MUMBAI: The 5th Tri Continental Film Festival 2009 will open in Delhi on 15 January and will be inaugurated by actor and social activist Nandita Das.
The Tri Continental Film Festival which began in Latin America in 2002 made it’s entry into India in 2004.
At the festival, documentary films will be screened at the India Habitat Centre and the Alliance Francaise de Delhi till the 18th. The festival will then travel to Mumbai, Goa, Bangalore and Kolkata.
This year they will showcase 28 films from more than 20 countries. There are 11 Asia premieres, 8 India premieres and one World premiere.
The four sections in the festival this year are:
Body · Public –Six films from five countries. Four are from India and two co-productions from Spain/South Africa and Canada/Iran. The films explore the engagements of the human body with the public space.
Not All in Good Faith – Seven films from nine countries probe and bring to the forefront the indignity and exploitation rendered by neo-liberal development ventures and businesses across the globe.
The Line That Defines – Dwelling on the post-modern subject of border crossing this section comprises of four films from five countries. In different ways, the films trace the role of the political border in the making of a refugee, an exile or an illegal immigrant.
Zones of War – Any area marked by extreme violence can be broadly termed as a war zone. Eleven films from nine countries explore these zones of violence and aggression in various historical and contemporary circumstances around the world.
This year the five-member jury comprises Aruna Vasudev (India), Nick Deocampo (The Philippines), Madhusree Dutta (India), Amir Muhammad (Malaysia) and Anurag Kashyap (India). They decide the winners of the prestigious Jury Award for Best Film and the Jury Special Mention Award.
The Tri Continental Film Festival began in Latin America in 2002, in Africa in 2003 and in Asia in 2004. It has become the primary platform for human rights cinema for the three continents that form part of the global South. In India, the Tri Continental began in 2004.
"This years selection of 28 films from more than 20 countries not just represent these protagonists but also gives them a voice that we are sure will resonate with our own circumstances close to home" says festival associate director Alika Khosla.
"These films open up a world which many of us didn’t realize exists. I have suggested that we will support this kind of festival so that people continue to make issue based films. And I do hope in time many people would like to come here," said, Delhi chief minister Shiela Dixit.
