‘Cinema City’: A Curtain Raiser
Majlis held the Curtain Raiser for Cinema City on 11th October 2009, at the Little Theatre, Nariman Point, Mumbai.
The logo for Cinema City
Cinema City is a multi-phased programme to document, archive and re-read the city through images in Cinema as well as the cinema in the city. Further, Cinema City can be explained as an attempt to create an audio-visual dateline of Asian cities with 100 year old cinema histories through multi-disciplinary art and research practices, such as cartography, film and video productions, visual art works, seminars and publications. The aim of this endeavour is to study the City, in particular, the city that is inextricably linked to its ‘cinemascape’.
The event started with an installation walkthrough; comprising of
* Pila House: The Cinema Settlement ; An assembly Cartography work on the historic entertainment district of Bombay
* Tambu Cinema: The Itinerant Screen; A photo, text and sound installation on the phenomenon of travelling tent cinema
* Sweat shops of the Cinema; That traces the network of production units hidden in holes in the wall
The installation walkthrough was followed by an introductory session wherein Madhusree Dutta, executive director of Majlis, gave an overview of the project , this was followed by conversations with Atul Dodiya,Visual artist and Ashsish Rajadhyaksha and audience interactions.
After the audience interaction, the first session of film screenings took place and the films screened were as under ;
* Certified Universal; a 15-minute short film on the many cinemas that exist and constantly get reproduced in society, by Avijit Mukul Kishore.
* Do Rafique; a 15-minute short film wherein Rafeeq Ellias talks with Rafique Baghdadi around old and fading neighborhoods tracing the memory of cinema, by Rafique Ellias.
* Have You Dreamt Cinema?; a 15 minute short film on three women who live along FIlm City Road – their relationship with the idea of recreation and the place of cinema – as a house of pleasure -in their lives, by Hansa Thapliyal.
The installation walkthrough for ‘Sweatshops Of the Cinema: that traces the network of production units hidden in holes in the wall
The film screenings was followed by a panel discussion as to “What is cinema city?” with George Jose, Programme Director, Asia Society India Centre; Madhusree Dutta, Principal Curator,Cinema City & Executive Director, Majlis , Mumbai; Rohan Shivkumar, Architect and Senior Faculty, KRVIA ; Mamta Murthy, filmmaker, artist.
The installation walkthrough for Pila House: The Cinema Settlement ; An assembly cartography work on the historic entertainment district of Bombay.
The second session of the screenings took place after the discussion , and the films screened were as under:
* Dark room; A 10 minute short film on the materiality of cinema – the chemicals and the moving people. the city as a darkroom, by Renu Savant
* Dhananjay Kulkarni “Chandragupt”; A 10 minute short film about a writer who impersonates as a night watchman.
* Sin City; A 15 minute short film on the filmography of crime in the city by Srikant Agwane
The day ended by a conversation with the filmmakers , moderated by Surabhi Sharma
Gargi Sen from the Magic Lantern Foundation attended the event and cited it to have been a very good experience.
Gargi Sen talks about the changing scenario of documentary filmmaking
An article in The Times of India,Pune dated September 17 2009, wherein Gargi Sen talks about the changing scenario of documentary films in India.
Madhusree Dutta speaks about her fascination with the city of Mumbai.
An article by DNAindia wherein documentary filmmaker Madhusree Dutta speaks about her films , while she was at Pune, participating at Persistence Resistance: A festival of Contemporary films held at the Film and Television Institute of India, this year.
An article about Persistence Resistance: the festival held at FTII
An article in The Times of India, dated September 15, 2009 informing readers of the ‘Persistence Resistance’ festival at Pune that was held from 15th to the 17th September 2009.
Sourav Sarangi: An article in tehelka
Below is an article in the Tehelka magazine about Sourav Sarangi, Under Construction filmmaker, known for having directed films like Bilal, Bhangon(Erosion).
To order copies of his films, write to us at: underconstruction@magiclanternfoundation.org
Paromita Vohra: An article in tehelka
U. Below is an article in the Tehelka magazine about Paromita Vohra, Under Construction filmmaker, known for having directed films like Q2P, Where’s Sandra, Cosmopolis: A Tale of 2 cities, Work in Progress,,
,Unlimted Girls, Annapurna , A Woman’s Place.
To order copies, write to us at: underconstruction@magiclanternfoundation.org
Rajula Shah: An article in ‘Tehelka’
An article in ‘tehelka’ about Rajula Shah, Under Construction filmmaker known for her film ‘Word within the word’.
To order copies, write to us at: underconstruction@magiclanternfoundation.org
Arghya Basu: An article in ‘Tehelka’
An article in the Tehelka magazine about Arghya Basu, Under Construction filmmaker, known for having directed films like ‘Listener’s Tale, Death Life Etc.‘
To order copies, write to us at: underconstruction@magiclanternfoundation.org
Bilal: Indian Express article dated 30th September 2009
An article by the Indian Express on the film ‘Bilal’ ,the story of a boy who can see, but his parents are blind.
Directed by Sourav Sarangi.
To order copies, write to us at: underconstruction@magiclanternfoundation.org
Bilal : Indian Express Article dated 26 September 2009
An article by the Indian Express on Bilal : a film directed by Sourav Sarangi.
It is a story of a little boy Bilal, growing up with blind parents.
To order copies, write to us at: underconstruction@magiclanternfoundation.org
