List of Films and Panel Discussions

Dec 12  | 11.00 am

WASTELAND – SO THAT NO ONE BECOMES AWARE OFIT 

Germany, 2013, 79 min | Dir: Anne Kodura

German with English subtitles

About 40,000 refugees, including families with children, live sometimes about more than ten years in camps throughout Germany, very isolated and in poor living conditions. They are only tolerated in their own “homeland” and can be deported at any time. Filmed in luminous black and white, a compelling documentary about refugee children in a German province focused entirely on the way these children see things and how it feels to be a refugee caught between worlds. 

Dec 12  | 12.30 pm

BOTTLE MASALA IN MOILE

India, 2012, 38 min | Dir: Vaidehi Chitre

English, Marathi, Hindi with English subtitles

A collection of individual stories of the descendants of the indigenous population of Mumbai- the East Indian community that is no longer significant to the modern, homogenising narrative of a metropolis. The documentary paints the tensions between traditional livelihoods that depend on terrain and geography, and the advance of urban infrastructure, which values concrete above mangroves, time above space, and access above all.

Dec 12  | 1.15 pm

EVEN A BIRD NEEDS A NEST

France, Cambodia, 2012, 70 min | Dir: Vincent Trintignant-Corneau and Christine Chansou  

Khmer with English subtitles

A group of women in post-communist Cambodia fight an uphill battle against forced evictions.

The government grants land concessions to powerful companies to use for commercial purposes. Some of these lands belong to the people, who facing threats, intimidations, and a corrupt justice system, dare to protect their land at the risk their lives.

Dec 12  | 3.00 pm

NO FIRE ZONE – THE KILLING FIELDS OF SRILANKA

UK, Sri Lanka, 2013, 90 min | Dir: Callum Macrae

English, Sinhala, Tamil with English subtitles

In summer of 2008 the Sri Lankan Government decided to finish the 30-years civil war against Tamil rebels at any cost – which meant: irrespective of the sufferings of the civilian population. The documentary is the culmination of three years of journalistic investigation and deeply disturbing evidence of the century’s worst crime against humanity and of the failure of the international community to prevent this catastrophe.

Dec 12  |  5.00 pm

Panel discussion:

SARHAD– BOUNDARIES AND BARBWIRES

Whether it is between nations, states or around one’s personal homes, boundaries are always thorny issues. What happens when brutal government forces infringe upon one’s personal space, breaking personal boundaries, or conversely when state agencies build boundaries that imprison innocents? 

Dec 12  | 6.00 pm

CAMP 14: TOTAL CONTROL ZONE

Germany, North Korea, 2012, 104 min | Marc Wiese

Korean, English with English subtitles

Born inside a North Korean prison camp as the child of political prisoners, Shin Dong-hyuk was raised in a world where all he knew was punishment, torture and abuse beyond imagination. After more than two decades of imprisonment, Shin escaped the camp in 2005 - but life on the outside proved to have its own challenges. A powerful story of survival and an evocative character study, showing the feelings of guilt, anger, remorse and complicity that are shared between both abused and abusers.

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Dec 13  | 11.00 am

ONE DAY AFTER PEACE

South Africa, Israel, 2012, 86 min | Dir: Miri Laufer and Erez Laufer

English, Hebrew with English subtitles

An Israeli mother's emotional search for reconciliation with the Palestinian sniper who killed her son in an ambush on Israeli police post. Can cooperation and dialogue between victims and perpetrators change both sides' approach to the past and encourage new ways of dealing with an open wound? A thought-provoking journey through South Africa, Israel and Palestine - three lands that have been scorched and burned for generations.

Dec 13  | 12.30 pm

FORBIDDEN VOICES

Switzerland, Cuba, China, Iran, 2012, 96 min | Barbara Miller

English, Spanish, Cantonese, French, Farsi with English subtitles

Their voices are suppressed, prohibited and censored. But influential cyber feminists from Cuba, China and Iran keep blogging about the dictatorial regimes in their countries. Putting their lives at great risk, these fearless women stand for a new, networked generation of modern rebels who use social media like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter as their tools to denounce and combat the violations of human rights and freedom of speech in their countries.

Dec 13  | 3.00 pm

SALMA

UK, India, 2013, 90 min | Kim Longinotto

Tamil with English subtitles

Poignant portrait of well-known Indian Tamil poet Salma. She spent twenty-five years of her life behind closed doors, at first in her elderly home and later in that of her parents-in-law. A fate that is common to many Muslim women around the world. Salma fought back, however, and regained the freedom that had been taken away from her at such a young age.  Master documentarian Kim Longinotto of PINK SARIS fame tells yet another extraordinary story of a woman’s courage and resilience.

Dec 13  |  5.00 pm

Panel discussion:

HIJAB– Women at the Center

In many parts of the world, women are no more the suppressed gender. They have struggled and claimed equality in almost all spheres of society. But in many other parts of the world, where dominant patriarchal societies rule, taboos and social mores have been thrust upon them to make them invisible under a veil of silence. It is in these bastions of male dominance that we hear the rumble of change now - women rising up to protest, agitate to reclaim their voices, bodies and independence. But will misogynists, religious fundamentalists and bigoted governments allow them to break free?

Dec 13  | 6.00 pm

INSHALLAH, KASHMIR: LIVING TERROR

India, 2012, 83 min | Dir: Ashvin Kumar

Kashmiri, English, Hindi, Urdu with English subtitles

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.   

    

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Dec 14  | 11.00 am

REPORTERO   

Mexico, USA, 2012, 72 min | Dir: Bernardo Ruiz

English, Spanish with English subtitles

In Mexico, investigative journalism can be a life-threatening profession. A veteran reporter and his colleagues at an independent newsweekly challenge the powerful drug cartels and corrupt local officials to continue reporting the news – at the risk of their lives.

Dec 14  | 12.30 pm

HIGH TECH, LOW LIFE

China, USA, 2012, 87 min | Dir: Stephen Maing

Mandarin with English subtitles

This documentary follows two bloggers on their journalistic road trips across China. They denounce social abuses using mobile phones, cameras and laptops, with the authorities constantly breathing down their neck.

Dec 14  | 3.00 pm

UNITED IN ANGER

USA, 2012, 93 min | Dir: Jim Hubbard

English

An eye opener documentary combines startling archival footage that puts the audience on the ground with the activists and the remarkably insightful interviews from the ACT UP Oral History Project, to explore how a small group of men and women of all races and classes, came together to change the world and save each other’s lives during the AIDS crisis. 

Dec 14  | 5.00 pm

Panel discussion:

MOHRE– STATE V/S PEOPLE

The constant friction between the governments and people is centuries old – those in power have always exploited the masses. In this chessboard of money and power, people have been the pawn sacrificed. However with low cost technology and global spread of social media, people seem to have found a new weapon to fight the powerbrokers. How effective are these cyber weapons, and can they fight oppression effectively? 

Dec 14  | 6.00 pm

SHAHID

India, 2012, 105 min | Dir: Hansal Mehta

Hindi with English subtitles

True story of slain human rights activist and lawyer Shahid Azmi, an ordinary citizen with an extraordinary commitment to justice. From attempting to become a terrorist to being wrongly imprisoned under a draconian anti-terrorism law to becoming a criminal lawyer Shahid traces the inspiring personal journey of a boy who became an unlikely messiah for human rights while following the rise of communal violence in India.  

Note: Schedule subject to change at the discretion of the organizers

FREE ENTRY. REGISTRATION AT VENUE

Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis

Dates: December 12 – 14, 2013

Timings: 11am to 8pm

Venue: Alliance Française de Bombay

40, Theosophy Hall, 1st Cross Lane, New Marine Lines, Mumbai 400020

Ph: 022 2203 5993

Website: http://flashpointfilmfestival.blogspot.in

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