Intensive Workshops in Filmmaking

LEARN FILMMAKING HANDS-ON
Script • Shoot • Edit • Learn to make your own films


INTENSIVE PROGRAMMES IN FILMMAKING
Starting mid-May and mid-September. Held in Delhi. Regn opens 23 March.

PRIOR EXPERIENCE NOT REQUIRED
WEEKEND OPTIONS FOR WORKING PEOPLE


THE PROGRAMMES ARE:

• The Basic Workshop
( 250+ hrs; full-time programme; mid-May to mid-July)
Introduces participants to the basics of directing, camera, sound and editing. Along with practical training, participants script, storyboard, shoot and edit simple films. Filmmakers guide and mentor the entire process.
Suitable for beginners, esp students.
Admissions closed; will reopen in March 2010.

• Intensive Programme in Documentary
(400+ hrs; largely weekends based; Sep 2009 - Feb 2010)
Helps participants to conceive, direct, shoot and edit short documentaries. Filmmakers mentor the whole process while participants research, script and shoot the docs; followed by editing and extensive post production. Includes practical exercises in shooting people and events; interview skills; sessions in lighting; and sessions on understanding documentaries.
Suitable for beginners. Admissions are currently OPEN.
Application Deadline: 15th August 2009

• Intensive Programme in Fiction
(400+ hrs; weekends based; Sep 2009 - Feb 2010)
Helps participants conceptualise, script, shoot and complete a short fiction film. In the process, they work on aspects of the director's craft - like scriptwriting; shot-taking; narrative construction; storyboarding; etc. Participants also acquire practical skills in camerawork, sound and light basics, NLE editing... Highlights include special sessions in scriptwriting. All the films are mentored by filmmakers at each stage.
Suitable for beginners. Admissions are currently OPEN.
Application Deadline 15th Aug 2009.


These programmes for anyone who'd like to make a film, but doesn't quite know how...

They are not only for students, but also for people testing the waters... for people who work full-time and need weekend options... for NGOs that have video shooting needs... for arts practitioners... and others who are simply passionate about films and filmmaking.

Age is not a restriction. We're open to anyone 17 and upwards.


CONDUCTED BY:
The programmes are principally conducted by Kavita Joshi, an independent filmmaker based in Delhi and an alumnus of FTII Pune. Other filmmakers also provide specialised inputs and training.

LOGISTICS
• Classes are held in South Delhi (near AIIMS)
• Group size is small, from 12 - 16 people.

THE CONTENTS, DURATION AND FEES OF EACH PROGRAMME ARE DIFFERENT.
For details, write to: impulsemail AT gmail DOT com
In the mail, let us know which programme interests you. Do include your
- full name and city
- occupation/organisation,
- a back-up email id and contact nos.
It helps a lot if you tell us a bit about yourself.

--

WHAT PARTICIPANTS SAY

SEE WORKSHOP PHOTOS IN THE RIGHT SIDEBAR

ALL PROGRAMMES AND WORKSHOPS SO FAR

VIEW FILMS BY KAVITA JOSHI IN THE RIGHT SIDEBAR

Workshop film wins an award!

"Tarav...To Return"
wins the 2nd Prize at the Amity Engineering Short Film Festival

Made by participants of the Intensive Summer Workshop 2007, Tarav is a testimonial of a Kashmiri Pandit woman living in Delhi with her family, which had fled their village in the Kashmir valley when she was just a child. Tarav is an expression of her longing and of her dream to return to a home that now exists only in her memories.
[11 minutes / 2007 / DV]

The film has been researched, shot and directed by
Astik Sinha * Bhaskar Pant * Sudarshan Aravamudhan * Abhishek Chaudhry
as their final film in the workshop 2007

Other films made in the programmes include:

RANG (2004)
Shot at the dargah of hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, Rang is a portrait of faith at a shrine that has long stood for India's syncretic traditions.
TASAVVUR (2004)
Steeped in memory and nostalgia, Tasavvur captures a woman's longing to return to the past of her childhood days.
A DAY IN GADODIA MARKET (2005)
A day in Delhi's busy "mirchi bazaar" - labourers... the rhythms of morning, noon, dusk and night... observations - in a busy spice market.
BASANTI (2006)
A cleaning-woman makes her own choices and lives her life as she sees fit; in the process questioning notions of status, class, education and gender.
EXILE (2006)
A poetic, very personal portait of the Tibetan community living in exile at Majnoon ka Tila, Delhi
UMANGEIN (2007)
At Kutumb, exposure, education and the 'space' to explore helps under-previleged children carve out a better future for themselves.
IN COMPANY OF FRIENDS (2008)
Friendicoes runs a popular animal shelter in Delhi. So how do they do it? A "must-watch" for all animal lovers.
6 AM (2008)
A man wakes up and goes for a morning walk. Or does he? and is he still alive? A short fiction film.
ASHA (2008)
A little girl loves to dance - as many little girls do. A film on childhood.
GHEVRA (2008)
Somewhere on the margins of the big city, a man who leads a cushy life makes a momentary contact with a man who lives on the street. But are their lives "connected"? A film on urban living and "India Shining".

Tales from the Margins (short documentary): information

a film by Kavita Joshi
[Short Documentary; 23 min; colour; Manipuri with English subtitles; India; 2006]



Twelve women disrobe publicly on the streets of Manipur, in protest… For over 6 years a young woman has been on a fast-to-death demanding justice; she is kept under arrest and is forcibly nose-fed. Why are the women of Manipur using their bodies as their battlefield?

Manipur is a state in India’s North-East region, riven for decades by insurgency and violence. The Indian government has attempted to crush the insurgency through its military might; shielded by by undemocratic laws. Yet, little is heard about Manipur and its troubles across the nation’s landscape. This is a place that mainland India has marginalised; that the world has forgotten.

‘Tales from the Margins’ travels to this remote, strife-torn corner of India to document the extraordinary protests of Manipuri women for justice. And through their lives, to focus on a vast human tragedy.

FOR COPIES / ENQUIRIES, CONTACT: kj.impulse (at) gmail.com
TO DOWNLOAD A PRESS KIT: see side bar on the right

FESTIVALS AND AWARDS:
§ Best Documentary, YNW Film Festival 2008, Srilanka
§ Jury Prize, Docudays Human Rights Film Festival, Ukraine
§ Special Jury Mention, Festival Medias Nord Sud 2007 Geneva
§ Silver Remi, World Fest Houston 2007
§ Citation for Film on Human Rights, 19th UGC CEC awards
§ Technical Excellence in Audiowork, 19th UGC CEC awards

also:
Asian Hotshots 2008 Berlin
50th DOK Leipzig 2007
South Asian Visual Arts Collective, Toronto
22nd DOK.Fest Munich 2007
International Museum of Women, California
Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) 2008
L’Alternativa Barcelona 2007
Film South Asia 2007, Kathmandu
Docs DF 2007, Mexico
Mad Cat San Francisco 2007
DC Meets Delhi Washington DC
Open Frame 2007 Delhi (UNESCO Package)
VIBGYOR 2007, Thrissur
Festival Dei Popoli, Florence 2006
Marupakkam Madurai 2006
IAWRT Asian Women’s Film Festival 2007 Delhi; Ahmedabad; Pune
World Social Forum India 2006

KEY TEAM:
Director and Producer: Kavita Joshi ; Camera: Sunayana Singh ; Sound: Asheesh Pandya ; Editing: Mahadeb Shi.

The filmmakers thank IAWRT, NRK Norway, NIPCO Manipur, Jai Chandiram, Ima Gyaneshwari Devi and K. Sunil for their unstinting support.

READ ALL POSTS ABOUT TALES FROM THE MARGINS ON THIS BLOG, HERE

Best Documentary award for Tales from the Margins; and other screenings

Tales from the Margins wins the
Best Documentary award at the
YNW Film Festival 2008, Sri Lanka

The festival was held at Maharagama, Sri Lanka from 26th to 30th Dec 2008.
The jury was headed by noted filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan.


~RECENT SCREENINGS~

Madhya Pradesh Mahila Manch Presents
Mahila Matinee - A Festival of Films Made by Women

Tales From the Margins shows on
1st Feb 09 at about 3:15 PM
Venue: Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal

more information on the festival is at
http://chandni.posterous.com/film-fest-in-bhopal-jan-31-feb

~*~

Jaipur Forum, of the International North South Media Forum,
celebrating the 60th Jubilee of the Indo-Swiss Friendship Treaty

Tales from the Margins is screening at
20th nov 2008 5 pm; at The Jawahar Kala Kendra, Jaiput

more info:
http://www.nordsud.ch/english/programme.html

~*~

Amsterdam India Festival 2008: India Express
Voices from the Fringe films package

Tales from the Margins is showing at
16th nov Sunday 4 pm
at the De Balie, Amsterdam

more: http://nandinibedi.com/test3/?p=111

~*~

14th Kolkata Film Festival
The Short Film Centre presents

Tales from the Margins
on 13th Nov 2008 at 3 pm approx
at the Bangla Akademi Auditorium, Kolkata

------------------------------

Tales from the Margins awarded at Docudays Ukraine

Tales from the Margins recently won the Jury Prize at the Human Rights competition, Docudays Ukraine.

This is the 5th award that the film has won, after the Silver remi at WorldFest Houston 2007, the Special Jury Mention at the Medias Nord Sud Geneva 2007, and two awards by UGC CEC India.

EXCERPT FROM THE DOCUDAYS WEBSITE
head of the jury of Human Rights competition Alla Tytyunnyk
Prize of the jury of Human Rights competition
Film “Tales from the Margins”, director Kavita Joshi
“for not accepting violence”

original posting by Docudays Ukraine is here

The Doctor, The State, And A Sinister Case

"The Doctor, The State, And A Sinister Case"
The untenable imprisonment and victimisation of Dr Binayak Sen, a heroic humanitarian from Chhattisgarh, exposes Indian democracy as increasingly hollow, says SHOMA CHAUDHURY.

FAR AWAY from the glittering salons of Bombay and Delhi, away from its obsessions with booming malls and plummeting stocks, a good man waits in jail. He’s been in for nine months. But it is unlikely that the story of Dr Binayak Sen would have caught your attention. He’s been written about in bits. Some channels have covered him. But even though he is a mesmeric character — intense, articulate, idealistic, a man of privilege who seeks nothing for himself — and his imprisonment is a scandal that should shame any civilised society, for the most part, news of him here has been overwhelmed by hotter media preoccupations. Lead India competitions. And polls on who should be awarded Indian of the Year. Shah Rukh, Manmohan, or Vijay Mallya? Men like Dr Binayak can wait their turn in jail.

The story of Binayak Sen is the story of the dangerously thin ice India’s democratic rights skim on. The story of every dangerous schism in India today: State versus people. Urban versus rural. Unbridled development versus human need. Blind law versus natural justice. It is the story of an India unraveling at the seams. The story of unjust things that happen — unreported — to thousands of innocent people, the story of unjust things waiting to happen to you and me, if we ever step off the rails of shining India to investigate what’s happening in the rest of the country. Most of all, it is the story of what can be done to ordinary individuals when the State dons the garb of being under siege."

READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE here

READ ABOUT THE FREE BINAYAK SEN CAMPAIGN here

AND here

IROM SHARMILA: The Unlikely Outlaw

THE UNLIKELY OUTLAW

The immensity of Irom Sharmila Chanu's now six-year-old protest is matched only by the paralysing indifference of the State and the national media, says Shoma Chaudhury

An ordinary November evening in Delhi. A slow halting voice breaks into your consciousness. “How shall I explain? It is not a punishment, but my bounden duty…” A haunting phrase in a haunting voice, made slow with pain yet magnetic in its moral force. “My bounden duty.” What can be bounden duty in an India bursting with the excitements of its economic boom?

You are tempted to walk away. You are busy and the voice is not violent in its beckoning. But then an image starts to take shape. A frail, fair woman on a hospital bed. A tousled head of jet black curls. A plastic tube thrust into the nose. Slim, clean hands. Intent, almond eyes. And the halting, haunting voice. Speaking of bounden duty.

That’s when the enormous story of Irom Sharmila begins to seep in. You are in the presence of something historic. Something unparalleled in the history of political protest anywhere in the world ever. Yet you have been oblivious of it. A hundred TV channels. An unprecedented age of media. Yet you are oblivious of it.

Irom Sharmila, 34, has not eaten anything, or drunk a single drop of water for six years. Six years. She has been forcibly kept alive by a drip thrust down her nose by the Indian State. For six years, nothing solid has entered her body. Not a drop of water has touched her lips. She has not combed her hair. She cleans her teeth with dry cotton and her lips with dry spirit so she will not sully her fast. Her body is wasted inside. Her menstrual cycles have stopped. Yet she is resolute. Whenever she can, she removes the tube from her nose. It is her bounden duty, she says, to make her voice heard in “the most reasonable and peaceful way”.

Yet we have remained oblivious to it. The Indian State has remained oblivious to it.
For six years, Irom Sharmila has been protesting the indefensible Armed Forces Special Powers Act (1958) that has been imposed in Manipur and most of the Northeast since 1980. The Act allows the army to use force, shoot, or arrest anyone without warrant, on the mere suspicion that someone has committed or was about to commit a cognisable offence. The Act further prohibits any legal or judicial proceeding against army personnel without the previous sanction of the Central Government.

Draconian in letter, the Act has been even more draconian in spirit. Since it was imposed, by official admission alone, more than 20,000 people have been killed in Manipur. Rather than...

read the rest on the TEHELKA website: page 1 and page 2

IROM SHARMILA: Interview by Kavita Joshi

IROM's IRON IN THE SOUL
Young, stoic and dogged, Irom Sharmila has been on a fast-unto-death since November, 2000. She wants the repressive Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act repealed. The Act gives draconian powers to the security forces and has repeatedly been used with brazen brutality in the Northeast. For five years, she has been imprisoned and force-fed by the State for her ‘crime’. Filmmaker Kavita Joshi spoke to her in the hospital room in Imphal, her prison

An eye: piercing, intent. A nose, covered by a swatch of medical tape, as a yellow tube forces its way in. Lips, stretched tight as if in pain. A woman sits against a bare wall, huddled under a blanket, tightly hugging herself. This is my first impression of Irom Sharmila as I walk to her hospital bed. She is incarcerated at the security ward of JN Hospital in Imphal, Manipur, in custody of the Central Jail, Sajiwa. It takes her immense effort to speak, but she tries her best. “How can I explain? This is not a punishment. It is my bounden duty at my best level.”

Irom Sharmila has not eaten for over five years now. For this, she has been locked up in jail by the government under very dubious charges and is being forcibly nose fed. Since November 2000, Sharmila has been on a fast-unto-death, demanding the removal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act 1958 (AFSPA).

Read the rest of the article and interview on Tehelka here

FIND ALL ARTICLES ON IROM SHARMILA POSTED ON THIS BLOG, HERE

Tales from the Margins shows in Norway

Tales from the Margins
(23 min / short doc / India / 2006)

shows at the Global Investigative Journalism Conference, Lillehammer
on 12th September 2008, 9:00 AM

and at the Freedom House in Oslo
on 16th September 2008, 4:00 PM

read more about the film here

Tales from the Margins: shows at UC Berkeley

Tales from the Margins
(23 min / short doc / India / 2006)

shows on Saturday, September 6th, 4-6 pm
at 110 South Hall, UC Berkeley

as part of the film festival,
Human Rights in South Asia,
organised by AID Berkeley

Even as India celebrates 61 years of freedom from colonial rule, we must remember that the battle for freedom did not end in 1947. Many communities in India, and in the other South Asian countries, continue to struggle for political and economic equality. The films being screened this weekend depict peoples' struggle... Read more