INSHALLAH, KASHMIR: LIVING TERROR

  

Solaris Pictures presents Friday, December 13, 2013 | 6.00pm Viewer's discretion is advised, as explicit nature of the content may be disturbing.

INSHALLAH, KASHMIR: LIVING TERROR 83 min / India / 2012 Kashmiri, English, Hindi, Urdu with English subtitles Dir: Ashvin Kumar

Synopsis Winner of the National Award 2012 for Best Investigating Film, this documentary is an unflinching account of the conflict recounted as personal history, and that of present-day Kashmir. With the series of counterpointed testimonies, the heartbreaking coming-of-age of a people brutalized by two decades of militancy and its terrible response, the film reflects many faces of the troubled region of Kashmir. One of those rare documentaries in which Kashmiris openly recount how their freedom is conceded and replaced by fear and institutionalized oppression.

Festivals & Awards Winner – Silver Lotus, National Award 2012 for Best Investigative Film Citation: "...for unflinchingly and boldly stepping into unearthing the truth about Kashmir. A passionate inquiry connecting with the people, discovering what is called ‘Kashmiriyat’ and at the same time exposing the role of the state, police and army in alienating them from India." Document 10 Intl Human Rights Documentary Film Festival, Glasgow, Scotland, 2012

Director’s Statement “I made this film to throw light on the deep distrust and misconception of the Kashmiri and his aspirations for self-governance, as well as highlight the unacceptable, institutional abuse of individual human rights in the valley. The film questions the legitimacy and human cost of sustaining India’s occupation of Kashmir for over two decades and it does so through the telling of stories of terror and fear that haunt ordinary Kashmiri folk. The testimonies in this film are those that the mainstream media keeps away from its audiences in India. Till we Indians understand and acknowledge the pain and suffering of our Kashmiri brethren, and what is happening in the name of India in Kashmir, no solution can ever be found. We need to evolve a new idiom based on the reality of what has happened in the past twenty five years. I hope Inshallah, Kashmir provides one such reference point.” - Ashvin Kumar

Director’s Bio One of the youngest Indian filmmakers to have an Academy Award, Oscar® nomination, Ashvin was also nominated by the European Film Academy for Little Terrorist (130 film festivals, won awards in 25 of them, including BAFTA/LA). His feature documentary, Inshallah Football was awarded the National Award, India’s highest award for cinematic achievement, 2012; awardee of the Asian Cinema Fund grant, Pusan, special jury mention, Dubai; Silver Conch, Mumbai and several other awards and festival selections. Its sequel, feature documentary Inshallah, Kashmir won the National Award again in the next year, 2013 for best investigative film. Presently developing Noor, an international film about a little girl’s journey to locate her ‘disappeared’ father in Kashmir, a web series about Delhi University, Indian pop culture and aspirations of its middle classes. His other films include Road To Ladakh with Irrfan Khan, a children's drama Dazed in Doon and animal thriller, The Forest which was filmed in the jungles of India. Ashvin’s dream is to introduce filmmaking as a subject into high schools all over India. He lobbies the Indian government via www.change.org/saveindecinema to recognize cinema as an art and cultural form. He is also a voting member of the European Film Academy.

Links http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2255851/ www.facebook.com/inshallahkashmir

FREE ENTRY. REGISTRATION AT VENUE Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis Alliance Française de Bombay 40, Theosophy Hall, 1st Cross Lane, New Marine Lines, Mumbai 400020 Ph: 022 2203 5993 Website: http://flashpointfilmfestival.blogspot.in Facebook: http://facebook.com/FlashpointHRFF Twitter: http://twitter.com/FlashpointHRFF