JUNE 9, 2007

JUNE 9, 2007 SESSION 1: 10.00am to 11.15am

Film: Flow Dir: Scott Nyerges Dur: 4:26 min Handpainted 16mm and 35mm filmstrips collude with video to render a meditation on the creeks and rivers of Austin, Texas, in paint and pixels. Flow has exhibited at the TriBeca Film Festival, the International Film Festival in Rotterdam, and CinemaTexas. http://www.nyerges.com/

Film: Faecal Attraction Dir: Pradeep Saha Dur: 32 minutes ‘When you flush, where does the water go?’ Find Out. Director Pradeep Saha, freelance photographer, film-maker and managing editor of the CSE environmental journal, Down to Earth will be present at the screening of his film to answer what you can do the next time you press the lever for a flush. http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2408/stories/20070504001409200.htm

SESSION 2: 11.30pm to 1.30pm

Film: Desert’s voice: A sufi tale Dir: Massimiliano Troiani Music Dir: Stephan Micus Dur: 9:50 mins It lives among the clouds and comes down to earth so that it can run in rapid streams and travel to different places. A beautiful sufi invocation of the journey of water on earth.

Film: Swaraj: The Little Republic Dir: Anwar Jamal Dur: 90min Winner of the Silver Lotus at the National Awards 2003 for the Best Film on Social Issues and inspired by the true story of a woman councilor who took on the might of the water mafia, Director Anwar Jamal’s ‘Swaraj: The Little Republic’ is a rousing tale of four women journeying barefoot and audacious, across the desert in the search of justice and water. Director Anwar Jamal will be present at the screening for a question and answer session with the audience. http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2010/stories/20030523001708200.htm

SESSION 3: 2.00pm to 4.00pm

Film: Sea in the Blood Dir: Richard Fung Dur: 26min A personal documentary about living with illness, tracing the relationship of the artist to thalassemia in his sister, Nan and AIDS in his partner, Tim. The narrative of love and loss is set against a background of colonialism in the Carribean and the reverberations of migration and political change. http://www.latrobe.edu.au/screeningthepast/firstrelease/fr0703/kbfr15.html

Film: Shadows of Tehri Dur: 45 Mins Dir: Anirban Dutta A one-of-a-kind film that interweaves folklore, music, tradition and history to create a textured memory of the essence of old Tehri town in Tehri Garhwal, Uttaranchal, after it is lost forever under the swirling waters of the world’s highest dam, built over the rivers of Bhagirathi and Bhilangana.

Film: The Disappearing of Tuvalu: Trouble in Paradise Dir: Christopher Horner and Gilliane Le Gallic Dur: 50 min Incisive, controversial and featured in the most prestigious environmental film festivals across the globe, ‘The Disappearing of Tuvalu’ is a detailed overview of the first sovereign nation that is in danger of being capsized and drowned by the rising waters of the global warming phenomena. A tale of loss and displacement, the film beholds a frightening future of drowned worlds and environmental refugees. http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/rough/2005/12/tuvalu_that_sin_1.html

WATER VOICES: 4.15pm to 4.45pm Farhad Contractor empowers people. Working in Rajasthan through his organization, Sambhav, Farhad fills hope in people to be able to manage their water affairs themselves. Traditional water structures are on revival in Barmer and Jaisalmer simply because Farhad Contractor has thought it fit to work with these communities

SESSION 4: 4.45pm to 6.45pm

Film: Village of Dust City of Water Director: Sanjay Barnela & Vasant Saberwal Duration: 28 minutes Winner of the Lion Award 2007 for Best environmental film and Nominated for the International Natural History Museum One Planet Award, the country’s foremost environmental documentary film-makers focus on water-induced migration and the discriminatory divide in the supply of water between the urban and the rural. Director, screen-writer, academic researcher with a doctorate from Yale for his work with the Gaddi community of Himachal Pradesh, Dr. Vasant Saberwal will be attending the screening and participate in a question and answer session.

Nor any Drop to Drink Director: Joska Wessels Duration: 23 minutes An inspiring, informative slice-of-life that travels from Jordan to Egypt to Palestine capturing the interaction between the general public and the policymakers, surprisingly sans red-tape and ego hassles, as they try together to initiate solutions for the looming water issues. http://www.sapiensproductions.com/news.htm

Film: The Never Never Water Dir: Allessandra Speciale Dur: 15min The "water lords" have arrived in the Sahell. In Ougadougou, Burkina Faso, the search for water has always been an exhausting chore. In addition to the shortage of water there is now also the threat of privatization. In this period of drought, people crowd around the wells, waiting hours to fill a few buckets. Midway between reportage and narrative story-telling, this documentary tells the story of Moussa, an itinerant water seller in the suburbs of the capital. It is a mesmerizing and paced tale of water justice at a very personal level.

WATER VOICES: 7.00pm to 7.30pm Chattar Singh knows the tradition, history and development of each of the water structures in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. How and why is a tanka built? What are naadis? What are beris? How does society decide wher a water harvesting structure should be? How can malaria be detected and remedied? Chattar Singh is the water bard of Jaisalmer

SESSION 5: 7.30pm to 9.00pm

Film: Erosion Dir: Sourav Sarangi Dur: 60mins Erosion is a powerful document of the vicious circle of human tragedy allowed to perpetuate by a callous and greedy government. Every year, the banks of the Ganga and the Padma overflow in the Malda and Murshidabad districts in West Bengal disrupting the life and livelihoods of thousands while concerned authorities only add to their tragedy for monetary and political gain. Erosion is a stirring account of the pains and penury, the anger and resoluteness of the sufferers of erosion. Director Sourav Sarangi and scholars and activists of the grassroots’ movement will be present at the screening for an interactive session with the audience.

Film: Let’s not disturb the water Dir: Bijan Zamanpira Dur: 22 mins Another award winning gem from Iran that captures a day in the life of migrant mountain dwellers adapting to a new landscape without disrupting the course of nature. http://www.payvand.com/news/05/jun/1101.html