Re:PLAY

re:PLAY
Internesenal Dokumentari Kumhei

PROGRAM

DANCINGACROSSBORDERS

Wednesday, June 9, 2010
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Governor’s Inauguration And Screening
4 PM. The Classic Hotel. By Invitation Only.

Festival Opening Screening.
5 PM. Dance Academy. Ticketed event.

DANCING ACROSS BORDERS
Anne Bass, USA, 2008; 90 min.
Sokvannara Sar (Sy) was a young, gifted dancer living with his family in Cambodia when Anne Bass, an American enthusiast and supporter of ballet, discovered him. The two of them set out on a risky journey from Angkor Wat to New York City, where Sy dedicated himself to learning an alien art form. Anne Bass initiated the Khmer Dance Project and was a member of President Reagan’s Task Force on the Arts. Dancing Across Borders is her first film. A Dance on Camera Selection.

With:TRASH DANCE. Oliver Fergussen-Taylor. UK, 2008, 1 min. Animation. A hip-hop deconstruction of a trash heap. A Dance on Camera Selection.

 

MANIPURI DOCUMENTARY THEN AND NOW

Thursday, June 10, 2010
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Thurs. June 10 at 9:00 AM
MANIPURI DOCUMENTARY THEN AND NOW
Talk Doc screening and panel discussion on the history and development of the Manipuri documentary. Film: Orchids of Manipur (Aribam Syam Sharma, 1994, 30 min.) Panelists: Manibabu Likmabam, Ningthouja Lancha, Sagolsem Indrakumar. Moderated by R.K.Bidur. Presented by Critics and Journalists and Doordarshan Kendra Imphal.

 

Child Of God

Thurs. June 10 at 12: 00 Noon
CHILDREN OF GOD
Yi Seung-jun Nepal, 2008, 89 min. In Nepali, with English subtitles.
Children at the crematorium at the Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu, live off the food and money drifting in the water after being used as offerings for the funerals. Aryaghat is a holy ground for the Hindus, but for these children it is a playground, a home and also a place where they earn a living. Yi Seung-jun has directed documentaries and TV programs such as the Invisible War - India Bihar Report 2000 and Breathing in a Wasteland in 2002. He is a graduate from Seoul National University. A Film South Asia Selection.

 

DANCING ACROSS BORDERS

Thurs. June 10 at 2:30 PM
MOUNT ST. ELIAS
Gerald Salmina. Austria, 2009, 100 min. Second Best Film, KIMFF 2009.
In this awe-inspiring film about four very different characters – three men and a mountain - the world’s greatest ski mountaineers attempt the longest ski descent of the world. Austrians Axel Naglich and Peter Ressmann and American Jon Johnston face this breathtaking challenge against the backdrop of Alaska’s dangerous beauty. A former extreme sport athlete himself, Gerald Salmina’s films on mountain sports include Light & Shadow (2007), and Memento (2006). A Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival Selection.

 

Street Ball

Thurs. June 10 at 5:00 PM
STREETBALL
Demetrius Wren. South Africa, 2010, 78 min. In English. South African ex-convicts, former gangsters, orphans and recovering drug addicts that band together to represent their country at the Homeless World Cup, an annual soccer tournament that draws teams of homeless and the excluded from over 56 countries. A look at the other reality of Cape Town, as sixteen years after the end of apartheid, South Africa prepares to host the FIFA World Cup with new hot spots, airports and stadiums. Demetrius Wren is a Los Angeles based filmmaker. He has worked with Robert Wilson and taught at Florida State University. A New York African Film Festival Selection.

 

Mr. Manipur

Friday, June 11, 2010
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Fri. June 11 at 9:00 AM
FUNDING INDEPENDENTS
Talk Doc screening and panel discussion on the state of funding for independent documentary filmmakers in Manipur. Film: Mr. India (Haobam Paban Kumar, 2009, 45 min.) Panelists: Mallika Aryal, Dr. K. Sobita Devi, Haobam Paban Kumar. Moderated by Dr Makhonmani Mongsaba. Presented by Cine Artists and Technicians Association and MFDC.


THE PROMISED LAND
Fri. June 11 at 12: 00 Noon
THE PROMISED LAND (Swapnabhumi)
Tanvir Mokammel. Bangladesh, 2008, 90 min. In Bengali, with English subtitles.
A tale of statelessness spanning six decades and three countries about the 160,000 strong ‘Non-Bengali’, Urdu-speaking ‘Bihari’ community of Bangladesh, living isolated lives in camps across the country. Originally Partition immigrants from India, the community is branded as collaborators against Bangladesh’s independence in 1971, leaving a devastating, defining legacy. Tanvir Mokammel’s award winning feature films and documentaries include The River Named Modhumati and The Sister. He is also a writer and lives in Dhaka. A Film South Asia Selection.

With: THE LAST RITES. Yasmine Kabir. Bangladesh, 2008, 17 min.
A silent film depicting the ship-breaking yards of Chittagong, Bangladesh, a final destination for ships too old to ply the oceans. Yasmine Kabir’s films include My Migrant Soul and A Certain Liberation. She lives in Dhaka. A Film South Asia Selection.

 

BALLETS RUSSE
Fri. June 11 at 2:30 PM
BALLETS RUSSE
Dayna Goldfine and Dan Geller. USA, 2005, 118 min.
A dazzling and entrancing ode to the revolutionary 20th-century dance troupes and the remarkable dancers, choreographers, composers and designers who transformed the face of dance for generations to come. Ballets Russes starts with the Diaghilev-era beginnings when artists such as Nijinsky, Balanchine, Picasso, Matisse and Stravinsky united in an unparalleled collaboration to the last of the revered Ballets Russes companies in the1950s and ’60s. The Emmy Award winning filmmaking team of Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine is based in San Francisco. Their films include the award-winning Isadora Duncan: Movement from the Soul (1988). Followed by a special presentation of Nan Melville’s photographs of a Ballets Russe dancer. A Dance on Camera Selection.



BETWEEN THE CUP AND THE ELECTION
Fri. June 11 at 5:00 PM
BETWEEN THE CUP AND THE ELECTION (Entre la coupe et l’election)
Monique Mbeka Phoba and Guy Kabeya Muya. DRC/Benin/Belgium, 2008, 56min. In French, with English subtitles. With the next World Cup in South Africa, this documentary looks at the Leopards of Zaire, the first black African and sub-Saharan soccer team that competed in the 1974 World Cup. A young filmmaking team uses interviews with surviving Leopard veterans, tracing a political arc, from soccer patronage under Mobutu to the Congo’s first multi-party elections in 2006, to tell a bittersweet story of glory and corruption, and of hope and decrepitude. Monique Mbeka Phoba is based in Benin. Her films include Two Little Tricks and Then They Were Gone, about the 1996 presidential campaign in Benin. A New York African Film Festival Selection.

With: AFGHAN GIRLS CAN KICK
Bahareh Hosseini. Afghanistan, 2007, 50 min, In Dari with English subtitles.
An intimate portrait of teenage girls who become players in Afghanistan’s first ever women’s national football team, Afghan Girls Can Kick follows the team during preparations for its first competitive international matches and captures the journey from their youth under the harsh Taliban regime to life in today’s Afghanistan. Bahareh Hosseini is a 31-year-old Iranian filmmaker, painter and actress, based in Britain. A Film South Asia Selection.

 

FRAMING PERFORMANCE
Saturday, June 12, 2010
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Sat. June 12 at 9:00 AM
FRAMING PERFORMANCE
Talk Doc screening and panel discussion on documentaries and the performing arts. Films: Maha Ras (Dilip Mayengbam, 2010, 30 min.) Kumbi Inakhunbi (Diana Potshangbam, 2009, 15 min.) and Moibung
(Tejkishore, 1998, 15 min.) Panelists: Nan Melville, Mallika Aryal, Aribam Syam Sharma, Dr. Nongthombam Premchand. Moderated by Dilip Mayengbam. Presented by Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Academy and
EMMRC, Manipur University.

 

IN SEARCH OF THE RIYAL
Sat. June 12 at 12: 00 Noon
IN SEARCH OF THE RIYAL
Kesang Tseten. Nepal, 2009, 88 min. In Nepali, with English subtitles.
They are Nepal’s oil - one million Nepalis that work in the Gulf, earning only $5-7 a day, to keep their families back home alive. The disillusioning, sad, but at times empowering, experience - from the lure of going abroad to the enormity of the journey - of Nepali migrant work-force in Qatar, whose labour practices are rarely captured on film. Kesang Tseten’s films include Frames of War and We Homes Chaps. This is the first of three films about Nepal’s migrant workers. A Film South Asia Selection.

 

THE FIGHTING SPIRIT
Sat. June 12 at 2:30 PM
THE FIGHTING SPIRIT
George Amponsah. Ghana, UK, USA, 2007, 80 min. In English and Ga.
Three young boxers, two men and one woman, seek to fight their way out of their impoverished neighborhood on the outskirts of Accra, Ghana, and into the glittering rings of New York and London. Thanks to tenacious coaches who turn rough street fighters from the fishing village of Bukom into professional boxers. The film captures the spirit and dedication of these athletes as the three young boxers dream of being the next big winner. A New York African Film Festival Selection.

 

THE COST OF LIVING
Sat. June 12 – 5:00 PM
MYSTERIES OF NATURE
Dahci Ma, 2008, South Korea; 10 min.
Described by the filmmaker as "Torn into bits and gone with the wind," this enigmatic short with powerful imagery by a 21 year old filmmaker was the 2009 Dance on Camera Festival Jury Prize Winner. A Dance on Camera Selection.

With: THE MUSIC (Saamam)
Ramachandran K. India, 2009, 42 min. In Malayalam, with English subtitles.
This documentary condenses the vast body of memories about a musical giant, the late M D Ramanathan, The Music is a tribute to a musical genius of Carnatic music. Ramachandran K’s documentaries on traditional classical art forms include Kaalam and Sikhi. A Film South Asia Selection.

And: THE COST OF LIVING
Lloyd Newson. UK, 2004, 35 min.
The summer season has petered to an end. An air of desertion hangs over the faded, seaside town where disillusioned street performers Eddie and David work, argue, fail at romance, and fall out with old friends. Eddie is tough and confrontational and David is a dancer who has no legs. Choreographer/Director Lloyd Newson, the Director of London's famed DV8 Physical Theatre, challenges traditional aesthetics and forms of most modern and classical dance. 2005 Dance on Camera Jury Winner. A Dance on Camera Selection.

And: NRITYAGRAM: FOR THE LOVE OF DANCE
Nan Melville, USA, 2009, 26 min.
This painterly portrait of Nrityagram, an idyllic dance village near Bangalore where Protima Bedi institutionalized Odissi classical Indian dance through the founding of a gurukul where students could dance and live in close proximity with their master guru. The internationally renowned Nrityagram Dance Ensemble continues to expand on Protima’s legacy, expanding the language of the traditional Odissi dance through the incorporation of choreographic techniques adapted from world dance. Nan Melville is a South African photographer and filmmaker based in New York. A Dance on Camera Selection.


 

Kangjeibung
Sunday, June 13, 2010
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Sun. June 13 at 9:00 AM
WHERE’S THE AUDIENCE?
Talk Doc screening and panel discussion on finding viewers and screening venues, from television to festivals, for Manipur’s documentaries. Film: Heart to Heart (Sunzu Bachaspatimayum, 2010, 45 min.). Panelists: Mallika Aryal, Ningthouja Lancha, Sunzu Bachaspatimayum. Moderated by Sagolsem Indrakumar. Presented by Film Forum and Effective Television.

 

BATTLE FOR PAKISTAN
Sun. June 13 at 12: 00 Noon
THE BATTLE FOR PAKISTAN
Maheen Zia. Pakistan, 2009, 40 min. In English, Urdu.
Investigating the nexus between extremism and Pakistani madrassas, The Battle for Pakistan explores the factors behind the mushrooming of madrassas, government attempts at regulation and the socio-political dynamics at play. Maheen Zia is a Karachi-based director of short films and documentaries. She teaches filmmaking at the University of Karachi. A Film South Asia Selection.

With: MAYOMI
Carol Salter. Sri Lanka, 2008, 50 min. In Sinhala, with English subtitles.
Mayomi has lost her soldier husband to the Tamil Tigers and her mother and home to the 2004 tsunami, and she single-handedly cares for her disabled father, her alcoholic brother and his abandoned six-year old son. Still homeless, Mayomi’s optimism and courage drive her forward in this moving and tender film. Carol Salter is a graduate of the UK’s National Film and Television School. She lives in London. A Film South Asia Selection.

 

Way of the Road
Sun. June 13 at 2:30 PM

SHERPAS: THE TRUE HEROES OF MOUNT EVEREST
Frank Senn, Hari Thapa and Otto C. Honegger, Switzerland/ Nepal, 2008/09, 93 min. In Nepali, Swiss, German, English. Best Film, KIMFF 2009

Filming a Swiss expedition to the highest mountain of the world, the filmmakers tell the stories of the Sherpas. They share their feelings – from their fears on the climb of Mount Everest, what it means to work for Western clients, to acting as their ladders to the top of the world. Frank Senn works for Swiss Television as a journalist and producer of films on mountaineering and adventure, several in Nepal and Tibet. Hari Thapa has worked for Nepali Television and produced films for national and international NGO’s in Nepal. Otto C. Honegger, former head of the documentary department at Swiss National Television, has made films on diving, adventure and politics. A Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival Selection.

With: THE WAY OF THE ROAD
Ben Campbell, Cosmo Campbell. Nepal, 2009, 60 min. In English and Tamang.
In 2012, a road through Nepal’s Rasuwa District will reconnect an ancient Himalayan trade route with global traffic. But what do the villagers whose lives it is intended to benefit think about where the road will run? The film frames the perspective of the Tamang villagers in this border land, including a dramatic re-enactment of Tibetan and Nepali armies in conflict. Ben Campbell previously directed the film Shamanic Pilgrimage to Gosainkund. He is an anthropologist of Nepal at Durham University. A Film South Asia Selection.

 

Dancing Sangai
Sun. June 13 at 5:00 PM
Manipur Media Network Event
Sun. June 13 at 6 PM. The Classic Hotel. By Invitation Only.
TRIBUTE TO ARIBAM SYAM SHARMA: Pioneer of Manipuri Documentary
The documentary films of Aribam Syam Sharma are not as well known as his internationally acclaimed films such as The Chosen One (Ishanou 1991, Cannes, Toronto and Dance on Camera film festivals). Yet starting with Sana Leibak Manipur (1975) over a career spanning four decades, he has made over 25 documentaries on subjects ranging from performing arts to environment and ethnography. They include Sangai: Dancing Deer of Manipur, winner of the BFI’s Outstanding Film of Year in 1989 to Orchids of Manipur (1994) and Rajarshi Bhagyachandra (2007).


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About Festival 2010