India Through Cinema - Film Festival presented by Dr. Harsh Mander
Dr Harsh Mander will be curating a Film Festival at the Department of Political Science, South Asia Institute, in conjunction with his block seminar “India Through Cinema: Fractured Freedoms Through the Lens of South Asian Cinema Classics– Social Justice and Cinema: Epistemologies of Empathy” in the Winter Semester 2024-25. The Film Festival, taking place from 18-20 October 2024, is open to not just participants of the course but also other students, faculty, and the general public, and seeks to create a space to collectively watch some of these films. Each film will commence with a brief introduction to its social and human narratives, and also its aesthetics. The films, reflecting on the lived experiences of the most oppressed and marginalised people of India and their experiences of the state, are meant to help discover empathy. The films cover a range of vulnerable groups and themes, and include both vintage classics and more recent films that challenge the mind, heart, and conscience. All students, faculty, and anyone from outside the SAI interested in joining are wholeheartedly welcome.
For a list of the films being shown please see the day-by-day schedule of the film festival.
Dr Harsh Mander is involved in different initiatives related to human rights. From the autumn of 2017 he established and led the important national initiative which he called the Karwan-e-Mohabbat (www.karwanemohabbat.in). Literally, the Caravan of Love, the initiative tries to counter rising hate and fear in the country, but not with hate; instead with love and solidarity. The Karwan visits the families of those who lost loved ones to hate violence and lynching, for atonement, solidarity, healing, conscience and justice, and to promote goodwill and trust between
communities. Dr Mander was shortlisted for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022 and is the Chairperson of the Centre for Equity Studies, Delhi.
