Striving for peaceful understanding

The first of the city's endless film fests, this one at Christ University, is the perfect way to begin it all hoping for solutions towards peace

It's been a while since Bangalore saw a decent film festival, but the annual season is finally here, and the first one to start off this period of pure cinema indulgence is this themed plethora at Christ University.

The institution has always been in the news for film festivals that often more than not represent society as it grows and evolves.

With changing times however, classics such as Bellitere the annual Kannada film festival, have disappeared, but newer ones have come to take their place.

Terrorism, wars, women issues that seem to see no hope of ever ending and victims of disasters ripped apart due to political and natural disasters.
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This is everyday life and the blunt reality for half the world's population and this year, Christ University decides to represent this unavoidable truth through hard-hitting portrayals as captured on film.

Fictional, semi-fictional, recreated and documented, these stories will act as perfect mediums for anyone who cares to view them and will be the perfect preparation for the upcoming conference on Peace and Conflict Resolution A Search through Dialogue, at the university.

"We wanted to connect films and psychology and the aim is to use these films like a text to understand human behaviour and psyche," said Baiju Gopal, coordinator of the festival. "These films show us what people face in their day to day lives, and sometimes reality perceived can be the biggest influence on a human beings mind," he adds.

Each film will be followed by a discussion moderated by faculty members from the university including stalwarts in the field like Anil Pinto, Anirban Sengupta and Siddarth Pillai.

The festival will be held simultaneously at three venues across the campus, which will be three rooms in the PU Block, specially chosen for the screenings. The schedule follows:

Dead man walking

Sister Helen visits Matthew Poncelet, a death row inmate for filing a brief. He denies his responsibility for the murder of a teenage couple. However, the story changes its course through the trial and he dies offering an apology to the victims' families.

At: Auditorium 1,Room 109, PU Block
9.15 11.45 am
Director: Tim Robbins
Duration: 122 minutes
Discussant: Sharon Lopez

Full Metal Jacket
This is a two-segmented story portraying the lives of young men training as Marine Corps during the Vietnam War. Through the experiences of Pyle, it shows the hardships, suffering and terror inflicted upon the community and the individuals involved.

At: Auditorium 2,
Room 108, PU Block
9.15 11.35 am
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Duration: 116 minutes
Discussant: Aravind
Radhakrishnan

Paradise Now
A story on how two Palestinian men spend the last 48 hours in their lives. They pass time drinking tea and smoking a hookah against the backdrop of crushing poverty and rocket blasts. Ironic yet strangely beautiful, the film is a tribute to the Palestinian spirit.

At: Auditorium 3,
Room P 11, PU Block
9.15 11.15 am
Director: Hany Abu Assad
Duration: 90 minutes
Discussant: Diptarup
Chowdhury

West Bank Story
An ironic musical comedy that plays out the love story between David, an Israeli soldier and Fatima, a Palestinian fast food cashier. The narrative also shows them disregarding the animosity between their families in the West Bank, and in that, a seed of hope is planted.

At: Auditorium 1
12 1:15 pm
Director: Ari Sandel
Duration: 21 minutes
Discussant: Padmakumar

First lesson in Peace
This Hebrew film exploring the Jewish Arab conflict through the eyes and experiences of a six-year-old girl is a story that also narrates the effects of a long conflict between the two cultures and how it leads to a frantic desire for a lasting and honest solution.

At: Auditorium 2
11.50 1:15 pm
Director: Yoram Honig
Duration: 56 minutes
Discussant: Anirban
Sengupta

Pray the devil back to Hell
A band of Liberian women take on the violent warlords in the country and the corrupt leader, Charles Taylor. A heartening story that narrates the real-life tale of how these women put an end to all the political discontent and established peace in their country.

At: Auditorium 3
11.30u00a01.15 pm
Director: Gini Reticker
Duration: 72 mins
Discussant: Sindhuja
Iyengar

Under the Bombs
In the summer of 2006, Lebanon is bombed relentlessly for 34 days in a row. The film shows how a woman with a randomly-met taxi driver searches for her missing son amidst the ravages of war.

At: Auditorium 1
2.15 4.15 pm
Director: Philippe Aractingi
Duration: 85 minutes
Discussant: Sidharth Pillai

To disobey
A brave and path-breaking film that narrates the story of a few soldiers, who have enough principles, integrity and courage to defy orders, when they don't agree with them.

At: Auditorium 2
2.15 4.15 pm
Director: Patricio Henru00edquez
Duration: 80 minutes
Discussant: Vikhar Ahamed
Sayeed

Matrubhoomi
The only Indian entry at the festival, the film explores a possible future in India, where women are practically impossible to find. Repeated female infanticide seems to have made the female sex disappear altogether and women are considered a prized possession, yet she is abused, relatively, even more. The film openly deals with how men might opt for various replacements like pornography, homosexuality and even bestiality for sexual release in such time. Grim and eye-opening, the movie is like a warning to every man in India.

At: Auditorium 3
2.15u00a04.15 pm
Director: Manish Jha
Duration: 89 minutes
Discussant: Anil Pinto