worlds depends. ‘Voices from the Waters 2012 - the 7^th International Film Festival on Water’ invites you to be a part of the festival by contributing short, documentary, animation and feature films on water and related issues.

Voices from the Waters is conceived as a travelling film festival. The selected films after being premiered in Bangalore will be taken across to educational institutions, non governmental organizations, small towns and villages across India for non commercial exhibition and discussions.

If you have a film under any of the following categories:

• Water Scarcity
• The Dams and the Displaced
• Water Harvest/conservation
• Water Struggles/Conflicts
• Floods and Droughts
• Global Warming and Climate Change
• Impact of Deforestation on Water Bodies
• Water, Sanitation and Health
• River Pollution
• The Holistic Revival of Water Bodies
• Water and Life

You can consider sending it to us. Please note that the categories are flexible and your film does not have to necessarily adhere to them while focusing on the larger theme of water.

Guidelines:

Entries to the Film Festival must include:
1. Two DVDs of the film (with English subtitles, if required)
2. A completed and signed copy of the entry form
3. Three high-resolution stills of the film (can be sent via email)
4. A high-resolution photograph of the director (can be sent via email)

5. If you have already entered your film in the previous festival, please don’t send it.

Promotional materials are welcome

There is no entry fee.

All the submitted films will be subject to a selection process by the festival selection committee comprising of eminent professionals including documentary film makers, social activists, academicians et al

Applicant must pay for the shipment of films to Voices from the Waters.

All the submitted films will become part of Voices from the Waters library, one of the largest resources in the world for films on water.

Last date for submissions: June 15^th 2012

Address:

Georgekutty A.L

Bangalore Film Society

No.33/1-9, Thygaraju Layout, 4^th Cross

Jaibharath Nagar, M.S. Nagar P.O

Bangalore 560 033

Karnataka/India

Contact Diana: +91-80- 25493705, Mobile: +91- 9986926103, +91-9448064513

www.voicesfromthewaters.com

Film Screenings at NGMA

NGMA and BFS present screening of a festival of films on Indian and
Western artists at the NGMA Bengaluru from *24th March 2012 to 28th April
2012.* Admission is, as usual, free and all are welcome. The details are
given.

Film Screenings for March

Mixed Palette

BFS presents a Film Festival of Art in Cinema

March 9-11, 2012

All shows start at 6.30 pm. Please be seated by 6.20 pm.

Entry Free. Contact: 9886060096

Venue: BFS Office, No. 33/1-9, Thyagraju Layout, Jaibharath Nagar, M.S. Nagar P.O, Bangalore 560 033. Land mark: Jaibharath Nagar Bharat Petrol Bunk

Movies

1. Spellbound

2. The Horse’s Mouth

3. The Mill and the Cross

Screening Schedule:

Friday, March 9th 2012

Spellbound (B&W/1945/111’)

Dir: Alfred Hitchcock

Summary: A typical Hitchcock psychological mystery thriller , a female psychiatrist protects the identity of an amnesia patient accused of murder while attempting to recover his memory. Highlight of the movie is a dream sequence designed by the surrealistic iconic painter Salvador Dali. The dream is full of psychoanalytic symbols—eyes, curtains, scissors, playing cards (some of them blank), a man with no face, a man falling off a building, a man hiding behind a chimney dropping a wheel, and wings.

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Further details on: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038109/

Saturday, March 10th 2012

The Horse’s Mouth (Eng/1958/ 97’)

Dir: Ronald Neame

Summary: Story of a crooked muralist Gulley Jimson (played by Alec Guinness) who is broke, difficult, conniving and uncouth. The visions in his head may not really satisfy him when realized, but the quest continues, for the perfect wall. The Beeders leave for six weeks of vacation and return to find a 7000 pound committment and the wall of their living room a national treasure, even though living with a wall mural of feet is not their cup of tea. Then - in a bombed out church scheduled for demolition - THE wall that can become his vision

Further details on: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051739/

Sunday, March 11th 2012

The Mill And The Cross (Eng/2011/92’)

Dir: Lech Majewski

Summary: The Mill and the Cross is a movie inside of a painting, specifically The Way to Calvary (1564) by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Pieter Bruegel (Rutger Hauer) is the main character in the film which takes turns following him as he decides how his painting will take shape and who will be in it and also follows the local peasants who go about their daily business in middle of 16th century Flanders. The background is always the actual painting's background with the mill high up on a rock looking down on a large field where most of the action occurs. Behind every great painting lies an even greater story.

Further details on: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1324055/

Film Screening/Lecture on Fukushima Tragedy

We are very happy to invite you to a lecture “Lives in the shadow of Fukushima” by Prof. John Clammer on Sunday, 19^th, February 2012 from 4 pm on wards at National Gallery of Modern Art , Palace Road Bangalore.

To share a little about the lecture and the speaker/discussants:

Prof. John Clammer, Professor of Sociology at the UN University, Tokyo will speak about life after the Fukushima nuclear disaster as a lived experience throwing open for discussion the questions of nuclear safety and health .

Dr. Corinne Kumar, Founder Director, CIEDS Collective and Secretary General, El taller International,Tunisia as one of the discussant who has worked on peace and nuclear disarmament and human rights nationally and internationally over the last thirty years will initiate a discussion on the politics of nuclearisation, nation state and development.

We also hope to have a voice from the resistance movement against the Koodankulam nuclear power plant.

The lecture will be preceded by a film screening on Fukushima: "Yet we seed", directed by Koike Natsumi. The film includes various interviews of organic farmers in Fukushima, after the accident.

We hope that the lecture will deepen the debate on our choices of science and technology and its implications for humanity.

We look forward to seeing you.

You are welcome to extend the invitation to your friends and all those who you think would be interested in the issue.

Warmly,

Bhoga Nanjunda Madhu Bhushan George Kutty

CIEDS Collective Vimochana Bangalore Film Society

Food Security and SRI (System of Rice Intensification) methods of cultivation

“Indian scientists should focus on sustainable agriculture with an emphasis on reform from below”

Joan P. Mencher

Dear all,

We are very happy to invite you and your interested friends to a lecture and film screening programme titled ”Food Security and SRI (System of Rice Intensification) methods of cultivation: Alternatives to the corporate model” by
Prof. Joan Mencher.
The films: One man, 1 cow and 1 planet is based in India. 2. Silent Forests- is about GMO trees and GMOS and what they are.

Date: Friday 17^th February 2012. Time: 3 pm: Venue: No.33/1-9, Thygraja Layout, Jaibharath Nagar,
M.S. Nagar P.O, Bangalore 560033. Land mark: Jaibharath Nagar Petrol Bunk:

For Information contact Bhadra: Mobile:9019289592

Organised by CIEDS Collective, Vimochana and Bangalore Film Society

Prof.Joan P Mencher:

Joan P. Mencher is a prof. emerita of Anthropology from the City University of New York’s Graduate Centre and Lehman College. She is the Chair person of a not for profit organization, “The Second Chance Foundation”, which works to support rural grass roots organizations that works with the poor and small farmers in India and the United States on issues relating to ecology, caste, land reform, agriculture and women over the past half a century. She has published widely both in the US and in India on all of these subjects, primarily in academic journals. Some of her published works are: Agriculture and Social Structure in Tamil Nadu: Past Origins, Present Transformations, and Future Prospects, Social Anthropology of Peasantry, of Female Headed/Female Supported Households: A Cross Cultural Comparison, Mixed Blessings: Gender and Religious Fundamentalism Cross Culturally, Walk On My Back So I Can Work Tomorrow: Health and Work Among Female Agricultural Workers in Tamil Nadu and Kerala," Critical Survival, "Population Policy in India: What Could It Mean for Women?" and "Women and Irrigation in South India." She has also been a consultant with the United Nations Development Programme and the World Bank for their India operations.

Mexican Film Festival

Bangalore Film Society is happy to present a Mexican Film Festival in February (1-4 & 9-11) 2012.

Screening Schedule:

Wed, 1st Feb: THE BASTARDS

Thu, 2nd Feb: USED PARTS

Fri, 3rd Feb: PAN'S LABYRINTH

Sat, 4th Feb: CRAZY CARNIVAL

Thu, 9th Feb: MORE THAN ANYTHING IN THE WORLD

Fri, 10th Feb: THE DESERT INSIDE

Sat, 11th Feb: BACKYARD

All screenings start at 6.30 p.m.

Entry free.

Venue: BFS Office, No. 33/1-9, Thyagraju Layout, Jaibharath Nagar,
M.S. Nagar P.O, Bangalore 560 033. Land mark: Jaibharath Nagar Bharat
Petrol Bunk:

Contact: 9886060096

Synopses:

THE BASTARDS

(Los bastardos)

(Mexico/2008/Color/90 mins.)

Director: Amat Escalante

Writers: Amat Escalante, Martín Escalante

Stars: Jesus Moises Rodriguez, Rubén Sosa and Nina Zavarin

Brief summary: Two Mexican immigrants do odd jobs for random sleazy Americans, and usually hang around with their fellow Mexicans at a drop-off spot waiting for something new to pop up. It can be anything from construction-working and strawberry-picking to muscle-for-hire goons, just as long as there's enough money in it for them. Meanwhile, an American mother has trouble communicating with her lackadaisical teenage son, and fails to draw his attention in every way. The boy doesn't treat her very well, and leaves the house without even saying goodbye. On that same evening, the four lives will be forever changed, which is the story that this movie tells.

The film is beautifully shot, and also has a fantastic soundtrack (very raw, hardcore music), which goes along perfectly to the style and theme of the plot of the movie. The two leading Mexican actors have apparently never done any movies before this one, but still manage to come across perfectly as these everyday-Mexicans, just trying to get by in a hard world, even if it may require doing things they don't appreciate very much.

USED PARTS

(Partes usadas)

(Mexico/2007/Color/95 mins.)

Director: Aarón Fernández Lesur

Writer: Aarón Fernández Lesur

Stars: Emery Eduardo Granados, Alan Chávez and Carlos Ceja

Ivan, a 14-year old boy, lives with his uncle Jaime, a mediocre dealer of used car parts. Both of them dream with a better life and are stashing away their money in order to emigrate illegally to Chicago shortly. When Jaime realizes that he needs much more money than he expected in order to pay the "Coyote" that will help them cross the border, he decides to introduce his nephew into the world of car-part theft. Ivan learns quickly the know-how of his new trade and convinces Efrain, his best friend, to help him. The kids enjoy themselves together and carry out Jaime's orders skillfully until Ivan realizes that his uncle's intentions for the trip have changed since they first made their plans.

MORE THAN ANYTHING IN THE WOLD

(Mas que a nada en el mundo)

(Mexico/2006/Color/90 mins.)

Directors: Andrés León Becker, Javier Solar

Writers: Andrés León Becker, Javier Solar

Stars: Elizabeth Cervantes, Juan Carlos Colombo and Julia Urbini

The relationship between beautiful Emilia (Elizabeth Cervantes) and her imaginative young daughter, Alicia, is tested in this understated Mexican drama. Disoriented after moving to a new apartment and left to herself when her mother starts bringing men home, Alicia takes refuge in dreams that soon become nightmares, especially after she begins to fear that her mom has become possessed by the vampirism man next door. With a keen eye for the rhythms and struggles of contemporary Mexican family life, this film illuminates the secret worlds of lonely children while never straying from its true subject: the uncommon love between a single mother and her child.

The captivating young lead, gives a rich performance with layers of emotional range rarely seen in such a young actress. The film artfully combines the surreal, the comic, the poignant and the tragic, creating a potent film about growing up and a complicated mother/daughter elationship, brilliantly executed by Andres Leon Becker, Javier Solar."

CRAZY CARNIVAL

(El carnival de Sodoma)

(Mexico/2006/Color/119 mins.)

Director: Arturo Ripstein

Writers : Paz Alicia Garciadiego, Pedro Antonio Valdez (novel)

Stars: Marta Aura, María Barranco and Alejandro Camacho

In this black comedy, master Mexican director Arturo Ripstein (The Holy Office, Deep Crimson) presents another of his trademark looks at the twin forces of absurdity and pathos. Based on a novel by Pedro Antonio Valdez, the film weaves five episodic tales centered around a decrepit Mexican brothel run by a Chinese immigrant, Chang (Samuel Gallegos), and protested nightly by a Christian group who hopes to shut it down. Among the cast of characters who populate this modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah are Chang's long-suffering wife, an eccentric stable of hookers, and an especially seedy roster of customers (including corrupt politicians and deranged priests), resulting in a carnivalesque tapestry of the human condition.

PAN’S LABYRINTH

(El laberinto del fauno)

(Mexico/2006/Color/112 mins.)

Director: Guillermo del Toro

Writers : Guillermo del Toro, Alfonso Cuarion

Stars: IvanaBaquero, Doug Jones, Sergi Lopez

Music: Javier Navanrete

Camera: Guillermo Navarro

Pan's Labyrinth takes place in Spain in May–June 1944, five years after the Spanish Civil War, during the early Francoist period. The narrative of the film interweaves this real world with a fantasy world centered around an overgrown abandoned labyrinth and a mysterious faun creature, with which the main character, Ofelia, interacts. Ofelia's stepfather, the Falangist Captain Vidal, hunts the Spanish Maquis who fight against the Fascist reign in the region, while Ofelia's pregnant mother grows increasingly ill. Ofelia meets several strange and magical creatures who become central to her story, leading her through the trials of the old labyrinth garden. The film employs make-up, animatronics and CGI effects to bring life to its creatures.

Academy Awards

Winner : Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Makeup

Nominated : Best Original Score, Best Original Screenplay, Best Foreign Language Film

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THE DESERT INSIDE

(Desierto adentro)

(Mexico/2008/Color/110 mins.)

Director: Rodrigo Pla

Writers : Rodrigo Pla, Laura Santullo

Stars: Mario Zaragoza, Diego Catagio, Guillermo Dorantes

"Desierto Adentro" ("Desert Inside") -- a drama set against the backdrop of Mexico's Cristero War, which took place between 1926 and 1929 -- won prizes for best actor, awarded to Mario Zaragoza; best special effects; best visual effects; best sound; best original score; best photography; best original screenplay; and best supporting actor.

The film is set against the backdrop of Mexico's Cristero War, which took place between 1926 and 1929, when the Mexican government banned Catholicism and persecuted its followers. Clergy are separated from their congregations and worship is forbidden.

Elias, the central character of the film, follows his wife's wishes by seeking out a priest to perform the last rites on their unborn son, whom she fears will die due to a fall she sustained. Upon finding one, he manages to persuade the priest to return with him to the village to perform the last rites, despite putting the safety of the community at risk. The Federales follow the pair and kill every man, woman and child in the village. Elias's family are able to escape, although his wife dies while giving birth to their son.

Captured, Elias realises he is responsible for the deaths of his entire community and begs the priest for forgiveness before his execution. The priests says he is unable to do so and curses Elias's bloodline. Elias escapes and becomes obsessed with the concept of atoning for his sin. He moves his remaining seven children to the desert where they begin to build a monument to God. As his children begin to die through illness and accident, Elias maintains that God has forsaken him and his religious beliefs turn from reverence to homicidal and take over his and his children’s lives.

BACKYARD

(El traspatio)

(Mexico/2009/Color/122 mins.)

Director: Carlos Carrera

Writers : Sabina Berman

Stars: Ana de la Requera, asur Zagada, Marco Perez

An astonishing fictional account of the unending series of murders of young women in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, which began in 1996. Most of the victims are low-paid laborers who have been drawn to the town by the possibility of work at American-owned factories. In the film Mexican police officer Blanca Bravo is sent to Cuidad Juarez to investigate and comes to learn realities of these women's lives, as well as the truth about a police force and local power structure embodied by entrepreneur Mickey Santos that has ceased to care.

Turkish Film Festival

Take me back to Constantinople

BFS presents a Turkish Film Festival

December 9-11, 2011 and January 6-8, 2012

All shows start at 6.30 pm. Please be seated by 6.20 pm.

Venue: Bangalore Film Society Office, No. 33/1-9, Thyagraju Layout, Jaibharath Nagar, M.S. Nagar P.O, Bangalore 560 033. Land mark: Jaibharath Nagar Bharat Petrol Bunk

Entry Free!!!

Contact: 9886060096/080-25493705

Movies

1. Eskiya (The Bandit)

2. Selvi Boylum Al Yazmalim (The girl with the red scarf)

3. Hababam Sinifi (Outrageous Class)

4. Babam Ve Oglum (My Father and My Son)

5. Gegen die Wand (Head-On)

6. Uzak (Distant)

Screening Schedule:

Friday, December 9th 2011

The Bandit (Eskiya/1996/121’)

Dir: Yavuz Turgul

Summary: The epic adventures of the legendary Baran the Bandit following his release from prison. After serving 35 years, it is no surprise that the world has changed dramatically. Still, Baran can't help but be shocked to discover that his home village is now underwater thanks to the construction of a new dam. He then heads for Istanbul to get revenge upon his former best friend, the man who snitched on him and stole his lover Keje. Along the way, Baran teams up with Cumali, a tough young punk who finds the thief's old-fashioned ways rather quaint. When Cumali gets into deep trouble with a crime boss, Baran adds another vengeful task to his roster.

Further details on: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116231/

Saturday, December 10th 2011

The girl with the red scarf (Selvi Boylum Al Yazmalim/1978/90’)

Dir: Atif Yilmaz

Summary: A classic and endlessly watchable love story that never dates Inspired by the novel of acclaimed writer Cengiz Aytmatov, Atif Yilmaz adapts one of history's greatest love stories to the screen with the greatest finesse. Story of Ilyas, a truck driver who delivers sand to a dam construction, his newly acquired wife Asya and their young son Samet. But the legendary love affair between Asya and Ilyas is soon shaken by jealousy, an alcohol habit and extra-marital affair. Ilyas, who genuinely loves his wife but is hampered by an ever weakening character, ends up walking out when job-related problems come to a head. The helpless Asya is left with their son to cope alone. She waits patiently for her husband to return Until she runs into Cemsit, a sympathetic figure who Samet soon begins to identify as his father. When she finally surrenders to his affections, life takes on an entirely new hue.

But then, years later, Ilyas suddenly appears from nowhere, demanding his wife and child back. His arrival rekindles the questions that have preoccupied hearts and minds since time immemorial. What is love? What makes a lover? What makes a spouse? What makes a father?... And which is harder: to go back or not to go back?

Further details on: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0263975/

Sunday, December 11th 2011

Outrageous Class (Hababam Sinifi/1975/87’)

Dir: Ertem Egilmez

Summary: Outrageous Class is the first of a series of rip-roaring comedy films made by Ertem Egilzmez. Dubbed as one of the greatest Turkish movie productions with great actors and actresses, scenario full of fun, a class full of outrageous guys.

Further details on: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0252487/

Friday, January 6th 2012

My Father and My Son (Babam Ve Oglum/2005/108’)

Dir: Cagan Irmak

Summary: Sadik is one of the rebellious youth who has been politically active as a university student and became a left-wing journalist in the 70's, despite his father's expectations of him becoming an agricultural engineer and taking control of their family farm in an Aegean village. On the dawn of September 12, 1980, when a merciless military coup hits the country, they cannot find access to any hospital or a doctor and his wife dies while giving birth to their only child, Deniz. After a long-lasting period of torture, trials, and jail time, Sadik returns to his village with 7-8 years old Deniz, knowing that it will be hard to correct things with his father, Huseyin.

Further details on: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0476735/

Saturday, January 7th 2012

Head-On (Gegen die Wand/2004/121’)

Dir: Fatih Akin

Summary: In 'Gegen die Wand' Cahit, a 40-something male from Mersin in Turkey has removed everything Turkish from his life. He has become an alcoholic drug addict and at the start of the movie wants to end it all. Sibel a 20-something female from Hamburg wishes to please her Turkish parents yet yearns for freedom. She has had her nose broken by her brother for being seen holding hands with a boy and yet she can not break her mother's heart and run away. She too attempts suicide and she first approaches Cahit there at the Hospital. Sibel asks Cahit to marry her, as she believes this to be the way out of her parent's house. She promises Cahit that their relationship will be like roommates, not like a married couple. The film follows Sibel and Cahit as they get married, become closer and eventually fall in love.

Further details on: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0347048/

Sunday, January 8th 2012

Distant (Uzak/2002/110’)

Dir: Nuri Bilge Ceylan

Summary: Mahmut, a 40 year old independent photographer, is a "village boy made good" at least professionally in the big city - Istanbul in this case. After his wife leaves him, he falls into an existential crisis. Then comes his cousin Yusuf, who left his native village after a local factory closed down, effectively unemploying over half the local men. He looks to Istanbul for salvation: a job on board a ship sailing abroad, at once exciting and crucial to supporting his family in the desperately poor village. The distance between the two men is apparent at once, and becomes increasingly pronounced. Whereas Mahmut is adusted to big city life and suffers from many of its neuroses, Yusuf is a lonely, excentric country worker with annoying nervous and hygienic habits, and a sick mother back home he must somehow support. This intimate drama was filmed in the director's apartment in Istanbul, using all his furniture, appliances, rooms, car and so on as the film's props.

Further details on: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0346094/