Third annual South Asian Human Rights Film Festival announced

Third annual South Asian Human Rights Film Festival announcedMarch 17, 2005Jaime Winne Alvarez jlwinne@syr.edu

Syracuse University will present the third annual South Asian Human Rights Film Festival, beginning April 1. The festival is a joint project of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, the South Asia Center at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs in The Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, the Asia Society and Breakthrough.

The three-day festival will showcase a series of dynamic, full-length feature films and documentaries by well-known directors and independent filmmakers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and the South Asian diaspora, focusing on issues including regional conflict, HIV/AIDS, violence against women and the plight of indigenous people. SU faculty members, experts and the films’ directors will lead post-screening discussions.

All screenings are free and open to the public. April 1-2 screenings will take place in Shemin Auditorium, located in the Shaffer Art Building on the SU campus. Free parking will be available in the Q4 lot. The April 3 screening will take place at Westcott Cinema, 524 Westcott St., Syracuse.

April 1 at 6 p.m., Dinaz Stafford, director of the festival’s first film, “Still, the Children are Here,” will attend the screening of her feature-length documentary about the plight of the Garos people of Meghalaya, an indigenous tribe in northeast India, and the impact of modern society on their lifestyle.

Two hour-long documentaries will be screened on April 2 beginning at noon. Munizae Jahangir’s “Search for Freedom,” explores the lives of four Afghan women in Pakistan, and Pervez Hoodboy and Zia Mian’s “Crossing the Lines”tells the story of injustice and violence in the Kashmir conflict. These will be followed at 2:30 p.m. by Rituparno Ghosh’s “Chokher Bali: A Passion Play,” starring Aishwarya Rai, dubbed “the most beautiful woman in the world” by U.S. actress Julia Roberts. It tells the story of a beautiful, educated and vivacious young widow set against the backdrop of political resistance during the Bengal partition in the early 1900’s.

Director Sabiha Sumar will attend the 6 p.m. screening of her award-winning “Khamosh Pani (Silent Waters),” about violence against women set in 1979 Pakistan, when General Zia-ul-Haq took control of the country and stoked the fires of Islamic nationalism.

April 3 at 11:30 a.m., the first Bollywood film dealing with HIV/AIDS, Revathy Menon’s “Phir Milenge (We’ll Meet Again)” will be shown at Westcott Cinema. The story of a young, successful career woman who loses her job due to her HIV status, the film explores the subtleties of human relations.

“The film festival continues to enrich scholarship in anthropology, sociology, history, geography, women’s studies, international relations, social work, film studies and communications, ” says event organizer, Newhouse professor and filmmaker Tula Goenka. “More importantly, it informs viewers about important issues in the international arena, particularly in the region of South Asia, as well as deepening understanding of domestic social issues including religion, sexuality, globalization and human rights.”

For more information, contact Goenka at (315) 443-3376 or Radha Ganesan at (315) 443-4998.

The film festival is part of “University as Public Good: Exploring the Soul of Syracuse,” the yearlong exploration designated by Chancellor Nancy Cantor.

The event is funded by the Division of Student Affairs’ UEncounter Program and The Kaleidoscope Project, a diversity initiative between the divisions of Undergraduate Studies and Student Affairs to broaden the understanding of diversity and promote healthy dialogue about related issues at SU.