FILM CLUB SCREENING - MindReels… Films on mental health to mark World Mental Health Week. There Is Something In The Air (Hindustani with English subtitles/28mins/2011) Dir.Iram Gurfam This documentary is a series of dream narratives, and accounts of spiritual possession as experienced by women ‘petitioners’ at the shrine of a Sufi saint in north India. The film invites the viewer to a world of dream and fantasy. Fear and desire is experienced through dreams and ‘afflictions of air’. The shrine is a space where performance becomes the only rule of engagement, and one can begin to think of the possibilities that ‘insanity’ produces. Collab: Kriti Team

Eyes of Stone (Mewari/Hindi with English subtitles/90mins/1990) Dir. Nilita Vachani A film about rural women in Bhilwara, Rajasthan and their rituals of possession and exorcism: expressions of faith, rebellion and healing that thrive within the confines of a stringent patriarchal order. The film is a deep and unsettling exploration of one case of possession, which taken to its logical conclusion, becomes an eloquent testimony to the strengths and sadness and indeed the subversions in women’s' lives. Collab: Kriti Team

DOC FILM - Episode (25mins) Watch the Bedi Brothers fly over the Corbett National Park, home to tigers, elephants and other wild animals. Taking off from the banks of Ramganga River, famous for Mahsheer, Otters, Gharials and muggers, the Bedi Brother follow dangerously close on the heels of a Tusker and month old tiger cubs accompanying their mother. Film maker Naresh Bedi will be present for an interaction.

DOC FILM - Cherub Of The Mist (53mins) The film unravels the story of the rare 'fire cat'- or Red Panda. Following two zoo bred pandas, Mini and Sweety, as they become the first ever released into the wilds of the Singalila National Park, the lens focuses on their forbidding mountain habitat in the eastern Himalayas, where the red panda fights a lonely battle for survival. Film maker Naresh Bedi will be present for an interaction

FILM CLUB SCREENING - MindReels… Films on mental health continue. Avinash Grows Up (5mins) Dir.Kareem Khan. Exploring Madness (Hindi with English Subtitles/19mins) Dir.Pervez Imam. Mental illnesses are one of the least understood problems in India. Myths and stigma add to the problems of people suffering from such illnesses. On the other hand, there are issues of lack of infrastructure to treat mental illnesses properly. This film brings together a variety of such issues related to mental illness in the Indian society. The film has six parts, each dealing with a different issue, ranging from people’s perceptions of mental illness to debates among professionals and from the problems of women languishing in mental hospitals to experiences of those who have recovered. Screenings will conclude with an interactive session between film makers, protagonists and audience on film making on mental health. Collab: Kriti Film Club

FILM CLUB SCREENING - MindReels… Films on mental health continue. Understanding Schizophrenia... The Unreal Reality (English/16mins) Dir.Syed Amjad Ali. The film is an engaging and informative documentary that captures and demonstrates the difficulties related to Schizophrenia. A Drop of Sunshine (English/35mins) Dir.Aparna Sanyal. The film takes us through the story of Reshma Valliappan, a 30-year old Indian woman, and charts out her journey of eventual triumph over her condition. It takes a controversial and contrarian view towards recovery from Schizophrenia, proposing that the only treatment method that can work in the condition is one where the so-called ‘patient’ is encouraged and empowered to become an equal partner in the process of healing. Collab: Kriti Film Club

DOC FILM - MindReels…films on mental health continues. In And Out of Depression - Into the Abyss (English/30mins) Dir.Vandana Kohli A look at the growing incidence of depression in Delhi including dramatised sequences of a 24 year old management executive's state of mind, even as the disorder begins to set in. A Certain Liberation (English/38mins/2003) Dir. Yasmine Kabir. Bangladesh Gurudasi Mondol gave herself up to madness in 1971, during the Liberation War of Bangladesh, as she watched her entire family being killed by the collaborators of the occupying forces. Thirty years later, Gurudasi continues to roam the streets of Kopilmoni, a small-town in rural Bangladesh, in quest of all she has lost; snatching at will from strangers and breaking into spaces normally reserved for men. In her madness, she has found a strategy for survival. In Kopilmoni, Gurudasi has attained near legendary status. Through her indomitable presence, she has kept alive the spirit of the Liberation War. The screenings conclude with a presentation: Expert voices and strategies to deal with Mental Illness. Collab: Kriti Film Club

FILM CLUB SCREENING - Short Film Festival. A showcasing of critically acclaimed short films from across the world Collab: Shamiana

FILM CLUB DISCUSSION - GROUP meets to discuss Margam (The Path) (Malayalam/2003) co-written, dir & prod. Rajiv Vijayaraghavan. Based on a short story by M Sukumaran, the film tells the story of a revolutionary who, years later, realizes that his efforts have been wasted and witnesses the ill-fate of his co-rebels and leads a secluded life in a state of clinical depression.Winner of seven Kerala State Film Awards and one National Film Award. Film scholar V. Sanil will introduce the film and facilitate the discussion.

FILM CLUB SCREENING - Teen Behnein Dir. Kundan Shah. Chief Asso. Dir.  Shekhar Hattangadi. There are many tragic news stories of multiple suicides of three/four sisters in India due to dowry. This film makes three such sisters its protagonists. The film opens with them about to commit the act when they are interrupted and forced to postpone their deaths. What happens in this gratuitous period of six hours is the subject matter of the film. Without any flashbacks, the film brings out the essence of their lives which has led them to this decision. It explores all their joys and sorrows, and mainly, their zest for life even when death is virtually knocking at their door. They shouldn’t have died. None of these girls should have ever died. How these tragedies can be avoided is the hope and the vision of this film. The screening will be followed by an interaction with Shekhar Hattangadi