Films at Other Worlds Are Breathing Culture/Resistance

Itihaas Jitneharuka Laagi History of Winners Nepal, 2003, 67 min Director: Pranay Limbu Director's Contact: rba@infoclub.com.np

An award-winning singer makes a desperate but unsuccessful attempt to make a comeback after being in musical hibernation for seven years. 'Itihaas Jitneharuka Laagi' portrays the changes in the Nepali music scene, as represented by Kuber Rai and Dheeraj Rai. The two singers are a study in contrasts, with their diametrically opposing personalities and attitude towards music. The film invokes a Nepali adage "bolne ko pithobikcha, na bolne ko chaamal pani bikdaina", which suggests that to succeed one has to be a good salesman.

 

Films at Other Worlds Are Breathing Culture/Resistance

Michael Jackson Comes To Manekganj India, 2001, 57 min Director: Nupur Basu Director's Contact: nupur@ndtv.com

Filmed in different regions of South Asia from Peshawar, Pakistan, to Kandy, Sri Lanka, and in remote villages in Bangladesh and Nepal, this film covers the impact of satellite television on the lives, culture and politics of the people over the last ten years. In the film, people from all walks of life describe the dramatic changes brought about in the region by the advent of the dish. Along with featuring the direct impact satellite TV has had on people, the film also takes a wider perspective of the sociological and political implications and potential of this powerful new format.

Films at Other Worlds Are Breathing Culture/Resistance

Planeta Alemania - Observations From Invisibility Germany, 1999, 40 min Director: Dogfilm and Campañeras Producer: Dogfilm, on behalf of ZDF/ARTE Director's Contact: PScheffner@t-online.de/merlekroeger@snafu.de/info@pong-berlin.de

'Planeta Alemania' is the attempt to make a cinematic portrait of a woman who is not able to position herself in front of the camera. "It is like being constantly on the run. We live practically like criminals without having committed any crime." In Germany many people are without the status of a legal residence, "without papers". They are known as "illegal people": made unrecognizable or degraded to "shadow people", victims and suspects. With talks and audio recordings over several months, the drama structure for this film is developed and results in the concept of images. Fragmentary, in different tableaus, an image of a person comes into being without her actually leaving invisibility. Her analysis, dreams, expectations and thoughts enable us to take a different point of view onto the 'Planeta Alemania'.

 

Films at Other Worlds Are Breathing Culture/Resistance

Resistancia: Hip Hop in Colombia UK/ Colombia, 2002, 51 min Director: Tom Feiling Producer: Faction Films Director's Contact: tom@factionfilms.co.uk

'Resistancia: Hip Hop in Colombia' is a radical and thought-provoking exploration of how young Colombian's feel about the crisis afflicting their country. The film follows a summer in the lives of some of Colombia's finest rappers, DJs and breakdancers. The film is a good introduction for anyone interested in Colombia's long-running civil war, as seen through the eyes of those directly affected by it. It also gives an intimate insight into the life in the barrios of a very volatile country, and how traditional latino music is losing out to rap music. Its style is youthful and entertaining, but also angry and enlightening.

Films at Other Worlds Are Breathing Culture/Resistance

Seeing Is Believing: Handicams, Human Rights and The News Canada, 2002, 58 min Director: Peter Wintonick and Katerina Cizek Producer: Necessary Illusions Director's Contact: pw@necessaryillusions.ca

'Seeing is Believing: Handicams, Human Rights and The News' is a film which looks at video activism around the world, and the way that handicam camcorders and new technologies have transformed human rights work, journalism and international law and justice.