Watermans is hosting a weekend of South Asian film in honour of 'people's filmmaker' Saeed Akhtar Mirza.
The 5 th Annual South Asian Cinema Foundation (SACF) presents Bollywood:The Flipside at the Brentford theatre from Friday 7 November – Monday 10 November.
Mirza, 65, is seen as a pioneeer of New Wave progressive cinema in India, focussing on ordinary people and minority communities in India as they struggle to make ends meet and live gruelling lives.
Educated at the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, Mirza began by making realistic documentaries, and went on to make his first feature, Arvind Desai Ki Ajeeb Dastan, (The Strange Fate of Arvind Desai) in1978, winning the Filmfare Critics Award for ‘Best Movie’ in 1979.
In 2008, he wrote his first novel, Ammi: Letters to a Democratic Mother, where he is writing to his departed mother, and in one section he talks about his films: “The films were made on shoestring budgets, shoot on real locations in homes, offices and on the streets of the city of Bombay and each shooting experience was an adventure……. The stories and locations where I set my films I was able to get in touch with a large number of people who one would call the ‘marginalised’ of society.”
Mirza, is part of a group of film-makers including Shyam Benegal, Adoor Gopalakrishnan and Girish Karnad who make up the “Parallel” or “New Wave Cinema” school of film making, characterized by naturalism, gritty social-realism rather than the glamour and escapism of popular Hindi cinema,
FESTIVAL PROGRAMME LISTINGS INFORMATION
LECTURES & WORKSHOPS
Friday, November 7 @ 6.30pm
Nehru Centre, 8 South Audley Street, London W1K 1HF
Free event – RSVP essential email: info@southasiancinema.com
Saeed Akhtar Mirza in conversation with film historian Lalit Mohan Joshi: Chair Derek Malcolm and launch of South Asian Cinema journal special issue: “Leftist thought in Indian Cinema”.
Saturday, November 8 – 11am – 5pm
Interactive Workshop on Screenplay Writing with Saeed
Chair: Professor Rachel Dwyer
SOAS, Russell Square – University of London
Room 116, Thornhaugh Street, London WC1H OXG
Fee: £10 (including tea & lunch).
To book contact: info@southasiancinema.com or 020 8230 5765
Monday, November 10, 6.00 – 8pm
University of Westminster – Phalke Memorial Lecture by Saeed Akhtar Mirza followed by Panel discussion with Prof. Daya Thussu, Dr. Rosie Thomas & Dr. Dibyesh Anand
Chair - Derek Malcolm
Fyvie Hall, 309 Regent Street, London W1B 2UW
Free event -- To attend please email: info@southasiancinema.com or 020 8230 5765
SCREENINGS
Watermans Cinema
40 High Street, London TW8 ODS www.watermans.org.uk
Box Office: 020 8232 1010 Open 7 days 12pm – 9pm
Tickets: £7.50 (£6.50 conc.)
Saturday November 8, 8pm (160 mins)
Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Ata Hai (What Makes Albert Pinto Angry)
Starring: Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi, Smita Patil & Om Puri
Set in the Catholic milieu of Bombay, this is a tale about a flashy young Goan, who works as a motor mechanic, and dreams of driving his client’s cars, until he gets a political awakening!
Sunday November 9, 5.30pm (90 mins)
Naseem
Starring: Kaifi Azmi, Mayuri Kango & Kulbhushan Kharbanda
The film shows the impact of the destruction of the Babri Masjid (1992), Ayodhya, North India on a Muslim teenager and her friends
Followed by Q&A with director.
Monday, November 10, 8pm (130 mins)
Mohan Joshi Hazir Ho! (A Summons for Mohan Joshi)
Starring: Bhisham Sahni, Naseeruddin Shah, Deepti Naval, Rohini Hattangadi & Amjad Khan
The main protagonist is a retired clerk, who lives with his wife in a crumbling tenement. One day, he decides to sue the landlord with dramatic results! The film is a parody that explores the lack of decent housing in Bombay
Tuesday, November 11, 8pm (114 mins)
Salim Landge Pe Mat Ro (Don’t Cry for Salim, the Lame)
Starring: Pavan Malhotra, Makarand Deshpande, Ashutosh Gowarikar & Neelima Azim
Salim, a young man is trying to find his identity in a confusing world. His role models are successful smugglers and profiteers but he wants to turn over a new leaf. This is the tale of what its like to be a Muslim in a working class Bombay neighbourhood, controlled by criminals.
