Special Punjnad Film Club Screening – Bringing Down a Dictator

Given the prevailing situation in the country – a dictator whom no one wants except Western vested interests – and with the historic Long March coming up, we thought it was high time to link art and activism through a somewhat controversial film, “Bringing Down a Dictator”.

Movie: Bringing Down A Dictator
Venue: The Club
When: 5:00 PM, Saturday, June 7, 2008
Running Time: 56 mins
Link to website: http://www.aforcemorepowerful.org/films/bdd/

The official synopsis is given below:

Synopsis

Bringing Down A Dictator documents the spectacular defeat of Slobodan Milosevic in October, 2000, not by force of arms, as many had predicted, but by an ingenious non-violent strategy of honest elections and massive civil disobedience.

Milosevic was strengthened by patriotic fervor when NATO bombed Yugoslavia in early 1999, but a few months later, a student movement named Otpor! (“Resistance” in Serbian) launched a surprising offensive. Audaciously demanding the removal of Milosevic, they recruited where discontent was strongest, in the Serbian heartland.

Their weapons were rock concerts and ridicule, the internet and email, spray-painted slogans and a willingness to be arrested. Otpor students became the shock troops in an army of human rights, pro-democracy, anti-war, women’s groups, and opposition political parties. Their slogan: “He’s Finished!”

Trained in non-violent action and partially financed by the US and western Europe, they forged a unified political opposition, fought to stop vote fraud, and systematically undermined police and army loyalty. When Milosevic refused to accept defeat at the polls, the opposition called a general strike. As normal life ground to a halt, Serbs by the hundreds of thousands poured into the capital on October 5 to seize the Federal Parliament in a dramatic triumph for democracy. The one-hour documentary is narrated by Martin Sheen.

However, let us be clear that we neither advocate nor solicit funding from foreign governments or parties or agencies of any sort. Quite to the contrary, we actively reject any such initiatives as being in contradiction to one of our major arguments against the current usurper of the Army House and the Presidential Palace: the sale of Pakistani sovereignty and honour to the highest bidder.

What we find interesting about this film, and the motivation for screening it at this juncture, is:

1. the high degree of creativeity and the sheer audacity of the students and young people involved in Otpor, and,
2. the culmination of the movement in a massive march on the capital that leads to the downfall of the regime.

In This World, Friday April 18, 2008

This weekend, we’re screening In this World, directed by Michael Winterbottom.  This film won the 2004 BAFTA Film Award, the 2003 Berlin Film Festival Award, the 2003 British Independent Film Award, the 2004 Directors’ Guild of Great Britain and was nominated for the European Film Awards.

“Shot over five months in 2002, Michael Winterbottom’s In This World starts out as a documentary about the plight of Pakistani immigrants that travel by land to London in search of a better life, then quickly morphs into something more interesting. Telling a fictionalized story about real-life, teenage refugee camp inhabitants Jamal and Enayat, the movie opens with a voiceover explanation of conditions of the camp where they live and of the realities of the people-smuggling trade. There are less than five minutes of this narration, however, before the movie launches into the expansive tale of their journey to escape poverty. As they travel from city to city, by bus, foot, and boat, a 3D world map charts their progress, Indiana Jones-style.” – Jeremy Heilman

The Director
Michael Winterbottom 
Born in March 29, 1961 in England, Michael Winterbottom is a prolific British filmmaker who has directed fifteen films in the past twelve years. He began his career working in British television before moving into features.

His working style is more often to make actors improvise, rather than work exclusively from the script.

Show Information:
Date: Friday, April 18, 2008
Time: 7:00 PM

Date: Sunday, April 20, 2008
Time: 5:00 PM

Venue:
Punjab Lok Rahs
Flat # 8, Third Floor, RB1, Awami Complex
Garden Town Lahore.
042 5940166, 0333 4320802

Salam Bombay!

 

This weekend, we’re showing the long-awaited Mira Nair masterpiece “Salam Bombay!“. Created in 1988, this film is among three Indian films (Mother India, Salam Bombay and Lagaan) that have made it to the final five nominees at the Oscars.

Mira worked with “real” street children in this film. Long before the shooting started, she was in Bombay doing theater workshops and short performance with street kids as a part of her auditions for the film. The real life characters portrayed by the kids in this film are astonishing.

This film was nominated for Oscars and BAFTA awards, but won several others including Cannes, Cesar, Filmfare, Golden Globes, Montreal World Film Festival and National Film Awards India.

The Director: Mira Nair
One of the most successful Indian directors of her generation, Mira Nair started off making documentaries on the streets of Delhi before turning to feature films such as Salaam Bombay and Mississipi Masala.

She was educated at Delhi University and Harvard University.

=====================================================

For the time being, each film will be screened twice, on Friday and on Sunday, mainly to accommodate working people.

So, the second screening of this film will be held on Sunday 13th April, 2008 at 5 PM.

=====================================================

Awami Complex? Where’s that?!