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6 Yards to Democracy [FL 1253] 6 Yards to Democracy revisits a gruesome incident that took place during an election rally in north India. Thousands of women from poor localities of Lucknow city, lured by the promise of free saris, had been waiting for hours in the harsh sun for the cheap six-yard cloths. A stampede occurred: 22 died and hundreds were injured. This seemingly stray happening uncovers the sordid side of Indian democracy, and connects in significant ways with the daily humiliations forced upon these women and their families. As boomtown dynamics keep pushing them further into the margins, we observe the women's struggles to keep their homes, hopes and dignity intact while petitioning an apathetic state for their dues. Nishtha Jain & Smriti Nevatia, India, 2006, Hindi/Subtitles: English, 55 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM Bond, The / Naata [FL 369] Mumbai is the city of contrasts: extreme richness and extreme poverty. It is a city of film stars and large slums. Two friends - Hindu Bhau Korde and Muslim Waqar Khan - live and work in a multi-ethnic neighbourhood of Dharavi, the largest slum in Asia. The making of a poster and an amateur film, initiated by the two friends, becomes an important step to unify the community and bring about ethnic amity. Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, and Christians are played by children, each of them representing 'the other' religion. This work is part of other grass-roots programs for inter-religious amity. Yet Waqar and Bhau's work raises several uncomfortable questions for the filmmakers, so-called modern, middle-class, secular, urban beings. The meta-story of the film reflects on their own position of (im)partial observers/outsiders. By using abstract and anonymous everyday objects, standing in for detachment and reflection, the process of filmmaking itself becomes a subject of analysis. Anjali Monteiro, K. P. Jayasankar, India, 2003, Hindi/Subtitles: English, 45 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM Cradle of Terror, The [FL 1365] The documentary examines Pakistan's role in promoting and sustaining the forces of terror under the grab of Jihad and also looks at the role that the Pakistani state played in Nuclear Proliferation under the auspices of Dr. A.Q. Khan. Iqbal Malhotra, India, 2006, English, 45 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM Devil's Wind, The [FL 1363] India was the romantic literary muse of the famous 19th century English writer Rudyard Kipling. Out of this romance came his most famous book 'Kim' whose central is an English boy, disguised as an Indian, who spies for his British masters against Russian designs to conquer India. This was a tale of imperialism, knowledge and power that gave universal recognition to the term Great Game and also endowed the British Raj's intelligence service and its mapmakers with an adventurous mystique, in their shadowy game of domination with the Russian empire in 19th century Central Asia. This was the playing field of the Great Game; a vast swathe of land that stretched from Lhasa, the capital of Tibet in the East to Ashkabad, the capital of what was then Russian Turkistan in the West. This distance of several thousand kilometers, following ancient caravan trails, encompassed the great mountain ranges of the Pamirs and the Himalayas, great rivers like the Indus and the Oxus, the world's highest passes, grassy and sandy steppes and salt marshes, great lakes, remote cities and fierce and indestructible people. In this film, Iqbal Malhotra follows in the footsteps of Kipling's Great Gamers' and tries to juxtapose the lessons of the past with the reality of the present. The result is an unusual travelogue about Central Asia set in the backdrop of history and politics. The film captures unusual images of this region that are interconnected to one another and transcends the boundaries of time. Iqbal Malhotra, India, 2007, English, 46 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM Does Gandhi Matter? [FL 1511] Produced by the Public Diplomacy Division of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, this film searches for the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi in today's Indian society and not only. A series of interviews with prominent public figures, students, passers by and tourists, the documentary shows interesting views on how Gandhi's heritage lives on in the 21st century. Manoj Raghuvanshi, India, 2008, Hindi/Subtitles: English, 31 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM Final Solution [FL 1293] Final Solution is a study of the politics of hate. Set in Gujarat during the period Feb/March 2002 - July 2003, the film graphically documents the changing face of right-wing politics in India through a study of the 2002 genocide of Moslems in Gujarat. It specifically examines political tendencies reminiscient of the Nazi Germany of early/mid-1930s. Final Solution is anti-hate/ violence as “those who forget history are condemned to relive it”. Part 1: Pride and Genocide deals with the carnage and its immediate aftermath. It examines the patterns of pre-planned genocidal violence (by right-wing Hindutva cadres), which many claim was state-supported, if not state-sponsored. The film reconstructs through eyewitness accounts the attack on Gulbarg and Patiya (Ahmedabad) and acts of barbaric violence against Moslem women at Eral and Delol/Kalol (Panchmahals) even as Chief Minister Modi traverses the state on his Gaurav Yatra. Part 2 : The Hate Mandate documents the poll campaign during the Assembly elections in Gujarat in late 2002. It records in detail the exploitation of the Godhra incident by the right-wing propaganda machinery for electoral gains. The film studies and documents the situation months after the elections to find shocking faultlines – voluntary ghettoisation, segregation in schools, formal calls for economic boycott of Moslems and continuing acts of violence. Rakesh Sharma, India, 2004, Hindi/Subtitles: English, 149 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM Final Solution. Part I: Pride and Genocide [FL 753] "Final Solution" is a study of the politics of hate. Set in Gujarat during the period Feb/March 2002 - July 2003, the film graphically documents the changing face of right-wing politics in India through a study of the 2002 genocide of Moslems in Gujarat. It specifically examines political tendencies reminiscient of the Nazi Germany of early/mid-1930s. Part 1 of the ""Final Solution" deals with the carnage and its immediate aftermath. It examines the patterns of pre-planned genocidal violence (by right-wing Hindutva cadres), which many claim was state-supported, if not state-sponsored. The film reconstructs through eyewitness accounts the attack on Gulbarg and Patiya (Ahmedabad) and acts of barbaric violence against Moslem women at Eral and Delol/Kalol (Panchmahals) even as Chief Minister Modi traverses the state on his Gaurav Yatra. Rakesh Sharma, India, 2003, Hindi/Subtitles: English, 75 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM Final Solution. Part II: Hate Mandate [FL 754] Final Solution is a study of the politics of hate. Set in Gujarat during the period Feb/March 2002 - July 2003, the film graphically documents the changing face of right-wing politics in India through a study of the 2002 genocide of Muslims in Gujarat. It specifically examines political tendencies reminiscient of the Nazi Germany of early/mid-1930s. Part 2 "The Hate Mandate" documents the poll campaign during the Assembly elections in Gujarat in late 2002. It records in detail the exploitation of the Godhra incident by the right-wing propaganda machinery for electoral gains. The film studies and documents the situation months after the elections to find shocking faultlines – voluntary ghettoisation, segregation in schools, formal calls for economic boycott of Muslims and continuing acts of violence. Rakesh Sharma, India, 2003, Hindi/Subtitles: English, 76 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM Health Matters [FL 1371] The film takes a panoramic look at health care in India through the everyday experiences of patients in both public and private hospitals, covering a range of rural and urban locations. Shikha Jhingan, India, 2006, Hindi, English/Subtitles: English, 60 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM In the Name of God / Ram Ke Nam [FL 595] This film follows the campaign by the militant movement Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) to destroy a 16th century mosque in the city of Ayodhya. Supporters of the VHP claim that the mosque stands right on the birthplace of the Hindu god Ram, and that in order to build it the temple to Ram was destroyed several centuries ago. In retaliation they now demand the destruction of the Muslim sanctuary and the building of a new temple to honor the god Ram. The conflict escalated into open violence, in which thousands of people lost their lives. The film is a powerful testimony about how far religious intolerance can lead. Anand Patwardhan, India, 1991, English, 75 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM Lakshmi and Me [FL 629] This personal film turns the camera on the director's maid Lakshmi. She works nearly 10 hours a day, seven days a week for a number of Mumbai families, earning in a month what her employers would spend on a good meal. Dress, family relations anchored in tradition, her relations to education, doctors, male and female family roles – in almost everything Lakshmi is different from the families who can afford to employ her. The director eloquently illustrates this point in a number of scenes, such as when the protagonist chooses to eat sitting on the ground at her employer's luxury flat. As well as its Indian elements, the film focuses on questions linked to the justice of work and equality between different social classes. Lakshmi works though she is pregnant, weighs only 44 kilograms and has to deal with serious health problems. The director gradually turns away from the flats of Lakshmi's employers and turns the camera on the subject's own living conditions. Nishtha Jain, India, 2007, Hindi/Subtitles: English, 59 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM Maharaja of Jodhpur, The [FL 1360] The story of a boy who would be king. The Maharajah of Jodhpur is an exclusive documentation of the life of one of India's most distinguished royals -His Highness The Maharajah Gaj Singh II of Marwar Jodhpur. The film folllows his life from his coronation, at age 4, to his eventual quest to reinvent his role in the Democratic Republic of India. Anu Malhotra, India, 2004, Hindi/Subtitles: English, 78 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM Mahatma - A Great Soul of the 20th Century [FL 1510] A portrait of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, commonly known as Mahatma Gandhi, the political and spiritual leader of India and the Indian independence movement. He was the pioneer of Satyagraha - resistance to tyranny through mass civil disobedience which led India to independence and inspired civil rights movements around the world. Rich with archival footage, this excellent film follows Gandhi's journey from childhood and shows the aspirations, ambitions, sacrifices, doubts, patience and extraordinary endurance of a great man. Vithalbhai Jhaver, India, 2006, Hindi/Subtitles: English, 47 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM Nuclear Tango: Why a Hero Fell from Grace [FL 1362] A documentary that investigates and puts together why Dr. A.Q. Khan, the father of the Pakistani nuclear weapons program was made to take the rap and accept responsibility for having orchestrated the Pakistan–North Korea nuclear relationship. The film establishes the critical role that Pakistan has played in nursing North Korea to establish itself as a potent nuclear power with a delivery capability. This assistance was guided by the Chinese Government, through the identified efforts of General Xiong Guangkai, Deputy Chief of the Peoples Liberation Army, who in CIA parlance, was the case officer for this exchange between the Pakistani’s and the North Koreans. Iqbal Malhotra, India, 2006, English, 52 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM Ordinary Lives [FL 1436] A documentary set in a slum in Mumbai, with the lives of a family of ten living in a 180 square feet shack at its center. The documentary attempts to highlight the social, cultural, infrastructure and political issues that affect the lives of ordinary people in Mumbai and their juxtaposition with the efforts to make Mumbai a modern city. Sheetal S. Agarwal, India, 2005, Hindi/Subtitles: English, 38 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM Pedaling to Freedom [FL 1398] An unusual story which shows how a humble object like bicycle can also change lives dramatically. The film revisits a unique initiative 15 years later in Pudukkottai, one of India's poorest districts where mobility of women was seen as an important tool for empowerment and promoting literacy. In one of the poorest parts of the world 230,000 people learnt to read and write. Over 100,000 women learnt to cycle. It happened in one year and cost Rs. 65 (less than one and a half dollars) per person! Vijay S. Jodha, India, 2007, English, 28 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM Riding Solo To the Top of the World [FL 1301] Riding Solo is a film about filmmaker Gaurav Jani's solo motorcycle journey from Mumbai to one of the remotest places in the world, the Changthang Plateau in Ladakh, bordering China. The film is even more extraordinary for the fact that Jani was a one-man crew who loaded his 200 kg bike with over 100 kgs of equipment/supplies and set off on a journey to one of the world's most difficult terrains. Gaurav Jani, India, 2006, English, Hindi/Subtitles: English, 94 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM Sufi and the Scientist, The [FL 1364] The film is the collective story of Sufi healer Sayyid Arif Hussain , the medieval Sufi Sheikh Haji Ali and Dr. Thornton Streeter, a scientist working in the realm of human consciousness. The Sufi and the Scientist blends the spiritual mysticism of the orient with the scientific temperament of the occident and unravels the role of consciousness in explaining the mysteries of physics and spirituality. Iqbal Malhotra, India, 2007, Hindi/Subtitles: English, 47 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM The Great Indian School Show [FL 1749] The Mahatma Gandhi Centennial Sindhu High School in Nagpur is like no other. Here, 185 close circuit television cameras keep a hawk’s watch on what’s going on in every classroom, staff room, canteen and playground. The cameras are constantly monitored by the principal. The film shows how surveillance affects the psyche of both students and teachers. The visual narrative moves back and forth from the classrooms to the corridors of the school where every student and faculty member is conscious of how to behave because he or she is under constant surveillance. In the ‘control’ room the principal watches and takes great delight in communicating with teachers and students, pointing out flaws, making suggestions or issuing directives. Avinash Deshpande, India, 2006, Hindi/Subtitles: English, 53 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM Waiting… [FL 1430] Mothers, wives in India's Kashmir region are looking and waiting for their men who had disappeard following raids of the police forces. Atul Gupta, Shabnam Ara, India, 2005, Hindi/Subtitles: English, 39 min, documentary film, DVD-ROM